Put Your Curse in Reverse

by frombluetored

Scorpius Malfoy knew his fifth year would be challenging- but he hadn't expected this. Between his impending O.W.L.s, his new relationship, Quidditch tryouts, the public eye, and the Slug Club, he can hardly catch his breath. Meanwhile, Harry Potter discovers that being a professor at Hogwarts is very different from being a student there. (Sequel, switches POVs)

10. Dawn

"Scorpius. Scorpius, wake up."

Scorpius sat straight up with a ragged gasp. Around him, classmates were whispering, rising drowsily to their feet, and shuffling towards the Great Hall doors. Scorpius looked up into his dad's eyes, his heart stuttering.

"Did they come back? The dementors? Are we being evacuated? Where's Albus?" Scorpius looked around himself without waiting for his dad to answer, concern swelling inside of his chest, but he spotted Albus a moment later, standing tiredly beside Harry a few feet away.

"No, they've all been chased deep into the Forest. Everybody's going back to their dorms," his dad explained. He reached down and grabbed Scorpius's arm. He tugged upwards. "Come along."

"Come along? You're coming to the dorm, too? Dad, I'm sorry, but my bed is too small, and I don't think it will be comfortable—"

His exhausted, confused rambling was interrupted by his dad.

"No, I'm not staying in the Slytherin Dungeon, Scorpius. I'm escorting you and Albus to make sure you arrive safely."

"Oh," Scorpius said dumbly. He yawned deeply a moment later. He heard his dad give a light chuckle. He pulled on Scorpius's arm again.

"Up we go, Scorpius."

Scorpius stumbled half-blind wherever his dad pulled, his eyelids still heavy with exhaustion. Ginny might've hugged him—or it could've been Lily, Scorpius was too tired to focus correctly. Whoever it was had soft, floral-smelling hair. Albus leaned tiredly into Scorpius for support as they followed Draco down the crowded, sleep-soaked hallways.

"Do we have classes tomorrow?" Albus yawned.

"I'm not sure," Draco said. "I'm sure the Prefects will let you know come morning."

"But where are you going to sleep, Dad?" Scorpius wondered. He vaguely recalled his dad telling him he was going to stay at Hogwarts for a while, but in his drowsy state, he wasn't entirely convinced he hadn't made it up. "Are you going home?"

"Quickly, to grab my things, feed the peacocks, pay the house elves. The caretaker here is setting up living quarters for me."

As long as it's not in the Slytherin Dungeon, Scorpius thought. He yawned again afterwards and struggled not to stagger from Albus's leaning weight. He was so tired he felt as if his feet were gliding over the stone floors. He couldn't wait to get into bed.

He half-carried Albus down the Dungeon Corridor and down the next staircase, and it didn't occur to him that Albus's cane was missing until his dad was giving the password to the passage wall.

"Where's your cane?" he asked.

Albus gave a small start; he'd begun slipping off to sleep, his head against Scorpius's shoulder, as they waited for the passage to the Common Room to open.

"What?" he asked.

"Your cane."

"Oh…dunno…it was…I think…Slug Club…"Albus trailed off. His eyelids fluttered shut again.

"'Merlin'," Draco repeated, frustrated. He rapped hard on the stone wall. "Hello? That's the password. Why aren't you opening? Insolent piece of castle…Scorpius, you try, perhaps it's because I'm an adult…"

"'Merlin'," Scorpius tried hopefully.

Still nothing. Scorpius sagged underneath Albus's weight. He was considering sleeping in the corridor when the sound of approaching footsteps drew his attention. He saw his dad withdraw his wand on instinct. His dad straightened and stepped halfway in front of Scorpius and Albus.

"Lumos," he whispered. He directed his wand light down the corridor. "Who's there? Announce yourself or I'll stun. I'll give you three seconds. Three, two—"

"Stunning my students, Draco?" Professor Slughorn demanded. He shuffled into view. He had already changed into his dressing gown. "I'll have to ask you not to do that."

Scorpius's dad lowered his wand.

"I have to be cautious, Horace," he replied. "Did the password change?"

"Ah, yes. I tried to catch you to inform you of the changes, but I got distracted by an unexpected…discovery…" he trailed off. "Well, as I was saying. Flitwick placed new protections on all four House entrances. You must now place your wand against the entrance after giving the password. It will automatically scan through your past one-hundred spells. You will be barred entrance if it detects an Unforgivable."

Scorpius would've appreciated this new measure of security better if he weren't slowly slipping down, thanks to the now-dozing Albus and his own exhaustion. He shuffled backwards, leaned against the wall, and let himself and Albus slide down. Albus snuggled closer, his face tucking away against Scorpius's neck. The stone floor and walls were chilly, but Albus's sleepy affection made him feel comfortable despite. He let own cheek fall against the top of Albus's head with a soft smile.

"And then what happens? Doesn't do much good if they're not restrained, does it?"

"I am immediately notified, as are the Head Boy and Girl, McGonagall, and Harry. It records the wand, so even if the student flees, we'll be able to quickly determine who it was. We've already caught four students and they're not even all back to their dorms yet."

"Who?" Draco demanded sharply.

"Ah, Draco, I'm afraid I am not permitted to share that information. Now, if you'll just repeat the password, press your wand here, and that should do it. Assuming…well. Assuming you haven't done any Dark magic recently?"

"Of course I haven't," Scorpius's dad snapped. "'Merlin'."

Scorpius rose tiredly to his feet as the passage opened. He reached down and hoisted Albus up, who groaned and mumbled: "What? Where are we going?"

"Bed," Scorpius said. "Lovely, lovely bed."

"Oh, good," Albus yawned.

Scorpius exchanged goodbyes with his dad at the passage opening and then they went their separate ways. Scorpius and Albus stepped into the Common Room. Scorpius didn't pay mind to anything but getting to bed, but Albus stopped.

"Oi," he muttered, his words still a bit slurred with exhaustion. Scorpius turned and followed Albus's line of sight. On the other side of the Common Room, in front of the carved fireplace, Caden Rowle was perched on a leather armchair, directly across from Evvie. Evvie appeared to be lecturing him. He was staring over her head at a point on the wall behind her with a bored, haughty expression in place. Albus was scandalized. "Boy! Lily—Lily's boy! What's he doing there getting lectured?"

"Probably got caught by the new wand checks, didn't he? Since he and Lily have been doing the Imperius Curse?" Scorpius replied. He paused. "Oh, that means Lily got caught, too. She won't like that."

He'd thought they were being quiet, but Evvie paused mid-scold and turned to look at them. Scorpius quickly pursed his lips.

"Continue up to your dorms," she ordered. "The password for the fifth year dorms has been changed to 'violets'."

Albus seemed reluctant to obey. He was still staring at Caden with an expression of decided dislike.

"Did you know he used the Imperius on my thirteen-year-old sister?" Albus finally demanded.

Caden rolled his eyes. Evvie nodded curtly.

"Yes, I'm aware of the specifics. Bed."

"Are you going to punish him?"

"I'm going to punish you if you don't get to bed!" she snapped. She pointed at the short stairway, her eyes narrowed warningly. Scorpius thought it best to listen to her; with her oddly disheveled hair and unyielding expression, he wasn't sure challenging her was the right move. He tugged on Albus's arm to communicate that, urging him forward.

"You're not my mum," Albus muttered underneath his breath, but he shuffled forward anyway. Scorpius helped him walk the short distance to the fifth year dormitory door.

"Violets," Albus snapped. The door clicked open, revealing occupied beds. Their dorm mates all appeared to be sleeping, most of them still in their robes and shoes, sprawled out atop the blankets. Scorpius and Albus tip-toed over towards their end of the dormitory. Scorpius immediately reached for King and Bathilda's cage on his bedside table; thankfully, both were snoozing cozied up together. Scorpius let out a relieved breath, sighed, and then pushed a few treats in there for when they woke.

Scorpius pried his shoes off and set them neatly beneath his bed, and when he glanced over at Albus, he saw he'd somehow already stripped down to his pants, clearly eager to be out of his dirty dress robes. Various family members had attempted to Scourgify all of Albus's blood from them throughout the night, but the fabric had still retained the strange stiffness of dried blood that would only be fixed by a proper washing. Scorpius allowed himself a moment's pause to study the slanting, green light against Albus's bare skin, the endearing freckles spanning his shoulders and chest, the slight jut of his hip bones, the faint line of hair dipping beneath the waistband of—

No, Scorpius scolded himself. He cleared his throat and looked back down at his feet, the back of his neck warming. He yanked one of his socks off. No, no, not the time. Get a hold of yourself, Scorpius.

Scorpius removed his other sock, his robes, his trousers and shirt beneath, and then he felt his mattress shake as Albus plopped down on it. Scorpius turned and glanced up at the top of the bed. Albus had already slipped beneath the covers. Scorpius beamed.

"Cuddle night!"

"Isn't every night cuddle night?" Albus pointed out. "Even if we don't plan it? I've got to talk to Madam Pomfrey about the sleep walking…"

His sentence trailed off as he let his eyelids fall closed. Scorpius rose and started towards his trunk, to pull a clean pair of pajamas from it, but Albus's voice brought him to a pause.

"Or not," he heard Albus say.

He glanced back at his boyfriend. "What?"

He assumed the statement was following up from Albus's comment about seeing Pomfrey for his sleep walking. He assumed incorrectly.

"Or not pajamas," Albus repeated. "Not for me. Pajamas."

What the…

"Are you all right?" Scorpius questioned, concerned. "You're not making any sense."

Albus—clearly half-asleep now—patted Scorpius's pillow weakly. "C'mon."

Scorpius parted his lips to argue—"I'm not dressed!"—but Albus kept patting the pillow over and over, and Scorpius couldn't help but think to the particularly nice snogging session they'd had before the party, and, well, he'd be lying if he said he didn't like the idea of being less-than-dressed in a bed with Albus, but did he trust himself to be? That was another question entirely…

"Scorpius," Albus said.

"O-okay. Right. Bed. Straight away! But. I'm…indecent."

"There's nothing indecent about you," Albus countered.

Sig's voice tore unexpectedly through the heavy silence of the dorm.

"Scorpius, just get into bed with him and shut up before I kill you," Sig mumbled. "Nobody cares if you're in your fancy, rich-boy pants."

Scorpius blushed. He lowered his hands over his privates as if he could hide his silver-threaded, silk boxers that way.

"They're not—rich-boy pants," he defended weakly. "They're the least expensive style at the shop."

"My point is that nobody cares. Omri sleeps naked every night and nobody says a damn thing," Sig continued.

"Omri sleeps naked?" Malcolm yawned. "Really? How'd I miss that?"

"Shut up, all of you!" Saul snapped from his bed. "I haven't even gotten an hour's decent sleep and we might still have classes tomorrow."

They all fell silent. Scorpius edged towards his bed, lifted up the blankets, and then practically dove beneath them, not wanting to be so exposed while Saul was angry. He shifted into his typical spot, smiled into the pillow as Albus immediately slid closer, and then he felt his skin tingle all over, in a way that was almost more alarming than nice, because he realized now what Albus had meant when he'd mumbled: 'Or not pajamas. Not for me. Pajamas.' Albus was in his pants. But…Scorpius was undressed, too. There was suddenly a lot more bare skin than Scorpius knew what to do with. More than he was equipped to deal with.

"Oh," he squeaked. He brought his hands safely to his own chest, though he supposed that was probably ridiculous; he had touched nearly every inch of Albus's skin by now. But this felt different. Lying beneath the covers like this felt much more intimate than sticking his hands beneath Albus's clothing did. With a surge of heat to his face, he was confronted with the frantic reality that he was here with his boyfriend, in this bed, with hardly anything between them. He could feel the unabated warmth emitting from Albus's skin, and if he wanted, he could reach across and hold him, could stroke the soft skin of his back, could set a bare palm against his bare thigh, could kiss over his funny heart…he wanted to do those things, and maybe Albus wanted him to, too…

His heart was racing nervously. He reminded himself that Albus was okay with this, because Albus had instigated it (as Albus and his smoldering eyes were great at doing), and that he wouldn't scare him off…and then he hesitantly slid over and took Albus into his arms. He felt his heart lurch in a way that felt almost like a somersault as their bare skin pressed together. He caressed his hand down Albus's back. He lowered his face to Albus's shoulder. He inhaled the scent of his skin and closed his eyes. Warmth from Albus enveloped him. Softness and warmth. Thump, thump-thump, thump-thump-thump, thump. Albus seemed to sink into his arms further with each breath cycle, and when he felt Albus sleepily kiss his neck, he couldn't help but grin. Because he knew Albus liked this just as much as he did.

"I like this," he blurted, his volume dimmed to a whisper.

"Mmhmm," Albus agreed.

"You're warm," he continued.

Albus rubbed Scorpius's thigh affectionately in response. Scorpius's heart filled to bursting, and under the strain of that rampant emotion, he did what he always did: he began rambling.

"This feels…nice, in a different way, a…serious way. Proper boyfriend way. Like buying each other dinner or…or…chocolates or flowers or broomsticks or whatever. Like furniture shopping. Do you like furniture shopping? My mum and dad always went furniture shopping. And, you know," he let out a nervous laugh, "according to Professor Gantha we'll need furniture for our three-bedroom flat and our very own baby so—" he snapped his lips shut as soon as his mind caught up with his mouth, but it was too late. He couldn't push the words back down his throat; they'd already been spoken.

In the few seconds that followed that slip-up, his heart stopped, his face seared in embarrassment, and Albus leaned back from him. They locked eyes in the darkness for a moment but then looked away in embarrassment. Albus seemed much more awake now.

"Er…" Scorpius said. "I…er. Sorry. I wasn't going to…ever mention that. Ever. Unless you did. But then. You rubbed my thigh. And I liked that, a lot, you know, and I guess…I said all of that…instead of just saying…I like that a lot, do that again…and…"

"Erm…" Albus said.

Silence settled back over them, heavy and uncomfortable. Scorpius hesitantly met Albus's eyes. Albus did the same. Scorpius had no idea what to say, but luckily, it appeared as though he wouldn't need to say anything just yet. Albus's eyes were turning smoldering. Because he'd gotten so great at reading the signs, he wasn't surprised at all when Albus suddenly leaned over and pressed his lips to his.

"So we're—" Albus leaned in and kissed Scorpius again, deeper this time; the end of Scorpius's sentence fell messily into Albus's mouth. Scorpius lost his train of thought for a few moments. "We're not—going to—" Albus's hand had found Scorpius's thigh again. He gave a delighted shiver in response. "Talk. We're not going to talk about that prediction?"

"No," Albus said. He leaned back and met Scorpius's eyes with the cheekiest grin Scorpius had ever seen gracing his features. He lowered his voice to something almost fainter than a whisper, his eyes burning into Scorpius's. "I'm going to touch you again instead."

It was a wonderful trade-off. Scorpius gave a gleeful laugh.

"Okay," he said happily. "Me too. If that's okay."

"That's always okay."

They'd been dead on their feet ten minutes ago, but both Scorpius and Albus seemed to find new energy in the warmth beneath Scorpius's blankets and the softness of each other's skin. In the midst of kissing the freckles dashed along Albus's shoulders, Scorpius could hardly remember the fear and pain he'd felt only hours ago underneath the dementors' influence. And he hoped he'd never have to again.

---

He woke what felt like minutes after he and Albus had given into their exhaustion. He recognized Omri's voice as the thing that had woken him. He snuggled closer to Albus.

"Evvie Wilson said that Slughorn said there are no classes today, because none of the professors had any sleep last night," Omri explained. "But breakfast is served at the typical time."

"Good, I'm starving," replied Sig. "All those sweets last night have me craving something savory. Let's go."

Scorpius was becoming aware of his own hunger pangs, but he didn't want to move. He decided that where he was, right in that moment, was the best place he'd ever been. And Albus must've agreed, because Scorpius felt him wake two or three times over the next half-hour, but each time he merely shifted closer, kissed Scorpius's shoulder or arm, and stretched his legs before falling back asleep. Scorpius drifted in and out in a similar manner until nearly two hours had passed and they were both well aware that they were both forcing sleep at that point—and well aware that they were both aware of that fact.

"We should get breakfast," Scorpius finally said, after Albus's stomach gave a particularly angry grumble.

Albus groaned unhappily in response.

"If we wait long enough, my mum'll send your dad to check on us, and I bet she'll send food with him," Albus pointed out.

"Yeah…but do we really want my dad finding us like this?"

"...No, you're right, we don't," Albus agreed quickly. "Great Hall it is."

"Look on the bright side! We can always come right back to bed! Slughorn said there's no class," Scorpius beamed.

Albus smiled so brightly that it left Scorpius grinning like a lovesick idiot.

---

It took them a bit longer to clean up and dress than Scorpius thought it would, so by the time they were entering the Great Hall, breakfast was nearly over. They were in such a hurry that, upon first entering, they failed to notice the new addition to the room. They made their way towards the Slytherin table…only to realize there was an extra table squeezed in between Slytherin and Hufflepuff.

"What?" Albus said blankly.

Scorpius and Albus came to a stop. They stood side by side and examined the fifth table. At first, Scorpius thought it was a Sevens table because nearly every Sevens member sans James and Evvie was at it. Nora and Roxanne were laughing with Ben, Louis and Clementine Clearwater were reading a book together, Jacques was fiddling with a broomstick servicing kit…but then Scorpius saw Lily, Aster, Caden, and the usual posse of third year boys. Further down, Hugo was talking happily with Iset (Rose appeared to be asleep at Iset's side; her head was resting on the table). So it wasn't a table exclusively for the Sevens.

"Whose table is that?" Scorpius asked Albus. Albus never got the chance to answer.

"Good morning to the sleepyheads who have just arrived!" James called. His voice rang loudly throughout the Great Hall. Scorpius looked up in confusion and turned towards his voice. James and Evvie were sitting side-by-side at the empty staff table, and despite the fact that both looked excruciatingly exhausted, James was smiling. "As I'm sure your Prefects have informed you, there are no classes today. All professors are currently having a quick kip. The dementors are gone and good riddance! As an extra safety precaution, Aurors are still roaming the Forbidden Forest and the grounds. Be kind if you come across them and they seem a bit short—they've been working all night."

It looked as if James and Evvie had been working all night, too. Evvie politely pressed her palm over her mouth as she gave a huge yawn. James yawned after she did (less politely).

Evvie added: "I'm sure you're all wondering about the table." Scorpius spotted a few more heads bob in agreement from those who presumably came in right before or after he and Albus did – "It's been set up as a place where members of all Houses may eat together. James and I, as well as a few of our classmates, have been working on implementing this addition all year, and we hope that some of you might consider using it. We disagree with the current level of House segregation, and those who agree with us are welcome to join our next party held on Halloween night."

"I also have an announcement from my mum," James began. "I mean—our new Quidditch referee and coach, Mrs. Potter. Those of you still waiting to complete try-outs are welcome to come down to the Pitch today to book your time. Slots are available from eleven until eight tonight. On a similar note, our first match will be Gryffindor versus Slytherin, two weeks from today. So you might want to get on those try-outs, Jacques."

James smiled good-naturedly at Jacques, who looked mildly alarmed at this new schedule. He crammed nearly five sausages into his mouth and then jumped up and all but raced from the Great Hall.

"We'll shut up now, but a word of warning: James and I are in charge until the professors wake, and if you're considering taking us on: don't. We're incredibly exhausted, we've already broken up a violent fight in the second floor toilets, and we're not in the mood to deal with it. Have a nice breakfast." Evvie lifted her mug and took a sip of her coffee or tea, her eyes fluttering shut for a brief moment.

"Brilliant," Albus said. "A table for anybody. Let's go see if Rose made any progress on coming to terms with the fact that she fancies Iset."

"I doubt it, it's only been a few hours," Scorpius pointed out.

"So? Look at all we've managed to do in a few hours. Quite impressive, really."

Scorpius grinned at Albus. He tightened his hold on his arm, tugged him closer, and heard his own voice tuck down to that Naughty Scorpius tone, the one that was so much smoother and more confident than Scorpius himself ever was. "It's because you're all Albus-y. I can't help it. You give me your intense eyes and then my desire to touch you is rhapsodic."

"…Thanks, I think? Is that…a good thing? I don't know whether to feel turned on or insulted."

"It's a good thing," reassured Scorpius.

"Oh, then my desire to touch you is also…whatever you just said?"

"Rhapsodic."

"Okay. If I didn't know it the first time, I probably still don't know it the second."

Scorpius sighed. He really needed to find a way to get Albus to read more. "I can't keep my hands off you."

"Oh," Albus said. He nudged Scorpius's ribs. He winked, so quickly that Scorpius almost missed it. "Good. Don't keep them off me."

After a shared mischievous grin, Scorpius helped Albus over to the end of the table that Rose and Iset were at. They exchanged greetings and waves with everybody else at the table as they passed, and then they sat down beside Hugo and across from Rose and Iset.

"Good morning," Scorpius greeted. He cheerfully piled eggs onto his plate, his heart bursting with excitement for his after-breakfast plans with Albus. "How's the dementor-less morning treating you, Iset?"

"Oh," she said. "Hello. Er, good." It took her a moment to adjust to their sudden appearance, as it always did, but she seemed to recover much quicker than she usually did—something Scorpius attributed to Rose's presence. He and Albus had noticed that effect more than ever last night. "It's nice to have them gone. How are you both doing?"

"Good, yeah—" Albus leaned over Iset without thinking about it, reaching for the far plate of sausages. He caught himself a second later and quickly lowered back down onto his bottom. He looked at Iset, and Scorpius did too, the both of them expecting her to cringe away. But she managed with only the slightest shift towards Rose. Albus grabbed Scorpius's thigh from beneath the table. Scorpius reached down and grabbed his, too, as if to say: I know!

"I'm great!" Scorpius blurted, even though the window to answer Iset's question had probably already closed. He beamed. Albus nodded along in agreement. Scorpius dropped his eyes to Rose, who still had her face resting in her arms. "Is Rose…actually asleep?"

"She's got a headache," Iset explained quietly. She reached up and tapped her own forehead. "Above her eyes and at the back of her head, here," she reached over and gently touched the base of Rose's skull. Rose hardly stirred.

"Oh," Scorpius perked up. "Probably from the stress. Muggles call it a 'tension headache'! Rose, you should go to Madam Pomfrey and get a pain potion."

Rose muttered something into her arms. Scorpius thought he might've heard Bread Head somewhere in there. Yikes.

"I'll go," Iset offered immediately. She seemed eager to help in some way. She rose from the table right as Rose sat straight up. She shot a hand out and grabbed onto Iset's hand, stopping her as she began to walk off. Iset frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Don't go to the Hospital Wing," Rose said.

Albus and Scorpius exchanged a quick look. From the concern saturating Rose's words, this was about to get good.

"Why?" Iset asked. Her voice was still lowered into a soft whisper, even if Rose had spoken rather loudly and harshly.

"Because—because. Because…I feel better. No more headache. I guess I just needed to…rest my head," Rose lied.

Scorpius thought it was fairly obvious that it was a lie (and that the real reason Rose didn't want Iset to go was because she didn't want her going off alone). Iset also seemed to be well aware of those things, but instead of calling Rose out on it, she smiled. She slid back into her place beside Rose. Rose had yet to drop her hand from Iset's.

"Rina's got pain potion in her trunk," Iset said. "We can ask her for some before we start our homework."

Albus deposited buttered toast onto his plate and (to Scorpius's delight) Scorpius's, too. He turned to Rose afterwards.

"You're going into the Hufflepuff basement?" he demanded loudly. Rose winced. Iset winced in response to her wince.

"Soft voices," Iset reminded them, and both Albus and Scorpius were so shocked that she was sort of scolding Albus that they didn't say anything back.

Albus's loud voice had done more than pain Rose and make Iset speak up; it gathered Lily's attention. She moved from her previous seat and sat suddenly at Scorpius's side.

"Hufflepuff Basement? I want to go," she greeted. "I've seen the Ravenclaw Tower and the Slytherin Dungeon but I've never seen—"

"When have you seen the Slytherin Dungeon?!" Albus interrupted, horrified. Lily ignored him.

"Can I come along?" she asked sweetly.

"No," Rose said coldly. "You can't. You know, pretending that we didn't argue doesn't mean it didn't happen. I'm still angry with you."

Lily scowled. "Seriously? You're still angry? But it's been nearly five entire hours, Rose. How long do you plan on being angry?"

"Until I'm not anymore," Rose snapped. "Do you know how embarrassing it was to get locked out because you decided it'd be fun to play around with Dark Magic? People thought it was me who triggered the new safe-guards! The Fat Lady was being purposefully cagey to fuel the rumors!"

"Well honestly, Rose, that shouldn't bother you. Anybody who'd look at the two of us and conclude that you must be the one who did Dark Magic clearly doesn't understand much at all. And their opinion really shouldn't matter."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rose demanded, affronted. "I look like Miss Prim and Proper, do I?"

Lily nudged Scorpius's arm.

"Scorpius, between Rose and I, who would you rather get into a duel with?" she demanded.

Scorpius balked, horrified. "Neither!"

"If you had to," Lily pressed.

"I wouldn't!"

"Scorpius!" Lily said sharply.

He sighed. "Okay, okay…if I had to choose…well…I would definitely not like to duel you, Lily."

Lily grinned smugly. She gestured his way.

"See? I clearly appear to be the dangerous one, so don't worry, Rose. Your reputation is unharmed."

"Except it's not! Because everybody saw the Fat Lady closing up in front of me!"

Lily groaned. "This is so annoying, Rose! We have Quidditch practice later! I don't want to be ignored during Quidditch practice! Love me again!"

"No! I won't!"

"Rose! That's a horrid, fucked up thing to say to your family!"

Scorpius felt a shock course through his system at the expletive. It always felt so wrong to hear Lily speaking crudely because her voice was so sweet and the contrast was jarring.

"You're not my family as long as you're doing Unforgivables!" Rose snapped. She snatched her full mug from the table and stood. "I don't claim you! And stop screaming, I've got a headache!"

She stormed off, leaving Lily fuming and Iset biting her lip. An awkward silence settled over their end of the table.

"I thought her headache went away?" Hugo finally asked.

---

Their plan of after-breakfast snogging (and, if they were lucky, more) was thwarted by Lily. She followed them from the Great Hall and ranted nonstop to Albus about how angry she was with Rose. Albus nodded and agreed and offered some pretty decent advice, but the closer they got to the Slytherin Dungeon, the more annoyed Albus became.

"Lily," he finally said. "Can't you go talk to Aster about this? I know Rose can be cold sometimes, but Scorpius and I have plans."

Lily stopped walking. She observed them both, her eyes drifting from Albus to Scorpius. Scorpius found it extremely difficult to meet her eyes; he looked down guiltily.

"Fine," she said, after a long pause. Her voice sounded smaller than normal. "Have fun with your plans."

She turned on her heel and took off in the opposite direction. Albus groaned. Scorpius sighed.

"Albus…"

"I know, I know. And I'm not happy about it," he hissed. He gave one more sigh and then set off after his sister. "Lily…wait."

"Yeah, wait for us, Lily," Scorpius added gently.

They caught up with Lily easily. She'd stopped at the staircase and sat on the bottom step. Scorpius took one look at her downcast face and knew she was upset. His heart inched down. He frowned. He walked over and sat beside her; Albus did the same.

"What's wrong?" Scorpius asked.

Lily reached up and gathered her hair into her hands. She pulled her fingers through it nervously, her eyes locked on the floor.

"So many people are angry with me. Rose, James, Louis..."

"Er…you sort of…did illegal Dark Magic, Lily," Albus pointed out.

Lily leaned forward and pressed her face into her thighs. She groaned angrily. Her hair spilled over her shoulders and puddled on the steps.

"But I wasn't hurting anybody or anything!" she exclaimed. She sounded so frustrated that she was nearing tears. "I didn't hurt anyone. I never wanted to hurt anyone. I don't understand why everybody is so angry with me."

"Because it's illegal, Lily!" Albus repeated.

"It's illegal to keep people from abusing and using each other! I wasn't doing that! Caden wanted to; we drafted up rules beforehand and signed them! We knew what we were doing!"

"Yeah, but…but it's still—you just can't do that, Lily. You just can't."

"But why?" she pressed.

Albus struggled to respond to that.

"Because…it's illegal."

"But I didn't use it in an illegal way."

"But…it's still illegal," repeated Albus weakly. He was beginning to doubt himself. Scorpius decided to give it a shot.

"Lily, they're probably angry because they think it was an unnecessary risk. Does that make sense?"

"No," she said, her voice thick with frustrated tears, her face still hidden.

"Doing Dark Magic like that…even if you think it's under control…things can still happen. And it wasn't necessary, you know, it was just for fun—"

"For training!" she interjected.

"But training for what?" Scorpius pointed out. "We're not in a war. It just wasn't necessary. And it probably seems very…insulting to them, that you're playing around with Dark Magic when so many people in your family have been injured by it recently and in the past. Worrying too, I bet. They're probably worried that you're, you know…going to…go Dark."

"I would never," she said fiercely in her legs.

"Then don't do Unforgivables, Lily. It really is that simple," Albus said shortly.

"But I need to know if I can throw the Imperius off!"

"Well, can you?" Albus said.

"…Yeah."

"So you're done. You're finished with your Unforgivable experiment. You wanted to learn to throw it off, and you did. Done. Ended."

"Of course I'm done with it! That's not the problem! The problem is that people are angry with me!" Lily argued.

"Get over it. That's what happens when you do stupid things," Albus snapped. "They'll move on as long as you stop doing Unforgivables."

"I wanted to be prepared! Dad says all the time that people want to hurt us! I just wanted to feel like I could protect myself. The Imperius scares me the most, way more than the Cruciatus, even more than dying. I just wanted to…" she trailed off. "Be less scared."

Scorpius doubted she would've admitted that had her face been visible. He'd felt certain that what Lily had done was wrong, but at those words, his conviction shook a bit. He frowned. Albus also seemed unsure what to say back to that.

"You should tell James and Rose and Louis that," Scorpius finally said. "It might help them understand."

Lily sat up. The bridge of her glasses had left an angry red indention on her nose from the pressure of lying face-down for so long. She pulled her glasses off, dropped them into her lap, and rubbed over the line they'd left.

"They won't care," Lily finally said. She sounded much more wounded than Scorpius had anticipated. She pushed her glasses back on a moment later. "You heard Rose. She doesn't claim me anymore."

"Rose didn't claim me for nearly five years," Albus said sourly. "She got over it. She'll get over it."

Lily huffed. She reached behind her, gathered her hair, and flipped it over the top of her head so it hung in front of her face like a curtain. Bitterly, from behind that curtain of hair: "I don't know how to get people to understand me."

"Welcome to my world, Lulu," Albus snorted. He reached over and began moving sections of hair out of Lily's face, bit by bit, until she was visible again. She was pouting as she came into view.

"And mine," Scorpius agreed. When the tip of her nose gave a tiny twitch, perhaps from withheld tears, he reached over and set his arm around her shoulders. His heart warmed as she immediately leaned her head against him, and he couldn't help but smile. He grinned down at her, overwhelmed by that protective feeling of affection that seemed to overtake him when he was around her. He certainly couldn't see the future like Professor Gantha claimed she could, but he knew that he would probably always want to protect Lily Potter, even if Lily Potter didn't want to be protected. Even if Lily Potter seemed to actively sabotage herself on occasion.

"The Misunderstood Trio," Scorpius teased.

She smiled and scrunched up her nose. Albus laughed along with them.

"I'd drink to that," Albus said.

Their laughter pandered off. All three heaved deep sighs.

"If it makes you feel any better, I'll always be the Black Sheep," Albus finally said.

"That actually does, a bit," Lily said. She reached over and patted Albus's shoulder. "Thanks. That helps."

---

Scorpius and Albus stepped into the passage leading to the Slytherin Common Room.

"We did a good job," Scorpius said.

"We did. James would give us a solid five if he were rating our lecture."

"A five! Brilliant!" Scorpius celebrated. A quick thought occurred to him—we make a good parenting team—but he was so embarrassed by it that he actually stumbled. Paranoid that Albus would somehow sense what he was thinking and be really turned off by it, Scorpius began reciting lyrics to French songs in his mind.

"What are you humming?" Albus asked curiously.

"What?"

"You're humming."

"Am I? Oh." Scorpius stopped thinking about French song lyrics. "So…an entire day…you and me…the dormitory is almost certainly empty…"

Flirty Albus tightened his hold on Scorpius's arm and grinned up at him.

"This sounds like the beginning to my idea of a perfect afternoon," he murmured.

Scorpius beamed. "Afternoon? We're free well into the evening…"

"The evening?" Albus said. He lifted his eyebrows and gave that cheeky grin again. Scorpius felt the blood migrate away from his rational mind at the sight of it. He slowed, squirmed a bit, and clenched his fists, struggling with the sudden urge to push Albus against the passageway wall. Who was he? Scorpius didn't push people. He would never push anyone—and especially not Albus? So why was the idea of that suddenly so appealing—why couldn't he get it out of his mind—why—

"I can think of loads of ways to spend our afternoon and evening," Albus said, his grin still in place, now paired with smoldering eyes, and Scorpius thought he might explode. "First order of business: getting you out of those clothes—"

Scorpius surprised both Albus and himself as he suddenly pulled Albus to a stop, grasped onto his hips, and swung them both around to push Albus against the passageway wall. His heart was thudding hard in his chest, and he wanted nothing more than to kiss him, but he forced himself to slow down for a moment. He met Albus's green eyes. He studied the depths of them, to make sure he couldn't read any discomfort, but all he saw was churning intensity, the kind that made Scorpius's body quickly gain control over his mind, and he couldn't image going even a moment longer without kissing Albus.

He looped his arms around Albus's waist to help keep him upright, pressed his body gently into Albus's, and moved his lips to his. In less than a second, Albus had one hand at the back of Scorpius's neck, one resting on his stomach, and his lips were already parted beneath Scorpius's. That told some pleased part of Scorpius that he'd been yearning for the contact just as much.

He truly forgot that they were in the passage, not that he blamed himself. Their bodies were pressed together in a way that left little room for rational thought, Albus's hand had found its way into his robes (as it often did), and Scorpius couldn't remember the point of doing anything but this. He registered the sound of approaching footsteps but decided he didn't care; breaking away would be worse than social scorn. Scorpius knew all there was to know about getting bullied, and he'd gladly take that over stopping this now…

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, Albus and Scorpius."

It was the Head Girl, and she had the power to actually punish them, but Scorpius…still wasn't pulling away. Albus moved his hand up into Scorpius's hair and seemed to kiss him harder. They heard Evvie sigh.

"No. Nope. No, I'm not dealing with this today, I am off-duty until dinner," she muttered to herself. Which was good, because they weren't planning on letting her deal with it today anyway. "You two didn't see me, I didn't see you."

"Okay," Albus mumbled against Scorpius's lips.

She hurried off, leaving Albus and Scorpius in blissful peace. Well—Scorpius assumed they had peace. If people were passing by as they snogged, he was none the wiser.

---

He and Albus were giggling inside the drawn hangings of his four-poster. Scorpius couldn't seem to stop smiling. And he couldn't seem to stop touching his boyfriend, either.

"You're beautiful," Albus admitted, his tone just a bit too low for the compliment to seem entirely innocent. Scorpius smiled so widely that it made his face ache, his heart doubled in size. His palm had been caressing the smooth, freckled skin of Albus's back, over the slight dips and ridges of his ribs, but at those words, he pressed his hand against Albus's spine and nudged him closer. Scorpius kissed Albus's grinning mouth, smile to smile, chest to chest, their hearts beating rapidly against each other.

"You're more beautiful," Scorpius mumbled back. As if to back up that statement, he swept his hand over Albus's bare hip, the dimples of his lower back, the scar that looked remarkably like a tick symbol on his upper thigh. He had decided quickly that even just lying bare with Albus was infinitely better than doing nearly anything else (and if he and Albus were also doing things—nothing could top that. Not even reading A History of Magic).

He could've kissed and touched Albus all day long, so when Albus's stomach gave an audible rumble, he was inclined to ignore it. He wanted to keep on as they had been and take advantage of their free day and empty dorm, but hunger had been steadily gnawing at his own stomach too, and it had to have been past lunch by now. Actually, they might've missed lunch entirely; Scorpius had completely lost all concept of time. Being inside the closed bed hangings with Albus felt like another world, another dimension, one that he wasn't eager to leave.

"I wish I had a house elf," Albus murmured. He nuzzled his warm nose against Scorpius's neck. Scorpius squirmed and struggled to contain his laughter. He countered by shying away, sliding down, and pressing a kiss over Albus's ticklish ribs. Albus's laughter was delightfully breathless, and from Scorpius's vantage point, he was indeed finding it difficult to remember why they would ever choose to leave.

"You have house elves," Albus commented, after his stomach gave another growl. "Can't you call them here? They could bring us food."

"I don't need anything to eat," Scorpius heard Naughty Scorpius say. "There's plenty to do here with my mouth anyway, you know."

Horrified embarrassment over his crass words overtook Scorpius at once. He felt his ears burn hotly. But he didn't have to feel it for very long because Albus shimmied down so he was nose-to-nose with Scorpius a moment later, murmured something cheeky that sounded like now I've got to kiss that dirty mouth, and Scorpius's blush gradually faded as Albus kissed him. He sank into the kiss, into Albus's hands stroking his skin, and he realized that Albus didn't mind it. He reminded himself that Albus seemed to really like Naughty Scorpius. He had especially liked Naughty Scorpius within the past hour or so. And Scorpius had loved Flirty Albus just as much—if not more. Scorpius—who had been taught by his mother from the time he could talk to be unflinchingly polite—was slowly learning to find enjoyment in being vulgar.

"Whenever we do…you know," Scorpius said softly, after Albus moved his lips to Scorpius's jaw. "I think we might never leave the dorm…"

"I wouldn't complain."

Scorpius enjoyed Albus's wandering kisses for a few moments, and then he got the urge to kiss him again, so he reached down and gently grasped his chin, dragging his face back upwards. He kissed him deeply, his skin tingling with excitement over the things they'd done and all the things left to do; he felt like this new world with Albus, this sexual world, was full of limitless possibility. He didn't feel any rush to move any further than they already had, and he could tell Albus felt the same way. He enjoyed every second of everything they did and couldn't imagine getting bored with it or with Albus. And while he was looking forward to doing more…he also looked forward to having that to look forward to. It was thrilling in a way that nothing else was.

"We could always wait until the summer…sneak off to that abandoned cottage in the woods behind the Den…stay there all day long every day…no classes or responsibilities…" Scorpius suggested.

"How pragmatic of you, Scorpius," Albus teased. "Scheduling our unrestrained lust."

"Malfoy the Pragmatic."

"Malfoy the Randy, more like it."

"Albus the Instigator," Scorpius shot back with a grin. "You love driving me mad."

"More than I love almost anything else," Albus admitted. "And, you know, I think I'm rather good at it."

"You're great at it," Scorpius agreed lowly.

"Finally, I've got a talent!"

"Actually, you've got many talents," Scorpius pointed out. "A good amount of them were discovered here in this very bed. I credit myself with their discovery."

"Thanks for appreciating me and my new talents."

"Bit impossible not to appreciate them, Albus," Scorpius admitted. Albus's idle caressing hands skimmed low and Scorpius felt his body react. "See? My body is a massive fan."

"I agree," Albus said. His voice was husky again. Scorpius gave a delighted laugh because he loved that tone, and he wished Albus never spoke in any other ones. But then again…that would mean everybody else got to hear it…including Lumie Kolin…no, he changed his mind. Better that only he got to hear it, here in his bed, in their secret world. Ha, Scorpius found himself thinking. No one else gets to know about Flirty Albus and his many naughty talents. Just me. Only me.

Albus's stomach gave another rumble. This time, Scorpius's echoed it. They both sighed.

"We should probably get food," Albus muttered, annoyed. "We should've stolen food from breakfast. We never learn, do we?"

Scorpius sighed again, dejected. He slid up and reached a hand through the bed hangings towards his bedside table. He grabbed the watch he never remembered to wear and checked the time. He frowned.

"Uh oh. Lunch is over. It's nearly two!"

"Seriously?" Albus said, surprised.

"We should set an alarm next time," Scorpius said. He felt a bit disoriented. He'd felt like he'd spent an incredibly long time and no time at all in the dorms. Time had slowed down for them but had sped up for everybody else.

"Let's get dressed and go bother my mum for food," Albus decided.

Scorpius nodded. "Okay. Do you think your parents are awake? I wonder if my dad has even made it back here yet."

Albus clicked his fingers. "Here—I'll check the map if you'll do the cleaning charms."

"Okay," Scorpius agreed. "Though I hope Slughorn doesn't do my wand check again, he's a bit suspicious I think…"

"He was our age once; I think he probably has a good idea what you're using them for," Albus said. He grabbed his wand from the bedside table, summoned the Maurader's Map from his side of the dorm, and then pressed his wand to it. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

"Felt good to me," Naughty Scorpius quipped back. He flushed again, but to be fair to himself, it was definitely Albus's fault. He knew for a fact that he hadn't been this way before he'd gotten involved with a Potter.

"Let's see…" Albus said, as Scorpius did his best Charms work yet with a magnificent Scourgify, "Yeah, the Great Hall is cleared out…guess they didn't decide to extend lunch. They should've since everybody's so sleep deprived. Hey, your dad is back, Scorpius! He and Aunt Hermione are in Dad's office with McGonagall. Wonder where James is if McGonagall is there? I assumed he'd spend all day doing Animagus training—oh, nevermind, he's in the Common Room with Nora. Big surprise. Oh! Look!"

Albus shoved the map towards Scorpius, pointing at the Gryffindor Common Room. Scorpius saw Lily Potter and Rose Granger-Weasley together.

"I hope they're apologizing to each other," Albus said. "I hate when they argue…it's miserable for everybody. Oi! What the—?! Merlin's most baggy Y-fronts!"

Scorpius giggled. He'd heard Albus's Uncle Ron say that once before during their holiday that summer, and he never got sick of it. "Baggy Y-fronts—" he laughed. Albus missed his amusement.

"LOOK. Caught! Oh, I caught her! Bossing us around like we're toddlers, and look!"

Scorpius did look, and what he saw made him clap his hand over his mouth in surprise.

"Looks like Evvie had the same idea we did for today. No wonder she didn't stop us," Albus snickered.

"She did say she was off-duty until dinner," Scorpius pointed out.

"Yeah, but I don't think off-duty is supposed to mean inside the Gryffindor boys' dorm," Albus said. "It's over. Next time she tries to boss me around…ha! She's breaking the rules! And James is too because I bet he's being Ben's little wingman—look at that, he and Nora are right in front of the dorm stairs, and I doubt a sofa is usually there. Hypocrites!"

"To be fair, though, she didn't stop us," Scorpius reminded Albus. "She didn't see us, we didn't see her, remember?"

Albus's face fell. "Damn. You're right. Still—nothing in that verbal agreement says I can't tease her."

"I don't think you'll live long if you tease her."

"It's so worth the risk, Scorpius. Remember third year when she used to make me re-tuck my shirt every morning before I left breakfast?"

Scorpius sniggered. "Yeah!"

"It's not funny!"

"It was a little funny, Albus."

"Traitor."

"I'll make it up to you."

"Now?" Albus asked hopefully.

Scorpius reached over and patted Albus's gurgling stomach. "After food."

"Ugh, okay, you're right. Damn weak Weasley stomach; I should be able to go longer than this without a meal…ridiculous…genetically unfair…"

Albus grumbled about his genes as they made slow progress towards the Potter parents' living quarters. The Map told them Ginny was on the Quidditch pitch, but Albus seemed confident that his parents would have food stashed in the kitchen somewhere, and Scorpius thought it was probably a fair bet.

"We need to get the hospital cane while we're there, just until we locate the other one," Scorpius told Albus firmly. He parted his lips to argue, but Scorpius shook his head. "No, we've got to. I'm not a very good cane. What if there's another attack? I can't get us very far."

"Fine," Albus grumbled.

They were affectionately mauled by cats and Pygmy Puffs when they entered the living quarters. They ate an entire roast chicken and some sugar-free biscuits, drank nearly all of the chilled butterbeer, and decided to go check out the secret mirror in the bedroom that they'd never been allowed to meet. They were halfway to the door when Mrs. Potter unexpectedly returned. She was wind-swept and still in her Quidditch robes; she sighed in relief when she spotted them.

"There you are! Where have you two been?! I've been looking everywhere!"

"We were…busy," Albus evaded. "Why? What's wrong, Mum?"

"The Slytherin team is finishing up try-outs right now! Jacques searched for you two but eventually had to give up! If you don't come down to the pitch now, you won't be getting a spot on the team."

That would've been all right with Scorpius, but then he remembered how carefree and happy Albus had looked zooming around the pitch, so he nodded.

"Okay. Albus?"

Albus had his hand on his stomach. It was protruding comically as if he were expecting.

"I don't know if I can fly…I'm so full…"

"You can probably still fly— how much did you eat?" Ginny asked. She surveyed the kitchen. Her jaw dropped. "You ate that entire chicken?! Albus! Draco brought that back for dinner tonight, his elves made it!"

Scorpius smacked his own forehead. "I knew it tasted familiar. Like home! I bet Scarlet made it. She always balances lavender and thyme exceptionally well…she picks it from my mum's gardens, you know…"

"Oh, bugger," Albus said, his eyes wide. "I'll…we can go to the kitchens and get a replacement!"

"To my dad, there's no replacing it," Scorpius told Albus sadly. "He can tell the difference between herbs from my mum's gardens and herbs from elsewhere. Mark my words: he'll know."

Ginny sighed. "I suppose this is my fault for giving my teenage kids free access to the kitchen…don't worry about it. Now come along, we need to get down to the pitch immediately."

---

Jacques was waiting nervously when they arrived.

"Finally!" Cyprus Avery—Beater—snapped. "We've been waiting for ages!"

"We didn't—" Scorpius tried to defend, but Jillian Nott (the other Beater) interrupted him.

"Save it, let's just fly, we've got places to be," she spat.

"And attitude adjustments to get, clearly," Albus said. Scorpius gave him a wide-eyed look and shook his head, but thankfully neither Nott nor Avery rose to his bait. They kicked off and rose into the sky. One of the Chasers, Ian Martes, followed. It was then that Scorpius noticed a familiar face.

"Oh," he said. He walked over to the younger boy. "Hello, Caden. Are you trying out, too?"

"Already tried out," Caden said. "Got it."

Scorpius blinked. "Oh. Er…great!" Albus limped over to join them. "What position? Because I was trying for Keeper, but if you got Keeper, then I'll just try for something else. I'm flexible."

"Seeker," Caden smirked. "Like Lily. But unlike Lily, I caught the Snitch in five minutes."

"Seeker?" Albus said sharply, his eyes narrowed. "What—you heard Gryffindor was playing against Slytherin first and just had to get involved?"

Caden crossed his arms. "Lily's angry with me."

"So…your solution is to become the Slytherin Seeker…so you can play against her and taunt her?"

Caden gave Albus a look, as if the latter were being purposefully dense. "Do you even know Lily? She's going to be thrilled. She loves competition."

"Do I know Lily?! Do I know Lily?!" Albus echoed, outraged. "She's my sister! I've known her since she was born! Technically I even knew her before she was born!"

Caden blinked. "Okay?"

"So…so…" Albus struggled with his dislike. Scorpius knew he was searching for a logical reason to hate Caden. "You're a bad influence on my sister and I don't like it!"

"Lily's a bad influence on me," Caden scoffed. He pointed towards the sky. "Jacques is pointing at you two."

Both Scorpius and Albus looked up, and sure enough, Jacques was motioning for them to kick off. Ginny handed them their brooms and they flew up to join the rest of the team. Scorpius took his place in front of the goals; the two Chasers (Ian Martes and Jacques Stinton) spent ten minutes firing Quaffle after Quaffle his way. Scorpius managed to save at least eight out of ten (he might've lost count a bit, but he still felt that was fairly decent). Albus did an even better job when it was his turn. Being able to move freely about had invigorated him with so much confidence that he seemed unstoppable. Scorpius watched in shock and awe as Albus scored goal after goal. When try-outs ended, and they landed back down on the ground, Ginny looked a bit teary.

"Finally," she said, her arms enveloping Albus. "One of my children…a Chaser!"

"Stinton didn't say he got the position," Avery snapped.

Ginny appraised him coldly. "Stinton is intelligent, so I feel it's safe to assume that he'll give Albus the position. Stinton?"

"Of course. He scored ten more than the others who tried out," Stinton answered. Avery looked extremely unhappy about it but didn't contest Stinton's decision.

"And Scorpius? Did he get it?" Albus asked nervously.

"What? Oh, yeah. He's the only one who tried out for Keeper. Sorry, should've told you that at the start, I guess. He's got it."

Scorpius beamed. "Yes! Yay!"

Overjoyed, he threw his arms around Albus and Ginny. Both Potters laughed.

---

The Room of Requirement—taking on the appearance of the Seven's headquarters—was bustling with activity. With only an hour until dinner, Scorpius assumed everybody would be winding down for the night, but when they entered, the seventh years were hunched over long, detailed sheets of parchment, drawing diagrams on a chalkboard, and engaged in strategic debates. Scorpius was interested in what they were planning, but Albus was only interested in revenge.

"Evvie Wilson," he greeted.

Evvie looked up from an intense discussion with Clementine Clearwater. She arched a dark eyebrow.

"Yes? Everything all right, Albus?" she asked.

"Is somebody bothering you?" James interjected worriedly. He turned from Louis and Bec Floyd and faced Albus and Scorpius. "Who? Avery?"

"No, nobody's bothering us," Albus dismissed quickly. He pointed at Evvie. And then he pointed at Ben, who was at Evvie's side, deep in conversation with Nora and Roxanne. "I caught you, Evvie. I know what—and who—you did today. At almost two in the afternoon."

A slight flush over her cheeks was the only change to her appearance. Her face remained impassive. Her posture didn't shift. Ben, on the other hand, had jumped and peered wildly towards Albus in alarm.

"And I know what—and who—you did at two in the afternoon," Evvie countered calmly.

Scorpius blushed. He looked down at his feet.

"You broke the rules, though. You went into Gryffindor Tower and the boys' dorms!" Albus countered.

"Prove it."

Albus hesitated. "What? What do you mean 'prove it'?"

"Prove that I did what you said I did."

"I…well, I saw it, on my map!"

"Did you duplicate the map? So you could show it to somebody?"

"No…but—!"

"Ben, was I in your dorm with you today?"

Ben looked a bit too pleased by the conversation topic. "No, she was not."

"I saw her!" Albus argued hotly.

Ben shrugged. "Might want to have Harry check your map again, mate. No Evvie in my bed. Or on the windowsill—or the bedside table—or anywhere that she wasn't supposed to be—"

Evvie backhanded Ben's chest, but the corners of her mouth twitched. "They get it, Chase."

Ben looked sweetly at her as if she'd just kissed him, which was enough confirmation, in Scorpius's opinion.

"You're just protecting her honor!" Albus snapped. He pointed at the both of them. "And—you didn't do a good job fixing your hair; you still look thoroughly well-f—"

"Watch it," Evvie warned. "You don't want to swear at the Head Girl."

"Albus," Scorpius begged.

"Oh, fine," Albus said. "But I know you broke the rules, and I know you're lying, so I expect to get away with breaking the rules from time to time!"

Albus plopped down between Nora and Roxanne. Scorpius went to join him. He spotted Ben and Evvie quietly finger-combing through each other's slightly tangled hair as he did. Mmhmm.

Scorpius sat on Nora's other side. She smiled at him and held her hand out, her palm facing him. Scorpius stared, uncertain.

"High-five," she explained, after a brief silence. "For getting Keeper!"

"Oh!" Scorpius smiled. He smacked her palm with his. "Thanks! To be honest, though, I had no competition."

"That's because we—the Gryffindor Chasers—keep running off the competition's Keepers," Nora winked. She patted his hair. "I'll go easy on you. Rose and Ben, though…I can't make any promises on their ends."

Scorpius was feeling a little less enthused about being Keeper. He gestured towards the table in front of them. "What are all the charts for?"

"Oh, we're planning for our Halloween party," Nora smiled.

"Let's get their opinions," Sara Bones interjected. Scorpius and Albus peered towards her. She was sitting on the floor in front of the table methodically sorting the charts and diagrams with Jacques Stinton. "Here…" she produced a sheet of parchment. "What do you think of these ideas?"

Albus leaned forward and took the parchment. He and Scorpius looked down at it.

Halloween Party Ideas
Please add an idea as you come and go from the RoR – no idea is a bad idea
Please sign your name after each idea and return this parchment back to the table.
We will examine the ideas together weekly leading up to Halloween.

1. No House-specific garments allowed!– James & Nora
2. Following from the previous idea, no admittance without a costume. It will help strengthen the bond of the party-goers and support the spirit of the holiday. – Clementine
3. Muggle mystery dinner. Let's discuss if you don't know what it is! – Bec
4. Having learnt what this is, I think this would be fun. However, because the party is after the Feast, it might be best to make this simply a theatre performance. Most attendees will be full from the Feast. – Louis
5. What about a fake haunted house? - Sara
6. I bet the Room of Requirement could become a brilliant one if we asked. Somebody look into this—Roxanne
7. Haunted Muggle strip poker is an idea - Ben
8. No, it's not – Evvie
9. How do you haunt a game of poker? – Jacques
10. We can get Nearly Headless Nick to attend – Ben
11. There will be first years at this party. – Clementine
12. I forgot Clem, my mistake. We'll save that idea for our Sevens party – Ben
13. I think, in light of what's going on in the school right now, a light-hearted party might be best. Music, food—no scares or tricks. – Evvie
14. I agree – James, Nora, Ben, Roxanne
15. So no costumes or yes to costumes? – Clementine

Scorpius looked up at the Sevens. The amount of planning was exhausting him, and he wasn't even involved. He hesitantly voiced his opinions.

"Well…after the dementor thing…I think maybe it would be best to just…do a regular party," he said.

"Yeah, I think if you try to scare some of these first years so soon after last night, they'll actually pass out," Albus agreed.

"What if we did masks?" Evvie suggested.

"Er…like Death Eaters?" Roxanne asked.

"Of course not. Animals, fun designs—whatever. It would help encourage people to mingle without worrying about who is in what House, who has a reputation for doing what…like not wearing House-specific things; this takes it a step further."

Nora's face brightened. "I could make them, to make sure they aren't anything frightening, and we could have everybody grab one when they enter!"

"I really like that idea," Ben enthused. "And if we advertise that, it might even encourage people who wouldn't ordinarily come to join us."

"I like that, too," James said. He nodded. "Anyone disagree?"

"I don't particularly disagree, but I'd like to point out that anonymity can be a dangerous thing," Clementine said. "What if somebody tries to hurt someone, thinking they can get away with it because nobody can see who they are?"

"We could have Bec give the masks out," Sara suggested. "Bec never forgets a face. I bet she'd remember who had what mask, and it wouldn't be as obvious as writing names down."

"Yeah, I'd be all right with that," Bec agreed.

"Speak now or forever hold your peace." James waited, but everybody was nodding. "Brilliant. So we'll do a party with masks. Al, you and Scorpius are coming to the party, right?"

"Er…perhaps. Last time we went to a party, it didn't turn out so well," Albus answered. "We'll think about it."

Scorpius thought it was likely that the party would be fun, but he was positive staying in bed with Albus would be better.

---

The rest of the week went by in a blur of classes, homework, and Quidditch practice. Albus and Scorpius were both so busy that they could hardly find five minutes alone. The professors seemed determined to keep every student relentlessly occupied with assignment after assignment, Jacques Stinton seemed determined to cram as many practices into the day as possible without a time turner, and the faculty seemed determined to have eyes on the students at all times. It was rare now to ever be anywhere without a Prefect or faculty member in sight. They roamed the halls, stopping people at will to do wand checks. One more student had been caught by the new securities placed on the House entrances, but word had yet to spread on who it was. The dementors had remained off school grounds, save one brief instance with a singular one wandering onto the Quidditch pitch, but despite that, everybody still seemed on edge at Hogwarts. The closer Halloween got, the more the uneasiness spread throughout the air. And on Monday morning of the following week, Scorpius realized the true cause of that spreading apprehension.

"It's not Halloween that's making everybody nervous, Scorpius," his dad informed him. "It's Halloran Carrow's trial."

Albus and Scorpius were in Draco's new living quarters. They'd stopped by that morning to say hello on their way to Divination. Scorpius had voiced his concerns over the nervous energy of the school, but as soon as his dad corrected him, he realized that that should've been obvious. The Prophet had been reporting about the upcoming trial at least once every few days. It was a popular topic of conversation, because to many people, it would be a marker for determining what would happen next. Would the Ministry let off Halloran with a wrist-slap—implying that underage students could get away with Dark Magic if only they kicked up enough trouble? Would the Ministry come down hard on Carrow—implying there was still a very real bias against those associated with Death Eaters? The uneasiness wasn't due to the trial itself. The uneasiness was surrounding the knowledge that, very soon, something would happen to break the fragile peace of their society. It was possible that there would be a catalyst, and many people seemed convinced it would be the Carrow trial.

"I wish I didn't have to go," Albus grumbled.

"It's not fun," Draco agreed. "But be glad that you're alive to face and accuse him."

"Dad, do you think it will set them off? The trial? Will it set off whoever is doing all of this by making them hate the Ministry even more?" Scorpius asked nervously.

"No, I don't. Hermione has been preparing for this trial since the day after Albus was attacked. She knows precisely what's at stake. And if you can trust Granger on one thing, it's that she'll do her homework."

Scorpius glanced at Albus. He was already glancing Scorpius's way. Scorpius took a deep breath and gave it a shot.

"Dad, do you know who—"

"Scorpius," Draco interrupted, his tone firm. "As many adults have already told you two, we cannot tell you sensitive information discovered by the Aurors."

"We just want to know who sent the dementors—if somebody sent them!" Albus said.

"I know. And I wish that we could tell you. It isn't that we don't trust you; we don't trust the people around you. What we found out…we can't risk this spreading. You will get information when the public receives information."

Albus grumbled but didn't argue. Scorpius sighed in frustration.

"Dad…"

"I'm sorry."

Scorpius sighed again. "Don't be sorry, that'll just make me feel guilty."

"You two should get to class. Don't forget about dinner tonight."

Scorpius's stomach clenched with nervousness. Tonight, before dinner, his dad was giving his first official speech to the students about his new involvement at the school, and Scorpius couldn't remember ever feeling more nervous—both for his father and for himself.

"It'll be there," Scorpius reassured Draco weakly.

"Careful not to overwhelm yourself with all that excitement," Draco said sarcastically.

"Sorry, it's just…my classmates…they're sort of…awful," Scorpius explained. "I'm worried."

"Don't worry about me. I can take it. I've taken worse. Just watch out for yourself." He gestured towards the doorway. "Now get to Divination before your professor publically names three more of your future children."

"Dad!" Scorpius squeaked. Albus's face looked just as hot as Scorpius's felt.

"Relax," Draco dismissed. "She said James Potter would have twelve children, and I doubt any woman is going to want to—much less be able to—have a dozen children."

Albus laughed. Draco turned his pale eyes to him.

"What?" Draco asked.

"Er…sorry, it's just…have you met my brother and his girlfriend? They're like…disgusting. They're more married than any married couple I know. They sleep in matching pajamas. They made each other tea blends that they drink when they miss each other. They would absolutely have twelve babies. They'd have like seven or eight and adopt the rest. And they would name them really soppy things like Ginevra and Harry and Dean and Seamus…"

"You mean they would name them after people they love?" Scorpius clarified, amused.

"Yeah. Which is soppy rubbish. Don't get me started on this, please."

"Yeah, Dad, don't get Albus Severus Potter started on that 'soppy rubbish', please," Scorpius teased. Albus swung his newly recovered cane (Slughorn found it kicked beneath his desk in his office) lightly at Scorpius.

Draco was looking at them oddly.

"Dad?" Scorpius questioned.

"Class. Get to class, Scorpius," Draco ordered. He averted his eyes moments after. Scorpius shook his head as they left and headed towards Divination.

"I think remembering the war is making my dad a bit…"

"Overemotional? Yeah, I caught onto that, too."

---

They were greeted by an unexpected redhead when they entered Harry's classroom later that morning.

"What are you doing here? Don't you have another lesson to get to?" Albus asked Lily. She waved cheerfully at them from her place at Harry's side.

"Not yet," she told them mysteriously.

Albus, deadpanned: "Dad, what's she up to?"

"For once…nothing that I'm not aware of," Harry said. "Get to your seats please and get out your quills."

Albus stamped suspiciously over to his seat. Scorpius sat in his place beside Albus and the two watched curiously as Lily and Harry examined a stack of parchment. When the last student had fallen into their respective seat, Harry smiled at the class.

"Good morning. Before we begin our lesson, my daughter wants to say a few words. Please give her your attention and respect."

Claire Theva scoffed loudly. Harry walked over and sat in the seat behind hers in response.

"Hello!" Lily greeted brightly. She gestured at herself. "I'm Lily Potter—"

"No shit," Saul snorted. Claire fell into derisive giggles.

"That hair and those glasses, what else would you be?" Claire stage-whispered. "Tragic."

"Twenty points from Slytherin," Harry said. He was clearly trying to remain calm, but Scorpius noticed he was clenching his fists. "Next time it's detention. Try me."

They stopped giggling. Lily pulled her hair over her shoulder, glanced up to the ceiling, and took a deep breath, clearly trying to keep her temper in check. After a long moment, she exhaled slowly and gave the class a slightly-forced smile.

"Anyway," she said tightly. It appeared to be paining her to repress whatever swears she wanted to fling Claire and Saul's way, but she managed it. "I'm speaking to my dad's classes today to offer you all a great opportunity! Well…most of you. Well…the ones I like."

"Lily."

"…Mostly all of you. Except for you," she nodded towards Claire Theva. "You made fun of my hair. And my hair is phenomenal. So I don't trust your judgement and you're excluded."

Claire Theva scoffed in response.

"My mum and I are starting a school publication. It's come to our attention that there are many people who feel certain things—bad things—but won't or can't talk about them to people they know and trust. So we've created Hogwarts Help. It is a weekly advice column run anonymously and set up to help provide emotional support for—"

"Sorry, wait," Saul interrupted, baffled. "Let me get this straight. We're supposed to ask you, a thirteen—"

"Shut it, I wasn't done talking," Lily interrupted right back. She observed Saul coolly and unflinchingly until Saul looked away, visible uncomfortable beneath her intense stare. Lily rolled her eyes and looked back at the class. She smiled again. "I'm here looking for volunteers! My mum and I are just organizing and distributing; we aren't the ones responding to those who need advice unless we're specifically addressed. We're looking for people who might want to help. It won't be very time-consuming…I know everybody is very busy. But if you like helping people, it might be a good way to help change things. We've got a few experts on board already for specific questions relating to health or laws or Dark Magic, but we want fellow students who can help advise on the everyday stuff. So. Here's an information sheet about our first meeting…" Lily walked over and set the stack down in front of Rina Matthewson. She took one and began passing the stack down. "Are there any questions?"

"Yeah. How is this supposed to help? More Potter-run propaganda. Please. Spare us," Saul said.

"All right. You're spared, you whiny baby. Feel free to never touch a copy of our publication. Next?" Lily asked.

"He's got a point," Claire reiterated. "How is this different from the Prophet?"

Lily stared at Claire like she'd never seen anybody dumber in her entire life. "Do you even think at all? How could we be controlling the Prophet? The Prophet says awful things about my family all the time. Come on…you can do better than that. Be a woman, Claire. Next."

Claire flushed. "The Ministry is run and controlled by—"

"Oh, Merlin's hairy bollocks, here we go again!"

"Lily, language!" Harry sighed.

Lily swung her hair over her shoulder again. She pointed at Claire.

"First of all, you probably wouldn't even be alive if it weren't for my dad. You want to have revelations and reality checks? My dad gave up his life to do what was right! Nobody made him do that. Nobody forced him to do that. He could've said 'fuck off' to Voldemort and just stayed at Hogwarts to play Quidditch and snog my mum, but did he? No. He did what he did because it was right—he did it because he knew that if he didn't, people would suffer, and he didn't want them to suffer. So he suffered for them. And he was scared, but he did it anyway, and he fought anyway, and he won! And he's a hero—he's my hero! So you can shut your mouth! Because the people you defend, the people your friends defend, they hurt people for fun! They were fighting to rid the entire Wizarding world of Muggle-borns! They wanted to rid the world of Muggles! This is not an opinion! This is a fact! This is what you support—that's what you say is okay—"

"You stupid little girl—"

"Detention, Theva!" Harry barked.

Lily's face was red with anger.

"I am not a stupid little girl. And when all of this is over, history will remember you as the loser, and I'll be the winner. And that is a fact, too."

"Enough, Lily," Harry said firmly. He stood. "Has everybody gotten an information sheet?"

Heads bobbed.

"Brilliant. Thanks for speaking with the class, Lily."

Scorpius quickly began clapping loudly. Albus joined in. Most of the Hufflepuffs did, too. Lily curtsied.

"If anyone else wants to have a go at me, you know where to find me," she said. "I hope you'll consider volunteering. And Claire, I hope you'll write in; it seems like talking with an expert historian would do you some good."

Claire called Lily a word that made Harry take more points from Slytherin. Lily called her something rudely creative back, causing Harry to take twenty points from Gryffindor. It took a few minutes for the class to settle down after Lily's departure.

"All right, all right…" Harry finally said. "I know I was vague on Friday about what we'd be covering next. I was originally going to move onto Dark aquatic threats, but I've decided to move things around. I think a more topical lesson is the Imperius Curse."

Everybody focused fully on Harry.

"We're going to cover the logistics of it. We're going to cover how to tell if somebody you love's been Imperiused. We're going to discuss how to tell if you have been. And we're going to discuss how to throw it off. But before we do all if that…I want you to split into groups of four and get out parchment and quills. Go on. Groups of four."

Scorpius and Albus exchanged a hesitant look. Scorpius looked behind them and met Iset's eyes.

"Do you and Rina want to join us?" he asked hopefully.

She nodded. "Sure."

Rina and Iset pulled their chairs up to the ends of Albus and Scorpius's table.

"No, one sheet of parchment is enough," Harry called loudly, in response to a student's question. "All right. Looks as if everybody is ready. Now—working as a group—I want you to write down all you currently know about the Imperius Curse. Don't worry about being right; any conception you have about it, write it down. This will be marked for completion only."

Scorpius beamed. "Oh, I can help; I've read loads on the Imperius Curse!"

"I know it's an Unforgivable, it gives you control of another's body and mind…" Rina began.

"You can make people do things they wouldn't ordinarily be able to do," Albus added. "You could make somebody who'd never played the violin once play it like an expert."

"It was invented during the Middle Ages for the purpose of forcing people into slavery!" Scorpius shared excitedly. "In 1717—"

"What are you writing, Iset?" Albus interrupted curiously. Scorpius paused his lecture and looked towards Iset. She was steadily writing onto the parchment, and to Scorpius's surprise, she'd already filled nearly half of it.

"I wrote down what you all said about it and now I'm writing about its effects," she explained. "Don't worry; I'll save room for the history of it, Scorpius."

"That's…you know a lot about its effects…" Scorpius said uneasily.

Iset didn't reply. Rina was reading over Iset's shoulder.

"This is…horrid, Iset. Who told you how it feels to be Imperiused?"

Iset avoided Rina's eyes. She shrugged.

"What happened in 1717, Scorpius?" she asked.

Albus and Scorpius shared a concerned look.

---

Their Monday lessons ended with double Charms with the Gryffindors. After a moderately successful lesson, Rose walked with them towards the Great Hall for dinner.

"Today in DADA we sat with your girlfriend—"

Rose's skin darkened. "She's not my girlfriend, Albus!"

Albus sighed. "Are we still at this phase? Sorry, okay. Today in DADA we sat with your…'lady friend'…and she—"

"You know, it's rude to assume things, Albus," Rose snapped, interrupting him once again. She huffed and tightened her hold on her bag. "I never assumed things about you."

"Uh, yes. Yes, you did. You assumed Scorpius was the son of Voldemort, you assumed it must 'mean something' that I was a Slytherin, you assumed loads."

Rose didn't respond to that. She stared at her feet as they walked. Scorpius assumed they'd walk in an awkward silence for the entire journey, but right as they entered the Entrance Hall, Rose grabbed both of them by the crooks of the elbows and pulled them through the door that led to the now-empty Classroom Eleven corridor. Once the door shut behind them, Rose rounded on them.

"What happened in DADA?"

"We were working in groups and filling out a sheet of parchment—"

"We had to write down what we collectively knew about the Imperius—"

"Iset knew a lot…too much, in my opinion—"

"She could tell us exactly how it felt with details I've never even read in a book before!"

Oddly, Rose relaxed.

"Oh," she said. "Okay."

"'Okay'?" Albus demanded. "Rose, I think she's been Imperiused before. How is that okay?"

"Not my place to respond to that. I just thought it was…something else," Rose evaded.

Albus looked lost, but Scorpius realized he could place the expression flittering vulnerably across Rose's face. It was born from an emotion that Scorpius had experienced often in the early years of his and Albus's friendship.

"You thought she said something about you and her," he realized softly.

Rose opened her mouth to rebut, but nothing came out. She looked away.

"Rose," Albus said. His tone was uncharacteristically gentle. "You know, it's all right. I mean, I'm sort of a biased person to be telling you that, but I've lived through it, and I know that it's really…"

Albus trailed off, clearly reluctant to open up more than that to Rose, whom he was still rather guarded around (and for good reason). Scorpius took a deep breath and decided that baring himself would be worth it if it meant that he could help Rose and Iset.

"It's confusing and frightening," Scorpius supplied, and at that, Rose glanced up at him.

"Because on the one hand…" Scorpius continued. "There's a part of you that knows you care about that person so much more than you've cared about somebody before. But then there's another part that makes excuses and rationalizes…it says things like 'well, maybe I just really love this person's friendship' or 'maybe I'm just desperate to be understood and that's what I'm attracted to'. But you know it's more than that, and that's frightening, because what if that person doesn't feel it back? If you…well, having your heart race every time you so much as slightly touch somebody and then fearing that they only see you as a friend…it's a bit gutting. In…my opinion…" Scorpius trailed off awkwardly, because Rose had turned her back on him. He worried he'd made it worse.

But then she spoke, and her voice sounded pulled thin.

"So what do you do about it? Hypothetically."

"Hypothetically…you talk to that person…even if the only way you can manage to do it is in awkward, stumbling sentences that eventually just lead to a surprise kiss…" Scorpius grinned at Albus. Albus smiled back.

Rose still wouldn't look at them.

"It wasn't supposed to be this way. I don't know what happened."

"It's called fancying somebody, Rose," Albus said dryly. "It's one of the few things on this planet even Rose Granger-Weasley can't plan and control."

"But why now? We were always slight friends. You know, we talked in classes. In first year, do you remember—"

"When she cried for two weeks straight? Who in our year doesn't remember that?" Albus said.

Rose's voice turned alarmingly cold. "Laugh about that and I'll punch you."

"Blimey, I wasn't going to laugh, Rose!" Albus said, alarmed. Scorpius wrapped an arm around Albus's waist, just in case he'd need to quickly pull him out of Rose's path of impact.

"She was crying because her cat died suddenly on the train ride. Probably because of something her dad did. And it was the only thing left that brought her comfort—the only real bond she had at home after her parents fired her nanny. And that's all I'm saying." Rose's voice no longer sounded strained; it was thick and brimming with withheld emotion now. Scorpius felt his own heart clench. His stomach inched towards his toes. He swallowed roughly. Rose continued after a moment's heavy pause. "That's when I met her, on the train, right after that, and I never even knew who she was because, at the time, she was too busy sobbing to give introductions. I didn't even know she was a Goyle until a week after she was sorted into Hufflepuff—I thought 'there's no way that's Goyle like Gregory Goyle', I assumed she was a Muggle-born with the same surname. By the time Dad told me Goyle Goyle had a daughter in my year, it was already obvious she wasn't anything like her dad, and, well…it's difficult to be suspicious of somebody who's so upset over the death of a cat that they cry for two weeks. And I don't understand why this is happening now, because like I'm trying to tell you, I've been friends with her since the start, but this year…"

Albus was positively eating this up. "The onset of puberty can happen at different ages for everyone, Rose—"

"Al!" Rose interrupted. "Stop with the sass before I smack you!"

"Sorry," Scorpius apologized for Albus. "Sometimes we just wake up and see people in a different light. I get it." He paused. Rose still didn't look comforted. "And, you know, she's pretty in an understated way."

"I already know she's pretty," Rose snapped.

"So…it makes sense that you fancy her."

"It's not all about looks, Scorpius," Rose said. Scorpius realized he was not doing a very good job of cheering Rose up. "It's about the way I feel, and—"

She broke off, embarrassed.

"And…?" Albus nudged her ribs, urging her to continue. She smacked his shoulder in response.

"And I've never…felt that way before," Rose finally finished, embarrassed and gruff. She cleared her throat. "If you tell her any of this…"

"We won't," Scorpius swore quickly.

"But you should," Albus added. "She definitely feels the same way."

"How do you know that?" Rose demanded, but there was an undercurrent of desperation that Scorpius could hear easily.

"…Have you seen the way she lights up when you're around? Wait, actually…that's probably an idiotic question. Of course you can't see how she is around other people. Okay. Take it from us, Rose. There is a visible difference when you arrive. She's a different person around you than she is around us. She's happier when you're there. And I don't think it's because Scorpius and I are poor company."

"We're not poor company," Scorpius agreed quietly. Albus patted his hip in response.

A smile was tugging at the corners of Rose's lips. She was fighting against it, but she was losing.

"Really?" she asked.

"Really," Albus reassured her. "Can we go eat now? I'm starving."

"Yeah, go ahead," Rose said. She sounded a bit dazed. "I'll be there. Save me a seat."

They left her pacing the passage way, a soft smile still in place. Scorpius was beaming.

"I love it," he told Albus happily.

"I can't believe we were ever in denial like that; it's hilarious," Albus added. They stepped into the Great Hall. Scorpius's dad was already standing at the front. "Ooh, your dad is about to speak. Let's hurry and sit."

They sat at the end of the mixed-House table. Scorpius noticed it had even more people now than it did this morning; every day a few more people seemed to elect to sit at it. On some days, the Gryffindor table looked particularly barren. On other days, it was the Hufflepuff table. Today the Ravenclaw had a lot of empty spaces in its midst, too. Scorpius locked eyes with James as he examined the new people at the table; James smiled at him and gave him a thumbs up. Scorpius returned the smile.

"Good evening," McGonagall greeted. At once, the conversation and commotion quieted down. "I hope the week started well for everyone. I have a few announcements, and then I'm going to introduce our new faculty member who is going to say a few words. First: I'm delighted to report that we've been four days without any dementor sightings here or in Hogsmeade. The Aurors report that they have all retreated deep into the Forbidden Forest, but I want to remind students to remain on guard, and to be critical of any and all rumors you might hear surrounding the dementors."

Albus set a hand on Scorpius's thigh. Scorpius looked down at him. He was examining the staff table with a furrowed brow.

"Where are my parents?" he hissed.

Their spots were empty. Scorpius frowned.

"We will continue with double-patrols for Prefects. Those of you who can produce a Patronus, be especially vigilant. As always, if you see or hear something, report it straight to the Head Boy or Girl, your Head of House, me, or the nearest professor. Do not be complacent. Additionally, Professor Potter has asked me to make this announcement in his absence: beginning on Monday of next week, he will be offering Defense lessons for anybody who is interested, regardless of age. He will meet—"

Rampant, loud whispering bloomed across the Great Hall. McGonagall sighed.

"Okay, quiet down now—you can't very well go to this meeting if you don't let me tell you where it is located!"

The students gradually fell silent again.

"He will meet those students interested in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom at seven thirty on Monday. Bring your wands and nothing else. I also have an announcement from our Quidditch coach, who says she has heard from many students that there has been hexing in the corridors against Gryffindor and Slytherin Quidditch players. She wishes to remind you all that any student found hexing a player before Saturday's match will be, in her words, 'forever excluded from Hogwarts Quidditch games and teams'. She would also like to add that it's in 'extremely pathetic taste' to resort to foul-play and she encourages those who are self-conscious enough to do this to instead 'practice harder'. She has, interestingly enough, only placed emphasis on consequences for hexing players before the match, so I would like to stress to you all that the same level of punishment will be enacted for hexing them afterwards."

"James," Albus hissed down the table. Roxanne heard Albus and leaned across Nora to smack James's arm. James turned away from his conversation with Evvie and met Albus's eyes. "Where's Mum and Dad?"

"Ministry," James called back.

"Why?" Albus demanded.

James shrugged. "Wouldn't tell me."

"Now," McGonagall said, after she'd finished up her last announcement. "I would like to introduce everyone to our new Conflict Counselor—Mr. Draco Malfoy. He's going to explain his new role and say a few words. Please treat him respectfully."

The hall had been buzzing to various degrees all night, but at that, it grew in volume. Scorpius could feel the curious gazes of many of his classmates. He focused on his dad and pretended that he didn't notice the ogling. From the table behind him, Scorpius heard Claire Theva saying loudly: 'An ex-Death Eater! I can't believe she hired him! About time…' to which Cyprus Avery responded: 'Ha, yeah right; the Malfoys are in the Potters' pockets, Claire.'

Scorpius resisted the urge to bury his face into his goblet of pumpkin juice. He took a deep breath and focused entirely on his dad. Scorpius could tell he was nervous, but he was sure that nobody else could. His dad appeared tranquil; he stood tall with his face impassive as he waited for everybody to give him silence. But Scorpius saw the way he was rubbing the fabric of his suit jacket sleeve between his thumb and forefinger (and the faint line that'd formed between his eyebrows).

"Hello," Draco finally greeted, once the noise had died down. "As Professor McGonagall informed you, my name is Draco Malfoy and I'm taking up the new role of Conflict Counselor here at Hogwarts. This was not a position that existed when I was a student here, but if it had, it's possible that things might have been very different."

Scorpius took a deep breath, and as he did, he noticed his dad had done so at the same exact time, too. He felt his heart widen with affection for his dad; he wanted to walk up and stand beside him, so he knew that he wasn't alone, because Scorpius knew what it felt like to have so many judging eyes on you. But the best he could do was give his dad every ounce of his focus and attention and hope that his classmates would do the same.

"Tensions are high both here and out there," Draco gestured vaguely towards the walls of the Hall. "If you are associated with those who were once Death Eaters, tensions have always been high for you. I know. I understand, because despite what the Prophet might report, I have always felt that. I don't wish to speak ill of the Prophet more than necessary, but I must stress that I—nor our Ministry—are involved in any sort of power-seeking corruption controlled by the Potter family. I know what real power-seeking corruption looks like. You see, I was involved with it, and I've got the Mark to show for it."

To Scorpius's intermingled surprise and horror, his dad pulled his robe sleeve up and brandished the Dark Mark. Scorpius was perhaps more shocked than his classmates because only he knew how monumental that was for his dad. For Scorpius's entire childhood, his dad had worn long sleeves. He'd even swam in swim shirts in the Malfoy Manor pool. Scorpius had only seen the Dark Mark a few times in his childhood: once when he'd accidentally barged into his parents' room when his dad was in a towel, and once when his dad had spilt boiling water on himself and had to pull his shirt off. Both times, he remembered feeling ill for hours afterwards without even really knowing why. All he knew was that the Mark looked scary, and he knew it had to have been a bad thing, because even at his young age, he'd noticed the lengths his dad had gone to to keep it a secret. And so to see him bare it now, for hundreds and hundreds of students…Scorpius felt foolishly close to tears. And nobody else would even appreciate the lengths his dad was going to to fix things, to keep Scorpius from having to live through a war like he did. Nobody else would understand.

"I understand the criticism of the Potters. When I was your ages, I despised Harry Potter. I went out of my way to make his life as difficult as possible. I hated his wife and her family. See—they stood for everything I didn't. They embodied all the traits I wanted but felt I could never have. And, to be honest, Potter was arrogant, foolhardy, and a bit whiny."

Snickers erupted from the Slytherin table. Draco spared them a brief smile.

"So while it may be true that Harry Potter can be grating, it is also true that he has always done what is right."

The sounds of whispered disagreement passed from person to person, mostly at the Slytherin table. Scorpius's palms were sweaty now. Albus reached over and took his hand, but if he minded the sweat, it didn't show; he gave Scorpius's hand a warm squeeze and held on. It meant more than Scorpius could've ever said.

"As with every rebellion, there are elements of your foundation that are correct and elements that are wrong. And let us not be mistaken: those of you who are continuously doubting the past, who are hexing each other in corridors, or using the Imperius Curse on fellow students without their consent, or telling your fellow students that Potter and Dumbledore's Army made up lies to persecute Death Eaters and their families, or that Potter has created all of this just to gather control—you are starting a rebellion. You are fueling a rebellion. And those of you sitting here, thinking that I have no idea of the scale of this, assuming that I'm not aware of the involvement going on outside of this school: rest assured that I am. We are. And I will not dismiss or forgive your actions as the actions of foolish children. Despite your ages, you are, for better or for worse, feeding a rebellion that will grow into a violent war, and you are doing it deliberately. Is that really what you want?"

The question hung awkwardly and heavily over all their heads. Draco didn't give the students a chance to start whispering again before he continued.

"But, as I stated, there are certain things that you are correct about in this rebellion. Those of you with mothers or fathers or aunts or uncles who were Death Eaters know a truth that nobody else here could know or truly appreciate: we have experienced great hardship. Since the war has ended, things have not been easy for us. The Ministry keeps Aurors trailing most of us, to the point that our freedom is, in my opinion, unjustly compromised. I'm sure many of you remember walking around Diagon Alley as a child and wondering why that certain man or woman in brown was always following after you. My son did; he asked my wife and me on many occasions, and I admit that I was never sure what to say. How could I be honest without making my son frightened of me? How could I admit that I had done things to warrant being followed without making him see me as a monster? I know that the solution many of your parents and caretakers came up with was to blame the Ministry, the Aurors, and ultimately, Harry Potter. And, as I've said, it is undeniably true that the Ministry was reformed in a way that made life very difficult for us following the war. Jobs were difficult—if not impossible—to get for many of us. The social stigma against us made it more appealing for most of us to hide away in our houses than go out. The law passed after the war that prohibited ex-Death Eaters from owning certain Dark artifacts meant that many families had to give up cherished family heirlooms; my own father, who curated expensive Dark objects, moved his massive collection into hiding. Had that been discovered before his death, I'm sure he would have been sent to Azkaban."

He was stirring up something dangerous within the Great Hall. Scorpius glanced back at the Slytherin table. Theva, Saul, Avery, Nott, and various others were paying eerily close attention to every word from his dad's mouth.

"I want everybody listening to hear me—really hear what I am telling you. A prejudice does exist against those associated with Death Eaters. You cannot refute this. To do so invalidates all that we have gone through since the War ended. To do so widens the divide between us all. There is a prejudice—those of you feeding this rebellion have a right to feel like you do. You have a right to be angry. You have a right to want change. You have a right to be frustrated with classmates and professors who won't recognize your hardships. But this hardship…this prejudice…is not undeserved."

Scorpius tightened his grip on Albus's hand nervously. Draco had to raise his voice to speak above the angry shouts rising from the Slytherin table.

"The only undeserved prejudice in our society was the dangerous and prevailing prejudice against Muggle-borns and Muggles. This is a prejudice I exemplified during my time at Hogwarts. It was a prejudice I was raised with. I hated Muggle-borns; I called our Minister for Magic a 'Mudblood' on multiple occasions as a child."

Many people flinched at the sound of the slur, Scorpius included. It sounded wrong to hear it coming from his dad's lips.

"Death Eaters were united against Muggle-borns, Muggles, and their sympathizers. Death Eaters tortured and killed more Muggles and Muggle-borns that I can count. We did so because we thought they were lesser. We wanted to rid the world of them. I would not stand up here in front of my son, who, to my amazement, has always loved me despite my past, and admit these horrible things if they were not true. And they're true. If you know somebody who was a Death Eater, they were the most prejudiced of all, and they put that prejudice into action. They took lives. They took the lives of parents, of children, of the elderly. They tortured parents into insanity in front of their children. They tortured children. When Voldemort was using my family's Manor as a headquarters, Death Eaters captured and tortured a Muggle child in the gardens. For fun. Six years old. For fun."

The Slytherin table was silent now. Scorpius felt sick. Where in the gardens? Where he and his mother had knelt and planted lavender? Where he chased the peacocks during long summer days? Where he and his family used to watch meteor showers together?

His dad's voice was quieter now. "I was here for the last rebellion that Hogwarts saw. We had two Death Eaters acting as professors. The things that you've heard—they're true. Students were forced to use the Cruciatus Curse on first years. The Imperius Curse was used for…horrible, vile things, things that still, to this day, make my stomach clench. Things that have forever made that the curse that my generation fears most of all."

Scorpius glanced down the table towards Lily. She was looking down at her empty plate; her hair was falling over her face and blocking her expression. Scorpius looked back to his dad.

"I…I used these curses on people. People that…" he trailed off, visibly upset. "People that are here now. Who lived through it. Professor Longbottom. Ginny Potter. I stood by as they were hurt—I didn't say anything. I avoided hurting people as much as I could…but when you get involved with Death Eaters…hurting others becomes a reality whether you want it to or not."

Scorpius glanced quickly at Albus. If Albus was surprised by the knowledge that Scorpius's dad had once harmed his mum, it didn't show. He met Scorpius's gaze and smiled reassuringly at him. It made everything feel just a bit lighter. Scorpius smiled weakly back.

"All of this brings me to my new role. I know it sounds slightly…ridiculous. Conflict Counselor. But there wasn't any other title that seemed any better, because what I'm hoping to do at this school is complicated and difficult. Because I know…I know that there are some of you listening who are involved in horrible things. I know that some of you feel powerful and you enjoy it. I know that you are good at it. My friends in my Hogwarts years…when the Carrows took over Hogwarts…they excelled at torture. They enjoyed it, and what's more, they enjoyed excelling at it. I know and understand that some of you feel that way. What I hope to do for you is help you understand the long-term consequences to this short-term enjoyment. And for others still…probably the majority of you…you're involved because you're frustrated, and you don't know what else to do. You know change is needed, but the only group offering change is this rebelling group, and even if you don't entirely agree all the time—at least they're offering change, right? I understand that. But you must believe me when I say a group's ideals reflect you wholly and forever. An ex-Death Eater who was for the extermination of Muggle-borns but thought we ought to leave Muggles alone was not recognized after the war as 'the Death Eater who thought Muggles were all right'. He was recognized as a Death Eater, and as such, he was forever associated with all the Death Eater ideals. Do you agree with all your movement has done thus far? I hope so. Because you will always be associated with it now if you keep moving forward. For this group of students, I want to show you that there is a better way, and I want you to work with me as I work alongside our Minister for Magic to draft laws to remedy some of the past mistakes." Draco took a moment to peer out and take stock of the students. Scorpius wished he could've seen all of them from Draco's viewpoint. "And lastly, I'm speaking to what I'm sure is a small percentage of you. Perhaps there's only two. Maybe there's even only one of you. But I know you exist because I was once one of you. If there is anybody out there who is involved in this rebellion because they are being forced to be, whether by peers or parents, I want you to know that I understand how complicated it is. Maybe you're involved because your own life was threatened. Maybe you're involved because somebody you love's life was threatened. It is not your fault. But if you don't step forward and get help now, you will be taken down with all the rest. For this group, I offer understanding, and most importantly, help. Let me help you."

Scorpius automatically searched up and down the table for Iset Goyle. He spotted her at the very end. Rose had entered the Great Hall at some point during Draco's speech, and the two were sitting side-by-side, their eyes chained on Scorpius's dad. Iset's arm was looped loosely around Rose's waist; Rose's returning hold was much firmer and protective.

"There are many things I'll be providing this year. Most importantly, I'll be available in my office—located in the Library Corridor, door on the left—during class hours. Every single professor has been instructed to allow passes to see me at any point during your lessons, with no questions asked. If you have a concern, come talk. If you've got questions about the war or the Death Eaters, come see me. I want to help you understand. If you wish to protect your identity, I am working closely with Ginny Potter and Lily Potter on their new project. As I'm sure you've heard today, they are opening an advice column. You can write anonymously to me directly and I will respond. At the suggestion of your Head Girl and Head Boy, we will be doing open discussions in the Great Hall every Thursday night. I hope you consider joining us if you have concerns or questions. Thank you for listening."

Scorpius was first to clap, but to his amazement, he was not the one clapping hardest. All around him, members of every House were rising to their feet and clapping hard. At the Slytherin table, Jillian Nott was in tears. Albus rose weakly to his feet and tugged on their joined hands, pulling Scorpius from his shock; he rose and clapped alongside Albus and everybody else. The only person who looked more surprised than him was his dad, who kept looking over his shoulder at the students as he walked back to his seat at the staff table like he halfway expected their applause to turn mocking at any moment. Professor Longbottom clapped him warmly on the shoulder, which only served to make Draco more disoriented.

"With all that being said—let us eat!" McGonagall ordered.

Food appeared, and after his dad had been so warmly applauded, Scorpius's appetite had thankfully returned.

---

The first thing he did when he saw his dad after dinner was hug him tightly.

"Oh, hello," his dad said stiffly, audibly surprised. He patted Scorpius's back.

"You're the bravest," Scorpius muttered, where only his dad could hear. His dad looked flustered and pleased when Scorpius leaned back.

"It wasn't enjoyable, but it went better than I thought it would," he said.

"It was great," Albus gushed. "Jillian Nott was crying afterwards. You really got to her."

"I just hope I managed to get to the ones who needed it."

---

He had, as it turned out, managed to get to enough people to make a discernable difference.

Over the rest of that week, the hexing and cursing completely stopped. More and more people joined the open-House table in the Great Hall for meals. And Scorpius often saw people hovering uncertainly in the Library Corridor, clearly debating with whether or not to pop in on Draco Malfoy.

Scorpius and Albus had Quidditch practice for two hours each evening as their first match approached that Saturday—something that Scorpius would've bemoaned (he was missing out on crucial reading time) if it weren't for how much Albus seemed to be enjoying them. His leg weakness was getting better and better the longer he took the potion, but the fact remained that he felt freer flying than he'd felt since his injury, and that led to an Albus who was carefree and, as it turned out, confident because of that exuberant mood. And when he was confident, he was a phenomenal Chaser. And when he was a phenomenal Chaser, he was even happier. And when he was that happy, Scorpius was that happy, and not only because it lead to many lovely and exciting dressing room rendezvous after practices.

And while they practiced, Ginny, Lily, Draco, and Harry sat in the stands working on their 'advice column'. Their first issue was due out the following week, and they'd already gotten a lot more messages than they'd anticipated, with many being addressed specifically for 'Mr. Malfoy'. Scorpius had a feeling the publication would end up being a helpful tool, but in his opinion, one of the best things the publication was doing was giving Lily somewhere positive to channel her energy and drive. He was certain that this was one of the main reasons her parents had made her the leader of it—and it worked. She was not only entirely focused on it; she was great at it. She'd gotten so many volunteers that they had to be rotated weekly. She'd even talked Scorpius into agreeing to help out from time to time. He was just glad things seemed to be better. He didn't like when she was upset.

On that Thursday, the night of the first open discussion, Scorpius expected the Great Hall to be packed full. His classmates had certainly seemed to receive his dad's first lecture well. But when he and Albus entered, ten minutes after the time it was due to start, it was nearly empty.

"Oh," Scorpius said, surprised.

His dad waved at him from the far end of the middle table. Scorpius waved back hesitantly, and after exchanging a disappointed look with Albus, they trudged up to join the small group.

"What?" Albus demanded, outraged. He sat down beside Rose. "All the Sevens aren't even here!"

"Most of them are on patrol," Evvie defended. "They can't help it."

Scorpius felt slightly irritated with them, even though he knew it wasn't their fault. His dad had worked so hard on preparing for this discussion night, and they didn't even have enough people to fill an entire table. The Potter family was there, Caden Rowle, Aster Boot, Emi Crescent, Nora Thomas, Ben Wood, Evvie Wilson, Roxanne Weasley, Rose, Iset Goyle—where were the rest? Where were the ones who had been causing trouble, the ones who seemed to have plenty to say when they were arguing with Harry? Ones like Saul Montague and Claire Theva? Scorpius was frustrated that this hadn't gone the way his dad had planned. He felt embarrassed for him, too.

"Lily," Rose said, interrupting the awkward silence. "Your hair looks really nice."

Scorpius assumed the compliment was Rose attempting to rebuild her and Lily's friendship, but when he glanced towards Lily, he realized that her hair did look really nice. He wasn't sure how or why, but it seemed more captivating than usual. He found himself staring at the shine of it in the candlelight; he could see a plethora of different shades of gold and ruby that he'd never noticed before. And he wasn't the only one. Now that Rose had drawn attention to it, everybody was looking at it like it was a sudden, dazzling light. James—who was sitting beside Lily—reached out and patted it.

"Cool," said James.

"Oh, yeah," Lily said. "So my eye-sight potion went a bit…crooked when I tried to add a new ingredient. The good news is: my hair is unstoppable. Maybe even a bit hypnotic? Not sure what happened. The bad news? My eyesight actually got worse. I'm working on it."

"Lily!" Ginny said worriedly.

"Slughorn says it won't last long and we're going to fix it," Lily reassured her parents.

Caden reached out to touch Lily's hair, his eyes locked on it just like everybody else's were, but Lily shot a hand out and grabbed his hand before he could.

"We're not there yet, Caden," she said. "No hair-touching."

He frowned. Nora hurriedly switched topics, probably for the sake of interrupting Lily and Caden before they could start fighting (as they were prone to doing).

"So, Scorpius and Albus, before you arrived Caden and Iset were discussing how being related to ex-Death Eaters affects them," Nora said gently. "Did you want to say anything about that, Scorpius?"

With his dad watching? Absolutely not. Scorpius felt his face burn as everybody looked towards him.

"Er…well, people assume things about me that aren't true…that I'm a blood purist…that I'm, you know, evil…" he trailed off.

"But at least you're the son of the Death Eater who turned against Voldemort, even if it was at the very end," Caden said.

"Yeah, that's true," Scorpius allowed. "Er…if you don't mind me asking…who were your parents? Are you related to…Euphemia Rowle?"

Albus shifted beside Scorpius. Scorpius was sure he was remembering Delphi's not-so-kind words on her guardian Euphemia Rowle.

"Distantly," Caden answered shortly, which seemed a bit too suspicious for Scorpius's liking. "My dad was Thorfinn Rowle. Death Eater during the Second Wizarding World. He did a lot of rubbish to pretty much everybody."

"I knew him," Draco said curtly.

Judging by the look Ginny and Harry exchanged, they did, too. Lily was staring at Caden.

"Was?" she finally asked, her voice smaller than usual. "He was Thorfinn Rowle?"

A silence settled over the table. The adults shared an uncomfortable look. Caden turned to face Lily.

"Oh, yeah, I'm an orphan," he told her.

Lily stared. "Wait, what? You're a what?"

"An orphan."

"You…wait. So over all the time we've known each other, you didn't once think to mention the fact that you're an orphan?!" Lily seemed extremely disturbed by this. She was looking at Caden as if he'd just admitted he had a terminal illness.

"It never came up," he shrugged.

"How does something like that just…not come up?" Lily demanded.

"I never really knew them. And anyway, they were sore losers. They killed themselves when I was two. I was in the room, but I don't think I remember it. They couldn't cope with living in a world where they lost…couldn't cope with being the losers for once. Good riddance."

Another heavy silence fell over their group, but this time, it was a horrified one. Scorpius cleared his throat and looked down at the table. Albus had stiffened beside him.

"I'm so sorry," Iset whispered.

"Oh," Caden said. "Really, don't be. It's not a big deal."

Scorpius glanced back up. The adults didn't look entirely surprised, so Scorpius guessed they at least knew a bit about this beforehand. Mostly everybody appeared horrified. But Lily looked positively gutted. She looked as if somebody had randomly smacked her across the face.

"Are you going to cry or something?" Caden asked her.

Instead of offering awkward condolences or teasing him back, she reached out and grabbed onto Caden's hand, which was resting in a tight fist atop the table. She brought his hand up, unfurled his fingers, and then set his hand on her hair. He tentatively stroked through it once, a shocked expression covering his face now, too.

"Soft," he appreciated. His voice sounded a bit thick this time.

"I think it was the unicorn hair that did it," Lily explained.

"Oh, that makes sense," Caden nodded. He continued pulling his fingers softly through it, his eyes watching the candlelight dancing off the golds and rubies.

"You're a great loser, Caden, nothing like your parents. And when I beat you on Saturday, I'll appreciate your graceful acceptance of it even more," Lily said.

Caden gave her hair a light tug in response. They both smiled.

"And what about you, Iset?" Ginny asked loudly, clearly a cue for Lily to stop blatantly flirting. "Did you have anything else you wanted to add?"

Iset hesitated. She glanced at Rose. Rose murmured something, Iset whispered something back, and then Rose nodded. Iset took a deep breath and glanced down at her hands.

"Well—for me—and I know it's not…like this for everybody…I know that your childhood wasn't like this, Scorpius…but…" she bit her lip uncertainly. She fiddled nervously. "When you're raised by somebody who was…proud to have been involved with the Death Eaters…who took pride in the things he did…"

She was struggling so much that Scorpius felt uncomfortable for her. It was obvious she was trying to say something but was wary of saying too much.

"Your father took great joy in the Cruciatus," Scorpius's dad interrupted gently. "In our seventh year, when the Carrows were here and he got to practice it daily…it was the happiest I ever saw him. I don't know if it was hurting people that he liked, or if it was just the fact that he was good at something and felt powerful for once, but he certainly did enjoy it."

Something flashed behind Iset's eyes, but it was gone before Scorpius could begin to put a name to it.

"I don't think…I don't think the craving for that sort of power could ever really go away," she said quietly. "And that's…that's what I…that's what it was like for me."

It took everybody a minute to realize what she was really saying underneath her evasion and stumbling words. She was absolutely refusing to look at any of them.

"Iset," Harry said gently. "Are you saying that your dad has used Unforgivables on you?"

She didn't look up at them. "I don't think he would ever stop wanting to exert power over the people in his control."

"So that's a yes? Iset, this is really serious. You can tell me the truth and I promise I won't let him hurt you. Is that what you're worried about? That he'll hurt you?"

She dropped her hands down into her lap. She glanced nervously up at Harry.

"I don't want to talk about it," she told him shakily.

"Iset, I can help—!" Harry's voice rose in volume, not out of anger, but out of urgency. Unfortunately, that did little to help matters. Iset flinched horribly.

"Uncle Harry, she said she doesn't want to talk about it!" Rose snapped.

"I—okay, sorry, I just…" Harry looked bewildered and lost. He exchanged a look with Scorpius's dad. Draco frowned back.

"Why don't we talk about…something else?" Nora suggested.

"Yeah," James agreed immediately. "Who's coming to our Halloween party?"

They spent the rest of the allotted time talking half-heartedly about Halloween. When the discussion hour ended, Iset was the first to rise and hurry from the Great Hall. Evvie Wilson and Nora were up and after her in a second.

"What are they doing?" Rose demanded. "Iset doesn't want to talk."

"They're doing their thing," James said. "Let them. Nora can get anybody to talk. She's amazing like that."

Ben wrapped his arm around Rose's shoulders, stopping her from storming after Iset and Evvie. Rose glared up at him.

"It'll be okay. Evvie deals with the most stubborn of all students on a daily basis; she knows what she's doing."

Rose pushed Ben's arm off. "Iset isn't stubborn, Iset is sensible. You don't know enough to understand the full picture."

And with that, she took off after Iset, Nora, and Evvie. Ben and James exchanged a look.

"Should we follow?" James asked.

"Where else would we go?" Ben pointed out.

"Fair point."

The two headed towards the door. Scorpius looked down at Albus.

"Well. I think we know why and how Iset knew so much about the Imperius Curse."

Albus shook his head, his eyes still chained on the door. "Rose should've let Nora and Evvie talk some sense into her. She needs to tell my dad what's going on."

"Probably doesn't trust him," Scorpius commented. "If your dad used the Imperius Curse on you, would you trust other dads? I don't think I would."

Albus frowned. "No. I wouldn't. I would….honestly, I'd do what Lily did. I'd get my boyfriend and I'd teach myself how to fight it off."

Scorpius imagined how frightening it would be to be under somebody else's complete control.

"Maybe Lily had the right idea after all," Scorpius admitted.

"I'll never admit that Lily was right…but I guess I do understand her."

"We should tell her that."

"What? No way. I've got a reputation as the hard brother to uphold."

"Of course. Tough. Hard. You're very…cold and removed."

Albus grinned. "Becoming an honorary Potter has really done wonders for your sass, hasn't it?"

Scorpius wanted to quip back, but he was too busy beaming at the words honorary Potter.

(He wouldn't have minded being an actual Potter, but he'd never voice that aloud to anyone.)

---

Scorpius didn't know what Evvie and Nora found out on Thursday night, but whatever it was made them take a special interest in Iset's wellbeing. On Friday, after DADA, the two girls met Iset outside of the classroom. Scorpius watched the three walk off whispering, simultaneously relieved and worried all at once. He was glad that Evvie and Nora had gotten involved, but he was worried about Iset.

However, as Saturday drew nearer, his ability to think about anything but Quidditch dwindled. He wasn't particularly competitive (and if he was being honest with himself, the idea of playing against James, Lily, Rose, and Roxanne was intimidating, to say the least), but the school was so keyed up that it was making Scorpius exceedingly nervous. The mixed-House table in the Great Hall quickly became a breeding ground for placing bets on Saturday's match and engaging in rowdy arguments over which team had the best chances. Slughorn got so frustrated with the Gryffindors and Slytherins for their relentless and competitive bickering in double Potions on Friday that he cut the lesson a half-hour short and sent them all on their way. It should've been a relief to have that half-hour free, but it was marred by Rose joining them in the library just so she could ramble on about different techniques she'd been perfecting for the match.

"You better watch out," she told Scorpius, her eyes twinkling. "We're not going to go easy on you."

"He's not going to go easy on you, either!" Albus said, throwing his arm around Scorpius's shoulder.

Scorpius knew his responding smile probably looked pained.

---

He woke up before dawn on the morning of the match. At first, he wasn't sure what had woken him, but then he felt the shift of the mattress. He rolled over and squinted into the green-tinted darkness. Albus—clearly still asleep—fell down onto Scorpius's bed and immediately kicked his way beneath the covers. He slid over until they were snuggled closely. Scorpius yawned. He reached up and set his palm on Albus's warm cheek. He could feel creases on his skin from his wrinkled pillowcase. He gently stroked his thumb over Albus's cheekbone as his own eyes drifted back shut again. He stretched his legs out, shifted closer, and pushed one of his legs between Albus's.

No expecting an answer, he whispered aloud: "Why do you do this?"

Albus mumbled something incoherent. Scorpius moved his hand to Albus's hair. He stroked his fingers through it as he struggled to count Albus's light freckles in the darkness. One, two, three, four, five…

"I'm nervous," Albus mumbled suddenly.

Scorpius had truly thought he was sleep-walking again, so he was a bit taken aback. His hand paused in Albus's hair.

"Don't stop," Albus complained, his words slurred with sleep. Scorpius felt his heart swell. He quickly began stroking Albus's hair again.

"About the match?" he finally asked.

"Yeah," Albus whispered back. "What if I can't be good anymore?"

"You can always be good," Scorpius reassured him. "It's going to be great! Splendid! Magnificent! And, you know, if it isn't, if it's dreadful…well, I know where the Sevens stash firewhisky."

It did what he'd been hoping it'd do: it made Albus laugh. His sleepy chuckles were some of Scorpius's favorites. He smiled and admired the way Albus's smile lit up his face, even half-asleep in a nearly-dark room. He shifted closer to Albus. His hand moved to the back of Albus's head and cupped it. He brought his face towards Albus's and kissed his lips gently. Warmth shot from the place their lips met and spread throughout Scorpius's body. He couldn't help but squirm in delight. And in their sleepy, vulnerable states, it was incredibly easy to get the words out; he was so bursting with affection and love that he was certain those three words were all he'd be able to say.

"I love you," he whispered. He rubbed his nose against Albus's and pushed a hand up his pajama shirt. He rested his palm against the smooth skin of Albus's back as he kissed him again.

"Even if I lose us the match?" Albus asked.

"Always."

"Me too," Albus smiled.

With his heart bursting with so much love that he felt he might burst open, Scorpius kissed Albus lazily until he eventually grew too tired to stay awake, and then he rested his cheek against Albus's and drifted back off to sleep.

---

"All right," Jacques Stinton said. He smoothed his Quidditch robes and readjusted his hold on his broomstick. Scorpius's hands shook as he tried to pull on his gloves. Beside him, Albus was fumbling with his trousers. "Keep your wits about you. Remember our strategy. We need to score sixteen goals as quickly as possible, as well as a goal for every one Gryffindor manages to score."

"I hate playing Gryffindor," Martes grumbled. "The entire match is a race against the Potter girl. How can she even catch the snitch with four eyes?"

Scorpius bristled. Albus stiffened at his side. But before they could do anything, Martes was smacked in the face with the end of Caden Rowle's broom.

"Rowle!" Jacques scolded.

"What?" Caden shot back.

"Don't smack your teammates in the face with your broom! I know you're only thirteen, but please try to act less like a child!"

"I'm fourteen now, and I was just trying to show him the benefits of 'four eyes', Captain. If he'd been wearing glasses, that wouldn't have hurt." Caden leaned towards Martes, who was rubbing his eyes hard. "Are your eyes watering, mate? Aw."

Scorpius laughed quietly. Caden shot a brief smile his way. And Albus was back to fidgeting with his Quidditch trousers. Scorpius grabbed his arm and pulled him to the side as Jacques began lecturing the beaters, Avery and Nott.

"Remember, you won't be able to intimidate Roxanne Weasley, so save that strategy for the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw games…"

"What's wrong?" Scorpius whispered. "Are they too loose?"

Albus had both hands down his trousers now. "No! It's these sodding—fancy—French—pants!"

Scorpius collapsed into laughter, the complaint entirely unexpected. Albus glared.

"You never have any problem with them when I'm wearing them," Scorpius reminded him.

"Yeah, well, I decided you wear them better," Albus said back. "They keep sliding about and it's very distracting—oh, Merlin. Scorpius, I'm going to have to go without them."

"Without them?!"

"Yes."

"Can we Accio your pants from the dorms?"

"And have them flying throughout the air?! I don't think so! James has already got Avery's strange underpants that Lily stole in case Avery makes him angry; we don't need any more Slytherin underpants on the pitch!"

Jacques lecturing drifted back over to them as they mulled over Albus's underwear situation.

"And for the love of Merlin and all the Muggle Gods, do not aim a Bludger at Nora Thomas or Lily Potter! I don't care if Lily Potter is inches from the Snitch and Thomas has scored thirty goals; it is not worth it! Don't forget what happens when you do, you'll have to deal with James for the entire game and nothing will get accomplished—"

"Right," Albus hissed. "I'm going bare."

Scorpius bit his lip. "I have to admit I've had a dream very similar to this. But in the dream, we didn't play the match."

Albus patted Scorpius's cheek. He looked a bit woozy. "There's still a chance I won't…c'mon."

Scorpius snuck into the changing stall with Albus. He held Albus's shoes as he fought his way from the form-fitting Quidditch trousers. Scorpius felt his heart jam at the sight of Albus in his borrowed pants.

"We have to play the match, we have to play the match, we have to play the match…" he chanted to himself, struggling to control the lust that was threatening to overtake him. Albus gave him a smirk that did nothing to help matters.

"Lesson learned. Don't steal your boyfriend's strange pants before a Quidditch match."

"An enjoyable lesson for those who are watching: me," Scorpius teased. He wiggled his eyebrows. "Your Quidditch trousers look better this way, anyway."

"You're so ridiculous."

Scorpius put his finger into the air. "The most ridiculous!"

"Potter! Malfoy!" Jacques yelled.

"Oops," Scorpius said.

They rejoined the team. Avery was looking at them like he'd smelled something particularly disgusting. Scorpius avoided his gaze.

"Scorpius," Jacques said. "It's your first game against Gryffindor, so don't worry too much about intercepting every goal—just try to catch the majority and hopefully we can score enough to counter it, okay?"

Scorpius was beginning to get the feeling that Jacques had no faith in him. With a rush of anxiety, he remembered Nora's joking statement about how every other Slytherin Keeper had been chased off by the Gryffindor team. He'd thought she was teasing, but…why had there been no other Slytherins going for Keeper?

"All right. It's time," Jacques said. At once, players headed towards the locker room doors. As soon as it opened even a centimeter, Scorpius could hear the shrieking crowds. And all at once, he was certain he couldn't do it.

"Oh no," Scorpius whispered frantically. He grabbed onto Albus's hand and squeezed his fingers tightly. "Oh no, oh no, oh no—"

"It's going to be okay—"

"No, it won't, I'm going to let everyone down, I'm going to embarrass my dad, oh no—"

Albus shot a quick look around them, and once he'd determined nobody was watching, he tugged Scorpius over to him. Scorpius was breathing shallowly through his parted lips when Albus leaned up and kissed him, taking him off guard for a moment. Albus chased Scorpius's evading eyes until they were looking at each other. Scorpius found himself simmering underneath the heat of Albus's intense eyes. Albus took their still-joined hands and guided Scorpius's hand over, resting it boldly on his bum.

"Oh," Scorpius squeaked, his cheeks flushing. "Albus, is this really the moment—"

"No," Albus said. "After the match is. Focus on that. Deep breaths. So we might horribly embarrass our families…who cares? What's new? We can celebrate together afterwards—win or lose, just us, losers united."

Scorpius had a fairly good idea what Albus meant by celebrating. And he did find celebrating exceedingly lovely in every possible way. And it was also true that it would probably be a reward so great that it could even make up for public embarrassment…

"Okay. We can do this. We're…going to do this. Even if we can't. We have to do this."

"That's…sort of the spirit," Albus agreed.

And before Scorpius could be crushed by another wave of self-doubt, Albus grabbed his broom, handed Scorpius's his, and pushed him through the locker room doors and out onto the pitch.

The sun was so dazzling and unforgiving that Scorpius almost wished for rain. He knew visibility would be difficult if not painful; there were only a few fluffy white clouds in the skin, which meant they had little chance for reprieve. He squinted up at the goal hoops, hoping to discern whether or not the sun would be directly in his eyes, but when he almost tripped over his own feet, he decided his focus would be better spent watching his every step.

"An exciting match on this unusually sunny Saturday!" called commentator Zola Burke. "Gryffindor versus Slytherin to open up our late-starting season!"

"Yes, or as I like to call it, Potter versus Potter," responded co-commentator Nolan Carmichael. "An interesting match ahead of us today with four out of seven Gryffindor players being Weasleys, and two of those being Potters—"

"And, joining Slytherin team for the first time, Albus Potter. Alongside Scorpius Malfoy acting as Keeper and Caden Rowle as Seeker," Zola Burke added.

"Here in the stands, we're wondering who will be struggling more during this match: Slytherin team or referee Ginny Potter, who must be feeling stressed by the pressure to remain impartial and not share with the entire school through her actions which child is her fav— sorry, Professor, okay! Sorry!" There was the sound of muffled argument, and then: "I would like to apologize to referee Ginny Potter."

Laughter erupted between shrieks and hoots. Scorpius and Albus joined their team and stood at the back. Jacques and James shook hands warmly.

"Stinton and Potter J sharing a warm handshake at the start of the match as Potter J exemplifies why he was chosen for Captain – Chaser Ben Wood, of course, was slated for that position, but was ultimately reconsidered after the fight during the final match last year. Could be worse, though— Carrow saw the business end of a lifelong ban— interestingly enough, Roxanne Weasley was allowed back on the team after her dodgy choice of retaliation during that spat—"

The sound of the whistle made Scorpius's stomach plummet. He stood frozen as everybody shot up into the air around him. After an embarrassing moment of frozen panic, he forced himself to mount his broom and kick off.

"And they're off! Keepers Malfoy and Macmillan speeding towards their hoops—Chasers getting into position—here come the balls!"

The sensation of the biting autumn wind against Scorpius's blushing face was a relief. He came to a stop in front of the center hoop. Like he'd suspected, the sun was set to be a nuisance. He could already feel a headache forming from keeping his eyes squinted against the glare. He took a deep breath and surveyed the pitch.

"Immediate possession by Slytherin Chaser Martes, he passes to Potter A, Potter A speeds towards Macmillan—interesting to note that neither Potter J nor Weasley have hit a Bludger towards Potter A yet when they usually don't let Chasers this close to scoring this early in the match; it's possible that family ties are tainting their gameplay—looks like Gryffindor Chasers Thomas and Granger-Weasley are attempting a winged interception—it was a success! Potter A drops the Quaffle, Thomas is in possession—a fabulous Chaser, but that's no surprise—everybody knows how the Potter men love Chasers. Many of us have eagerly anticipated seeing if Potter A exhibits any inherited Chasing skills and I must say, despite the interception, what we've seen thus far is promising—"

The commentary became an indistinguishable buzz to Scorpius as Nora came into view, Quaffle tucked beneath her arm. Scorpius flew to the right as she went towards that goal. She stopped. She gave him a soft, almost mollifying smile.

"Hi, Scorpius," she greeted gently.

He didn't take his eyes off her. "Hi, Nora," he said back.

"No hard feelings, all right? I'll buy you a butterbeer next Hogsmeade trip."

Scorpius furrowed his brow. "No hard feelings for what?"

She smiled, held his gaze long enough to catch him off guard, and then snapped her head towards the left goal. Scorpius yelped and flew towards it immediately; he just made it to it right as she…threw the Quaffle through the right goal, her eyes still pinned on the left.

"Nora!" Scorpius yelled. "How could you?!"

She curved each of her hands into what looked like the letter C and then brought them together, making what was clearly a heart.

"That doesn't forgive your trickery!" Scorpius said, astounded.

"And that's Gryffindor ten to zero! Martes snags the Quaffle after Thomas's goal, ohhh bad luck; Martes drops it after a well-aimed Bludger from Potter J—"

"Interesting to note once again that both teams' Beaters are rather subdued today in comparison to last year; Potter J and Weasley seem reluctant to hit Potter A, most likely due to his recent brush with death, and Beaters Avery and Nott appear to be sticking to their Thomas and Potter L Ban after the grizzly match last year when their aggressive techniques sent Thomas and Potter L to the Hospital Wing and Potter J into a vengeful fury—"

"It was the first time many of us have seen a Beater decide to go after the other team's Beaters exclusively and many of us still cringe at the sight of Beater's bats from time to time—absolutely brutal match—oh, Granger-Weasley with the Quaffle, she's speeding down the pitch, Potter J deflects the Bludger sent by Nott…"

Scorpius prepared himself as Rose drew nearer and nearer. He had learned his lesson now; no niceties, no small talk. For the rest of this match, these weren't his friends. He was ready to take Rose on, but Albus came up from what seemed like nowhere and flew directly in front of Rose, so suddenly and so last minute that she had no option but to dive directly down to avoid a collision.

"And that's Potter A pulling one of his mother's signature moves—Granger-Weasley fumbles with the Quaffle as she tries to pull out of her sharp dive—Potter A with the Quaffle!"

"Yes!" Scorpius cheered. He squinted harder against the blinding sun and tried to watch what was happening. Albus zipping through players…Albus avoiding a reluctant Bludger from James…Albus taking his shot… "YES!"

"That's ten to ten as Potter A scores Slytherin's first goal of the match! Not bad timing, either, Slytherin needs to quickly gain those points as the search for the snitch continues…new Slytherin Seeker Rowle appears to be relaxing near the clouds, not sure if he's even looking for anything at all…Potter L is doing her signature prowling around the pitch, no sight of the Snitch yet, but Slytherin needs to—OI! Brutal Bludger sent close-range towards Thomas's head, looks like Avery's not playing by Stinton's strategies any longer—Potter J leaps in front of it….OH!"

The sun had moved into Scorpius's line of vision, so he couldn't see what happened, but he heard the horrifying smack. Urgent whistling followed from the ground.

"Potter J's bat snaps in half from the force of the full-on hit! He's lucky it was the bat and not his ribs or head! He was nearly knocked from his broom, but Thomas flew up behind him and caught him before he tumbled backwards, and Ginny Potter has signaled a foul for Avery's malicious Bludger, though the fact that her son nearly took a bat-snapping blow to the chest might possibly be influencing her anger—"

Scorpius dared to fly a bit lower so that the sun was partially blocked by one of the spectators' stands. He watched as Nora, James, Jacques, and Cyprus Avery landed in front of Ginny. There was furious gesturing, what looked like shouting, and it cumulated with Ginny awarding Gryffindor a penalty shot, much to the outrage of Avery. Scorpius took advantage of the continued distraction and turned his eyes to the staff stand. There were the commentators, the Headmistress, Harry—

Scorpius grinned. His dad, sitting somewhat uncomfortably between Harry and Hermione, squinting down at the commotion with his lips pursed into a thin line. Scorpius fought back the childish urge to wave his hands in the air and yell 'Dad! Dad! Hi!'.

"Looks as if the argument has finished up. Players are back in the air…the Gryffindor Captain is discussing which Chaser will take the penalty shot…Wood is given the Quaffle!"

Scorpius flew back up in front of the goals. As Ben drew nearer, Scorpius wrestled with what to do. His heart was telling him to do the moral thing and let Ben have the shot—because Avery should not have been as aggressive as he was—but his pride was telling him to block it. His dad was watching. He wanted his dad to see him do a good job. But he didn't want Nora or James to think he didn't stand by them—because he did. He did stand by them. He would always—

For better or for worse, he acted on instinct. Ben threw the Quaffle hard, pulling Scorpius roughly from his inner debate, and Scorpius felt himself throw his body forward on his broom in order to zoom over into the Quaffle's path. He caught it by the tips of his fingers. Afterwards, he was so stunned to find himself holding the Quaffle that he hardly heard the cheers of his teammates.

"Malfoy catches the Quaffle—that's that!"

Scorpius risked sinking down low again, so the sun was less of a vision hindrance. He sought his dad out. He was cheering loudly (along with Harry!). Scorpius beamed.

"Nice save!" Ben yelled over his shoulder.

He was vaguely aware that Ben might have let him intercept the shot because he was one of 'Evvie's Slytherins', but Scorpius still beamed in response. Ben was long gone, but he still yelled back towards him: "Really? Thanks!"

The game seemed to speed up after that point. It got very intense very quickly. James and Roxanne seemed to be more focused on deflecting Nott and Avery's Bludgers than going after the Slytherin Chasers actually making goals. After a Bludger nearly knocked Ben from his broom (he had to flatten himself to it to keep from taking a hit to his face), James gave up every pretense of actually trying to win, and decided trailing after the Slytherin Beaters to intercede every single Bludger was the better move. And it may've been for the wellbeing of his teammates, but it certainly wasn't for their score. Albus and Stinton took advantage of the Gryffindor team's frustrations and scored goal after goal. Nora and Ben scored one a piece, but Avery and Nott's brutal Beating was making it near suicidal to venture towards the Slytherin's side—even with James and Roxanne tirelessly deflecting.

"Some absolutely hostile Beating happening here, the sort that would be well-suited in a professional match," Zola Burke commented. "Avery and Nott have managed to take near complete control over their side of the pitch with little regard to human safety; the Gryffindor Chasers can't get close enough to even hope to make a goal. With the score at 180 to 30, Gryffindor needs another goal and the Snitch if they have any hope of winning this match, or the Gryffindor Beaters are going to have to abandon the defense and retake offense. A few Bludgers towards Stinton and Potter A would significantly change the tide of the match, leaving all of us wondering what Potter J and Weasley are waiting for…"

Suddenly, a red blur shot past Scorpius so quickly that his robes billowed up. Scorpius followed Lily's zooming motion around the pitch with a sinking heart. Well, so much for winning.

"POTTER L HAS SEEN THE SNITCH!" Nolan Carmichael cried. "She's on the trail! Rowle finally stopped cloud gazing and has set off in her path! Down she weaves—bit sharp left there—her hand is outstretched—Nott is aiming a hit—Potter J is trying to fly in front of her but it doesn't appear that he'll make it in time—oooh!" A sharp intake of breath seemed to spread around the entire pitch. "Nott sends a well-timed Bludger Potter L's way and it slams right into her outstretched arm, absolutely shattering it, sending her corkscrewing through the air—"

Scorpius forewent all pretenses of actually playing his position for a moment. He lowered back down and scanned the pitch. Lily was gripping her broom with one hand, her other arm held awkwardly at her side. It was clearly broken, and she was visibly grimacing and was possibly crying, but her eyes were still locked in on something…

"I think she's still got the Snitch in sight!" cried Burke.

Scorpius, like everybody else, was watching in mute trepidation as Lily continued her chase. Rowle was right behind her now, urging his broom further; he was flattened to it in his quest to gain on Lily. Lily's hair whipped wildly behind her. Scorpius caught the glint of gold in front of Lily and realized, with a sickening jump to his heart, that the Snitch was right there….and that Lily would have to take her hand off the broom to catch it.

The entire pitch realized that at the same moment Scorpius did. There were worried cries as she tightened her thighs around the broom and pulled her good hand off of it, leaving her flying without hands. She swayed alarmingly at the waist due to her eye-watering speed. She tried to use her injured arm to hold on, but quickly took weight off it seconds later. She'd rounded the pitch and she was flying closer and closer to Scorpius now. He could make out the determined furrow of her brow above her glinting glasses. She straightened her back, tightened her legs again, and reached her good hand back out towards the Snitch. Rowle gained a few crucial feet and came up beside her. Lily glanced at him, taking her eyes off the Snitch. Her body swayed alarmingly. She looked from Caden, to the Snitch, back to Caden—

"Did he just…!" Zola Burke broke off, incredulous. "AND THAT'S 190 – 30 AS POTTER A TAKES MACMILLAN OFF GUARD WITH A GOAL AS POTTER L NARROWS IN ON THE SNITCH—"

"NO!" Nolan Carmichael cried. "If Potter L catches the Snitch now, Gryffindor will lose by ten points!"

But Scorpius doubted Lily even heard them. She was so intent on catching the snitch before Caden that she was inching forward on her broom, her arm still extended, her broken one still clutched to her body. But it wasn't enough. Her unsteadiness was making her flight path a bit shaky, and that was slowing her down just enough to give Caden the upper hand. He was going to bypass her at any moment—

Scorpius let out a shriek that the entire pitch seemed to echo. His heart plunged.

"POTTER L LITERALLY THROWS HERSELF FROM HER BROOM MID-AIR LIKE AN UTTER MADMAN—SHE'S GOING TO HIT THE GROUND—GINNY POTTER IS SHOOTING THROUGH THE AIR—OH! THOMAS CATCHES POTTER L ONLY A FEW FEET FROM THE GROUND AND—UNBELIEVABLE!"

Excited cries echoed, but they weren't coming from the Gryffindors. Lily was leaning weakly against Nora's chest, the struggling Snitch held firmly in her upheld fist. She was beaming. Nora was not.

"POTTER L HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH, BUT SLYTHERIN WINS 190 – 180! Oh, that's absolute—" Nolan Carmichael broke off into vehement swearing.

Scorpius ignored his airborne, cheering teammates and dove straight for the ground. He spotted Albus doing the same from the corner of his eye.

"Magnificent example of hubris here today—we'll certainly be talking about this match all season," Zola Burke said, indifferent to Nolan Carmichael's nearby cursing.

Scorpius landed a bit too hard. His arches expanded painfully. He stumbled and nearly toppled forward. As soon as he'd righted himself, he darted over towards where Lily was. She was draped across Nora's lap, gripping her broken arm and moaning what sounded like fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck—

"Lily!" Ginny shouted. She dropped from her broom before she'd even landed, landing hard on her feet as Scorpius had done. She fell down onto her knees beside Nora and Lily and reached out, but she didn't need to touch Lily's arm to tell anything. It was clear that it was broken from the puffy, swollen skin and peculiar angle. Scorpius hurried over and sank down beside Ginny. He vaguely registered James and Albus joining them.

"What were you thinking?!" James yelled.

"Fuckfuckfuckfuck—I didn't—fuckfuckfuck—know that Al scored again!" Lily shot back through gritted teeth.

"Is it broken?" Albus asked. He leaned over Lily and poked her swollen arm. She let out an almighty shriek. "Yeah, it's broken."

"YEAH?!" she shouted in his face, her eyes streaming. "REALLY?"

"I WAS NOT TALKING ABOUT THE SCORE, LILY!" James fumed. "You can't play Catapult Lily during a real Quidditch match! And you especially can't play that without warning Nora and me ahead of time that we're playing! What if she'd been further away and hadn't caught you?!"

"I—knew she'd catch me," Lily choked out between whimpers. She caught sight of something over Scorpius's shoulder. Her face opened with relief and hope. "Dad!"

"LULU!" Harry fell to his knees a bit early and went literally sliding across the grass, probably hard enough to give himself friction burns. Lily collapsed into his opened arms at once. He smoothed her hair. "Are you okay?"

"Nooo," Lily moaned pitifully into Harry's shoulder. Ginny shook her head and mimed snapping something to inform Harry that Lily's arm was indeed broken.

"Where's Madam Pomfrey?!" Scorpius worried. He looked around for her, but he didn't see her. Instead, he spotted Caden's blond head weaving towards them.

"That was brilliant," Caden greeted. He stopped in front of Harry and Lily. Lily leaned back and looked up at Caden, her face hard and threatening. His smirk didn't waver. "I think I developed about three more crushes on you just from watching it. Daring, provocative, and my team still won—how do you do it?"

"Get out of here!" Harry roared at once. He tightened his arm around Lily protectively. "Not the time, Rowle! She's INJURED! Flirt later!"

"Fine, fine, injured, right…I'll go and get chocolates," Caden said.

"Ooh, yeah, get me some chocolate," Lily agreed, between groans of pain. Caden shook his head and walked off snickering.

"Scorpius, you can fix her!" Albus said suddenly.

Scorpius shook his head. "No, no, no no no—"

"You can! You've mended a bone before!"

"A finger!" Scorpius squeaked.

"So an arm's like a really big finger!"

"No, Albus, it's not!"

"Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck—"

"Where the hell is Madam Pomfrey?!" Ginny exploded. She looked around them. "Did anybody even think to send for her?! James! Nora! Will you go figure out where she is?"

"Yes, on it!"

Albus was still on the a-finger-is-like-an-arm argument.

"It is like a finger, it's…bendy!" Albus persisted. He lifted his index finger and bent it at the middle knuckle. He lifted his arm and bent it at his elbow. "See?"

Scorpius was overcome with mind-shrinking anxiety at even the thought of trying the bone mending spell on a major bone for the first time on Lily Potter.

"No, I do not see! An arm is an arm, a finger is a finger, a head is a head, a neck is a neck, a penis is a penis—!" Scorpius halted his anxious explosion a few seconds too late. Oh no.

"Whoa!" Lily shrieked. She clapped her good hand over one of her ears. "Whoa! I'M THIRTEEN! NO PENISES!"

Scorpius shot a horrified look at the Potter parents, but Harry was too busy looking proudly at Lily to notice Scorpius's slip up, and Ginny looked like she was genuinely considering mending Lily's arm herself. She was murmuring underneath her breath and staring hard at Lily's arm, her wand in hand.

"SORRY!" Scorpius blurted loudly.

"I never said a penis is like a finger, Scorpius," Albus defended. "Of course it's not."

"We do not need another visual example!" Lily warned. She hissed as Ginny gently lifted her broken arm. "Owwww, ow, ow! Merlin's shitty cat—OW, MUM!"

"WOULD YOU ALL JUST CALM DOWN?!" Ginny finally shouted. It was loud enough that it got everybody's attention. All eyes landed on Ginny. "Thank you! I can't think straight with you lot shrieking and swearing and bickering about penises—ferula."

Scorpius watched as bandages appeared out of thin air and magically secured Lily's broken arm to a splint.

"A bit better?" Ginny asked.

Lily sniffed and nodded. "Yeah."

Ginny reached forward and gently wiped the tears from Lily's face. Scorpius felt a severe, sickening surge of longing for home and his mum. But he had to push that thought away (he was always pushing it away). There would be no end to it.

"One of us could probably mend it," Harry said to Ginny, his arm still tightly around Lily, "but maybe we should wait for Pomfrey."

"We are waiting for Pomfrey!" Lily said sharply. "This is my Snitch arm! I can't risk losing all my bones!"

"Your dad and I wouldn't vanish your bones, we're not Lockhart," Ginny scoffed. But she made no move to try and mend Lily's arm, either. "I suppose we could start walking towards the Hospital Wing, we're bound to cross paths with her…"

They all began clambering to their feet, but it was unnecessary. A moment later, James and Nora came sprinting towards them, Pomfrey in tow. As Scorpius turned back around to glance at Lily, he spotted white-blond hair. He turned back around and scanned his eyes in the same direction. His dad was standing on the edges of the pitch with Hermione, both talking quietly together, their worried eyes directed on the grass. If they were worried about Lily, why weren't they over here seeing how she was?

Scorpius nudged Albus.

"Look," he said.

While Pomfrey tended to Lily, Scorpius pointed towards his dad and Albus's aunt.

"They look upset," Albus noted.

"Yeah, I thought so, too. About Lily?"

"No way. They've both seen way worse than a broken arm," Albus said. "Let's go ask."

"They won't tell us. They never tell us anything anymore," Scorpius complained. But Albus tugged on his arm and pulled him over to Hermione and Draco, anyway. Scorpius noticed his gait seemed even stronger today; soon he'd been completely better, and that thought made Scorpius have to bite back a grin (he didn't think it'd look good to onlookers if he was beaming while Lily Potter was injured).

"Hi, Aunt Hermione," Albus greeted. "Hi, Draco."

They stopped speaking at once. They straightened and looked to Scorpius and Albus.

"Hello boys," Hermione greeted.

Scorpius's dad stepped forward. With a smile, he opened his arms questioningly, clearly unsure whether a brief hug would be okay with Scorpius while they were in front of all his classmates. Scorpius answered the unspoken question by stepping into his dad's arms and hugging him tightly.

And then:

"I'm so proud of you," his dad said quietly.

Scorpius felt his heart widen so much that it felt like it might burst up his throat. He didn't let go of his dad until he was certain he wouldn't tear up.

"Did you see Albus?" he asked Draco, once he'd stepped back. "Sneaking in that goal, I'll bet all the Slytherins are so….happy."

He ended his sentence on a weaker note, because it'd just occurred to him that this would not do much to discourage all the girls who'd developed crushes on the Boy Who Survived.

"It was great, Albus," Draco said. Scorpius glanced to Albus; he'd smiled in response to Draco's compliment. "But the Gryffindors are going to want your head, you know."

"Yeah, I know," Albus assured him. "I don't care."

Draco arched an eyebrow. "No?"

"No. I've already died. What else could they do to me?" Albus said.

Scorpius's dad smiled, but it was a sort of strained smile. For a moment, he was looking at Albus like he was seeing somebody completely different.

"You're a lot like your dad," he told Albus finally. "In more than just looks."

Albus sighed, but he still had a smile tugging at his lips. "Yeah, I'm told."

Albus turned his focus towards harassing Hermione for information, but Scorpius was still watching his dad. Judging by the soft, concerned way he was watching Albus, Scorpius guessed that, in his dad's mind, being a lot like Harry wasn't necessary a great thing.

---

The Gryffindors, as it turned out, didn't want Albus's head. They wanted the Gryffindor Keeper's. Scorpius was certain they wouldn't have been that logical about it had it been any Slytherin but the Potter Slytherin that had made the goal. He couldn't see them easily forgiving it if it'd been Martes; he'd have been burned at the stake by the Gryffindors even if the fault did rest on Macmillan's shoulders.

"Nice goal," a passing Gryffindor told Albus. "Don't know what Macmillan was thinking, not watching the goals with the score so close…" he walked off shaking his head and murmuring underneath his breath.

"What was Mel doing?" Lily demanded. He, Albus, and James were walking her back to Gryffindor Tower, Harry and Ginny accompanying them.

"Watching you! Everybody was," Albus answered. "The only reason I managed to make the goal was because I'm used to it. Wasn't shocking to me; you throw yourself off your broom all the time at home. I knew Nora would catch you."

Lily reached out and smacked James's stomach with her newly-mended arm. "See, James?! Even Albus knew Nora would catch me!"

"I'm not arguing about this again! If you do it again, I'll kick you from the team, and that's that," James said stubbornly. "But…it was a great catch."

"It was, wasn't it?" Harry agreed enthusiastically. "I really didn't think she'd caught it at first, but then when she lifted it up after Nora caught her—brilliant!"

"A brilliant and unrelenting Seeker through-and-through," Ginny smiled. "That one is all you, Harry."

"Gin, do you even remember your 2000 match against Puddlemere? Because I don't think that Puddlemere Chaser ever forgot. In fact, I think he's still got a limp…"

"He does not!" Ginny argued immediately. "And I'm not saying I didn't pass any gritty Quidditch skills down to our kids. I'm saying I passed them this way," she reached out and wrapped her arms around Albus, dragging him half-protesting and half-smiling into her embrace. "I was never much of a Seeker, but did you see our son?! Did you see that final shot?!"

Harry smiled at Albus. "It was wonderful, Al!"

"Thanks," he said quickly, obviously eager to get off the topic. Ginny was still hugging him tightly, her pride thick in the air. "Mum, come on, it wasn't that great."

"It was that great! Are you thinking of playing professionally?"

"I'm really just thinking about eating dinner and going to bed."

"That's fair," Harry nodded.

They resumed their walk in unusual silence. It didn't last long.

"Do penises have bones?" Lily asked.

Scorpius stumbled. James burst into hysterical laughter.

"Lily!" Albus blurted, horrified.

Lily was thinking hard. "I don't think they do."

James had to stop walking. He doubled over at the waist as he howled with laughter. Ginny and Harry looked at each other.

"I'm not answering that," they said in unison.

"Damn," Harry whispered.

"Bollocks," Ginny said. "One of us has to."

"Do we? Do we have to?" Harry wondered.

"I…I think so…" Ginny said, but she sounded less sure.

"Like, can you break them like a bone? You've got joints in your fingers and arms, right? They don't have joints," Lily said.

"No. They don't have joints," Ginny said. "No bones. Who do I need to thank for bringing this topic up?

"Scorpius," Albus and Lily said in unison.

Scorpius opened and closed his mouth wordlessly.

"Traitor!" is all he managed to blurt. It was directed at Albus.

"I sincerely thank you, Scorpius," Ginny said dryly.

"Sorry, it just…slipped out with my list of body parts…I was flustered…" he admitted. And maybe thinking about my and Albus's original plans for after the match which might have…included…that…body part…

He was worried she was genuinely angry, but then he caught her struggling to fight back her own laughter.

"But you can break it," Lily persisted, refusing to let the subject have a quiet, respectful death. "And how can you do that if there's no bone? No offense, Mum, but you haven't even got one, so you can't really know for sure."

"I promise that I can know for sure despite that fact," she said flatly. "I know what I'm talking about."

"Ew," Albus complained. "Mum!"

"What?! The existence of you three is evidence in itself!"

"Ugh, gross— now I have to hate my entire existence, thanks a lot, Mum."

Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Lily, who told you that you can…break it?" Harry asked sharply. "Who's been talking about this? You're too young to talk about…this."

"Well, Aster got angry with Quinton and said—"

"You know, I changed my mind, I actually don't need to know," Harry said quickly, a grimace in place.

James fell against the wall. He pressed a hand over his stomach. It probably was sore from how hard he was laughing.

"You—go on without me," he gasped out through his laughter. "I've got to—find Nora—tell her she missed—the best Potter family discussion of all time."

He staggered off, still in stitches.

"IT'S NOT NICE TO LAUGH AT PEOPLE," Lily yelled after him. "I HOPE YOU BREAK YOURS, IDIOT! GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR TWELVE BABIES AFTER THAT!"

That only made him laugh harder.

To Scorpius's deep horror, Lily directed her next question to him, as if he were the ultimate expert.

"Can that not happen?" she wondered.

"Er…" Scorpius squeaked. "Erm…"

(Meanwhile, the Potter parents had fallen a few paces behind, and were arguing:

"I thought you gave her the talk, Gin!"

"I did give her the talk! The third year talk about puberty! But, for obvious reasons, we focused on the female body!"

"Right…okay. So here's what we'll do: the bravest one of us will give her a slightly more detailed talk but not the full blown 'Talk'."

"Good idea," Ginny said. "Good luck!"

"What?! No! I meant you!" Harry hissed.

"Me?! You said the bravest! You literally killed a murderous dictator!"

"So?! You always got back on your broom only a day after childbirth, and if that's not bravery, I don't know what is!"

A pause. A pained intake of breath, as if even the memory still hurt.

"…Merlin, you're absolutely right," Ginny muttered.

"Yeah, blimey, I know," Harry agreed. It sounded like he was wincing too, and his voice sounded a bit distant as if he too were remembering a specific memory.)

"Lily," Ginny called, interrupting Scorpius's ongoing stuttering. She walked up and stepped between Lily and Scorpius. "Let's go have tea and a chat."

"Okay," Lily agreed easily. "Let me just tell my friends that I'll be back for the party later."

"Party? You lost," Albus reminded her.

"We party anyway. Wouldn't want James's contraband to go to waste."

"You are aware that I'm your Head of House, right?" Harry reminded her with a sigh.

"…Educational contraband," Lily amended, her tone drenched in false innocence. "Muggle pens and…calculating alligators."

"Lily, Dudley's son was teasing you; they're not actually called—"

Harry's sentence died prematurely. Scorpius curiously looked at him and then traced the path of his glance. Caden Rowle waved from beside the Fat Lady's portrait.

"Is your arm better?" Caden called.

"No," Lily said. "I had to have it amputated."

Caden scowled. Lily scowled back. They made a rude hand gesture at each other at the same exact moment, and then, as if nothing had happened, Caden held up the box in his hands.

"Chocolates?" he offered.

Lily increased her speed and outpaced her family and Scorpius, so she reached Caden before them. He opened the top of the box. It was quiet for a moment, and then:

"Where did you get chocolates with lilies on them?" Lily demanded.

"House elf insisted. She used frosting to make them all," he answered shortly.

Lily still hadn't taken the box. She was eying Caden cautiously, as if he might start serenading her at any moment. "Gross, Caden. What's next, a poem?"

He shoved the box into her arms. "The rose is red, violets are blue, you're named after a flower, I hope you haven't got the flu. Take the damn chocolates."

"That was rubbish," Lily said, but she accepted the box and popped a chocolate into her mouth anyway. She held the box out towards him a moment later. He wordlessly took a piece of chocolate. "Lilies. Of all the soppy rubbish…it'll be a miracle if I can hold these down."

"Hilarious," he said. "I would've made a card that said 'I'm sorry you're a loser', but I couldn't find my craft inks."

"Rude! Maybe you left them wherever you left your Quidditch skills this match? Up in the clouds or…who knows, really."

"Nasty," Caden appreciated. "Nice to see you've still got your cheek even if you've lost your mind."

Lily popped another chocolate into her mouth. "Want to go sneak into the Ravenclaw Tower and see how long it takes anybody to notice?"

"Okay," he agreed. "But bring those chocolates."

"No, Lily," Harry said tiredly, before she could even take a step. "No Ravenclaw Tower."

She frowned. "Hufflepuff Basement?"

"No."

"Slytherin Dungeon?"

"No."

"Well where can I go?" she demanded.

"Places you're allowed to be!" Harry said.

"These limitations are insane. Fine. Want to go sit under the beech tree, Caden?"

"Yeah, all right," he shrugged.

Harry didn't look very comfortable with Lily leaving. As she and Caden were walking away, she whispered something to Rowle that made his cheeks pink at once.

"What?!" Caden yelped.

"Oh, Merlin," Harry groaned, horrified. "What did she just ask him?! I'm going to chaperone."

"No, Harry—"

Harry interrupted Ginny. The words sped from his lips as he hurried away.

"Too late. Can't hear you. Already over there."

"No…you're not! You're literally only a few steps away! Get back here, Harry—!"

Albus and Scorpius were left standing alone as Harry followed after Lily and Caden and Ginny followed after Harry. Scorpius looked down at Albus. Albus looked up at him.

"What a mess, honestly," Albus said. "Want to go steal food from the kitchens and hide in the Room of Requirement for the rest of the day? All the Sevens will probably be at James's party, and even if they're not, we can just ask the room for a separate bedroom that locks."

Scorpius set off down the corridor immediately.

"I'm guessing that's a yes," Albus snorted.

"This is an empathic yes," Scorpius clarified.

"Well wait for me, you can't do much without me anyway—oi, I'm still a bit crippled, you know—"

"Sorry! Right!" Scorpius felt his cheeks heat up. "Just excited."

He doubled back, wrapped his arm around Albus's waist, and then jumped as Albus had the audacity to
"accidentally" grab a bit lower than necessary as he looped his arm around Scorpius's lower back.

"Naughty!" Scorpius admonished.

"I'm just getting started."

It would be Flirty Albus for the next few hours, then. Scorpius felt happier about that than he did their Quidditch win.

---

They were reading together on a massive bed, provided thoughtfully by the Room of Requirement. Or rather—Scorpius was reading Neurosurgery: The Essential Handbook aloud while Albus dozed across his chest. Scorpius sank easily into the sharp, technical words of his book as he relished in the warmth of Albus's skin, the beating of his peculiar heart, the tickle of his hair against Scorpius's chest. Something about the contrast between his clinical book and the intimacy of Albus draped over his heart made Scorpius feel oddly content. He could've stayed there all day long, and he planned on it. But unfortunately for the both of them, the Sevens returned to their headquarters unexpectedly.

"They're back," Scorpius complained.

"So?" Albus mumbled. "Our door's locked."

"They're going to wonder where this random door came from and who's inside of it."

"Let them worry," Albus dismissed.

Scorpius watched him drift back off. He lifted his book back up after a moment of hesitation. The adrenal cortex—

"What were you thinking, James?" demanded Ginny. The words were distant enough that Scorpius could tell they'd probably only just stepped into the Room of Requirement. A cacophony of giggling and chatting followed afterwards, suggesting to Scorpius that all the Sevens were back.

"I was thinking," James began, his words slurred. "That losing doesn't mean you can't party!"

"Yeah!" Roxanne agreed.

"And we had too much firewhisky—"

"So much…" groaned Louis.

"It would be a wasteful thing, Mummy, to not drink it…" James continued.

"Some people will never even taste firewhisky ever, Ginny," Ben added.

"We're not talking about the fact that you're drunk," Harry snapped. "Although we will be talking about that. We're talking about the fact that you let Lily have firewhisky!"

"I didn't let Lulu do anything," James argued.

"How hard is to keep alcohol out of the hands of a thirteen year old?" Ginny demanded. "It's not difficult, all you've got to do is not bring alcohol into common areas, but no, Harry hears from some Ravenclaws that the Gryffindors are being rowdy, we go all the way to the Tower, the Fat Lady is sloshed because you bribed her with mead—"

"I didn't bribe her…I just gave her mead so she would let my friends from other Houses in."

"That's bribery, James," Harry said.

"Nuh uh…says who?"

"Says the English language! Dictionaries! Me!"

"No…it's…y'know. Subjective."

"It is not in any way, shape, or form."

"If that's true, then telling me I could have dessert if I ate my dinner was bribery for all those years, Dad, my own father—"

"That wasn't bribery, that was a bargain," Harry said immediately.

"Ah ha!" James shouted. "Mine was a bargain, too!"

"Wait…" Harry said, frustrated. "No, look—we—and you—and the Fat Lady…" he trailed off. He lowered his voice and hissed, panicked: "Ginny, what do we do?"

"Nothing we can do, he's right, we definitely bribed our kids."

"Ah ha!" James repeated. "The apple does—does not—fall far from the—from the—the branches!"

"Oh, Merlin…" Harry said.

Ginny continued: "James, focus. Listen. I need you to understand how serious this is! We got inside the Common Room and you lot were absolutely off your faces— including both the Head Boy and Girl, and you both better be glad we're not going to tell McGonagall—"

"I'm not drunk," Evvie argued at once.

"Evvie,"Ginny deadpanned. "You were chugging firewhisky from the bottle when we entered, save it."

Laughter erupted.

"That's because she lost our game!" Clementine giggled. "Her team…she, Ben, James, Nora—oh, they were awful."

"James isn't awful," Nora argued at once. "Don't say that!"

"At the game he was….yes, he was!"

"What game?" interrupted Harry curiously.

"No, Harry, we're reprimanding—James, where do you think you're going? I haven't even gotten to my point yet!"

"Yeah? Is it very far away? Do you need help finding it?" James asked, and then promptly collapsed into laughter at his own joke. James roared in annoyance a moment later. "Ow, Mum, my own mummy, you're giving me mummy-issues, let go of my ear—"

"When we walked in," Ginny continued through gritted teeth. "We found you and your Prefects—sans Rose, wherever she is—so drunk you didn't notice Lily doing shots!"

"Oh my god," Evvie suddenly said. She sounded terribly confused. "Was Lily Potter doing shots?"

"Yeah, that's literally what I just said. She was two sofas away from you! With Caden Rowle!" said Ginny.

"What?! One of my—my little Slytherins?!"

"Little Cade!" Ben said. "Oh, they grow up so fast, Ev…seems like only yesterday we were teaching him how to properly tuck his shirt in and now he's tucking in those shots—"

"This is not a joke, Benjamin!" Ginny snapped. "You're lucky I haven't Flooed Oliver! What would he be more upset about: the fact that you lost the match or the fact that you got drunk afterwards instead of working on strategies for the next match?"

There was a sharp intake of breath. "Please don't tell my dad, Ginny."

"Don't tell his dad," Evvie echoed.

"Mum," James asked. "Am I still your favorite?"

"James, why did you think bringing alcohol into the Common Room—where first years are—was a good idea?" Harry demanded.

"Mum? You…you didn't answer. Do you need time to think on it? That's okay…but answer right now, because it's not okay."

"James. Get a grip. I love you very much no matter what. Now answer your dad's question."

"But like…how much? More than my siblings?"

"James!" snapped Ginny.

"What?"

"Talk to your father!"

"Oh," James said. And then: "Dad, how much do you love me?"

"This is hopeless," Harry said.

"Jamie," Nora hissed. It sounded like a stage-whisper. "Jamie-Baby, I love you more than everybody else in the world."

A collective groan.

"Here we go again…" Louis murmured.

"Thanks, Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny," Roxanne snapped. "We only just got them to shut up before you arrived."

James's smile was audible. There was the sound of sweet giggling followed by a kiss. "I love you more than everybody else in the entire world, Nora-Bear," James murmured.

"Wow," Ginny said sarcastically. "That's nice. Did you hear that, Harry? Everybody."

"I want to kiss you all day long and all night long and forever," Nora said dreamily. It didn't sound like she and James had even noticed Ginny's comment. "I love your face and your body and your smile and your freckles—"

"Yeah, Nora, I'm pretty sure his smile and his freckles count as part of his body and face," Louis snickered. He was ignored; Nora and James were officially in their own world.

"I love your face and body and lips and hands and— and I'm gonna kiss you for the rest of my life."

"Ugh," Ginny whispered, disgusted. "They've been like this for the entire night?"

"They're pretty much always like this; the alcohol just encourages it," somebody else said. Scorpius guessed it was Bec or maybe Sara.

"That might be punishment enough," Harry hissed, presumably towards Ginny.

"I was just thinking that myself…should we still punish them all?"

"I dunno…I could dock a few House points?"

"Hmm, yeah, we could do that…"

"We can hear you, you know," Roxanne scoffed.

"We know," Ginny said. "Oi! James! Nora! Not in front of everybody—what are you doing?! Get a room, honestly! No, wait— go to your room! Room of Requirement, I need a room!"

"You're a mum, Ginny, and I…respect that authority, so I will go to my room, too," Nora declared.

"Oh, your room is also James's, is it?" Ginny said flatly.

"Yes."

"That's it? 'Yes'? No witty quips about conserving space?"

"I just haven't got that in me right now," Nora said.

James muttered something in a suggestive tone that caused Ben to roar with laughter and Ginny and Harry to cry: "James!"

The sound of a nearby closing door followed. Silence ensued.

"We've…gotta….figure out a way to use love as an energy source," Jacques slurred abruptly. "Hook those two up to something and get some bloody electricity in this drafty castle…"

Muffled giggles.

"That's all right, Jacques," Roxanne struggled to say around withheld laughter. "Shh…just…have a lie down, there you go…"

"You lot are a disaster," Ginny said, exasperated. "How is it that you can be so responsible and dignified during the week and then…"she trailed off. Scorpius guessed she was probably gesturing at the drunken seventh years (and Roxanne).

"Wasn't my idea," Evvie said at once.

"Yes, well, nobody was forcing you to chug firewhisky, either."

"I was, I was forcing her," Ben said. "Yeah—yeah. She didn't want to drink…she refused…you know, principles and morals and…stuff. But I said…I told her…drink this now or else I'll—never kiss you again, and then she grabbed the bottle, and it's all my fault, not hers."

"While your chivalry is adorable, I'm a bit insulted that you even thought I'd believe that," Ginny replied.

"I tried," Ben sighed.

"Roxanne, Ben—as your Head of House, I'm docking twenty points apiece. I'm docking thirty from James and Evvie because they are supposed to be model students. Twenty from the rest of you," Harry declared.

"Keeping alcohol where all ages can get to it…I ask you…" added Ginny.

"What about Lily?!" Roxanne demanded, outraged. "Doesn't she get points—oh, shit. Wait. She's a Gryffindor, too. What I meant to say was…it's all James's fault."

"Lily got twenty points docked from Gryffindor and detention every night for two weeks. Slughorn gave Caden detention every weekend for two weeks," Harry said. "I believe that might send a message."

"So we've lost…five hundred points today?!" Ben demanded.

"Might want to check over that addition, Chase," Evvie said.

"You also lost twenty from Aster. Would've been more if Hugo had agreed to drink, but it seems he's the only sensible Weasley…"

"Ouch," Roxanne said.

"Low blow, Uncle Harry," Louis complained.

The Potter parents said their goodbyes, warned the Sevens that their Head of Houses would be checking to make sure they returned to their dorms by nightfall, and then left. Scorpius nudged Albus.

"Albus."

"Hmm?"

"Did you hear all that?"

"Unfortunately."

"Should we go out there?"

"No way."

Scorpius was all right with that. He turned back to his book, but a loud knock a few minutes later made Scorpius lower it back own.

"Who's in there? Albus?" James called.

"YES," Albus yelled back, annoyed. "I'm sleeping! Go away."

"Brilliant! Oi, you lot—Albus is here! Albus, hey Albus, wake up and join us! Is Scorpius with you? Go get Scorpius! We've got some butterbeer left and some fancy stuff from Aunt Fleur's kitchen and you should come out here, yeah?! Come on!"

"Oh, Merlin," Albus groaned tiredly. "He really is shit-faced."

Albus clearly intended on ignoring James. James clearly intended on not being ignored. After a minute of silence, James began pounding out a rhythm against the door with his fist.

"AL-BUS, AL-BUS, AL-BUS," he chanted. Moments later, Ben's voice chimed in, and then Jacques's. Albus turned and pressed his face over Scorpius's heart.

"I think I hate my brother," he realized.

But five minutes later, they were hesitantly stepping out into the main room of the Sevens' headquarters. Albus had a blanket wrapped around his shoulders and he was exceedingly grumpy. It did not mesh well with James's drunk exuberance.

"Albus!" he cheered. He slung an arm around Albus's shoulders. "You're here! My brother! I love you, Al. I love you, man."

Albus grimaced. "That's…great, James."

Scorpius was sniggering, but that laughter stopped when James turned his attention to him. He beamed so widely that Scorpius noticed a dimple he'd never seen before. He let go of Albus and walked over, throwing his arm around Scorpius's shoulders this time.

"Scorpius! Malfoy Man Scorpius. How're you doing? Everything good?"

"Er…yeah. Yep." Scorpius caught a whiff of firewhisky. "James…how much did you drink?"

"We played a game," he responded sadly. "I lost."

Scorpius furrowed his brow.

"Okay…" he said. He heard a commotion from the other side of the room; Louis and Clementine were buried beneath what looked like hundreds of books from the now-empty shelf above them. How they'd knocked them down, Scorpius had no idea, but they didn't seem too upset by it. A little ways over from them, Sara and Bec were draped giggling over the sofa, an entire tray full of sweets in their laps. Roxanne and Jacques were dealing cards, Nora was curled up in an armchair, Ben was climbing precariously into a hammock, and Evvie was—coming towards them. Uh oh, what did I do?! Scorpius scrambled to remember if he'd broken any rules, but he hadn't come up with any by the time Evvie joined their small group.

"James!" she said.

"Evvie!" James shot back.

Scorpius had thought that she might actually be sober from afar, but now that she was up close, he realized that her eyes were a bit brighter than usual. Her cheeks were flushed raspberry pink, presumably from the alcohol. And he wasn't the only one who'd noticed. Scorpius could already feel waves of utter delight coming off of Albus.

"You're drunk," Albus said slyly.

"Am not," Evvie shot back. She pointed at James, but her aim was slightly off so that she was really pointing at the shelf behind him. "You will not give alcohol to these boys!"

"What? There's so much left over!"

"They're fifth years! We're not going through this again!"

"So? We had parties when we were fifth years!"

From the other side of the room, Ben gave a sudden, gleeful hoot.

"Look at this! Evvie! Look!" he cried.

Evvie turned around and peered towards Ben. For whatever reason, he'd asked the room to provide a piano and was now standing beside it, beaming. Evvie looked up at the ceiling.

"Oh, God," she murmured. "I knew I'd live to regret showing him that."

While Evvie bemoaned whatever it was that she was bemoaning, James handed Albus and Scorpius opened bottles of butterbeers, something both Albus and Scorpius could drink. Scorpius took a sip as he watched Ben walked over to them. Ben didn't greet them once he'd arrived. He wordlessly took Evvie's hand and set back off towards the piano, literally dragging her along after him.

"No," she complained.

"Albus! Scorpius! C'mere! You have to see this!" Ben urged.

Scorpius shrugged and followed after Ben and Evvie. Albus followed after him. They arrived at the piano just as Ben was sliding onto the bench in front of it. He tugged Evvie onto his lap.

"Watch this," he told Scorpius and Albus happily. He rested his chin on Evvie's shoulder. They watched. And waited. Nothing happened.

"Evvie!" Ben complained. He reached into her lap, took her hands, lifted them, and set them on the keys. A loud series of disjointed notes broke through the air from the pressure of her hands. She pursed her lips and looked up at the ceiling stubbornly.

"Are we watching a battle of wills?" Albus guessed. "Because if so, I've got money on Evvie."

"No! Her dad—her dad's a Muggle pianist! Did you know that?!"

"Really? Nice!" Scorpius grinned.

"We did not know that," Albus confirmed.

"He—he's this bloody good pianist! And Evvie can—when she's not being stubborn—she makes the piano sing—please, Evvie?"

Her cheeks glowed brighter. "I'm…I'm not..."

"You're drunk," Albus supplied.

"No! I'm just—"

"Drunk," Albus said again.

"No! Ten points from Slytherin!"

"The drunk Head Girl just took ten points from me for…telling the truth?"

"Look," she said tersely. "I was on the losing team of a stupid game and—we never talk about this again, got it?"

"Got it," Albus said. "Never again." Evvie faced forward and leaned back against Ben's chest. "Until tomorrow," Albus murmured to Scorpius. Scorpius laughed.

"Please?" Ben whispered.

"No."

"Pleaseee?" he repeated, rubbing his cheek against hers.

"No…"

"Pleaseeeee?" he asked softly.

"Why do you want me to play the piano so badly?" she demanded, exasperated.

"Because I like it."

"Why?"

"It makes me happy."

"Why?"

"Because you're doing it."

"Oh…"

Evvie glanced back and met Ben's eyes. Scorpius let out an involuntary nervous giggle. He decided he did not want to be there anymore. He took Albus's hand.

"Let's go check on Nora," he said.

"Right," Albus agreed quickly. "Let's check on her."

She didn't need to be checked on. She and James were curled up into a tight ball together in the armchair, to the point that Scorpius was having a difficult time telling where Nora began and where James ended.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Nora was murmuring to James as they approached. She held James's arms to her like a child might hold a teddy bear. "I feel awful."

James kissed her hair. "Shall I carry you to the loo?"

"Not yet…maybe soon…I drank way too much."

"My poor Nora-bear…" James cooed. "I'll win the game for you next time, I promise."

"Ew, no," Albus said, stopping dead in his tracks, as if James had something highly contagious. "I'm not getting near that. Isn't there anybody sane in this room?"

"Doubtful," Scorpius admitted. "But the hammocks look fun. Swingy and cozy."

Albus took to that idea immediately, but then again, he was also still wearing a blanket and yawing between butterbeer sips, so that didn't surprise Scorpius. They crossed over to the side of the room with the hammocks, asked the room for a tall side table, set their butterbeers on it, and then clambered into a bright green hammock. Albus spread his blanket out to cover both them. Scorpius snuggled close and smiled into Albus's neck.

"I made a good choice," Scorpius said.

"You did," Albus agreed.

Soft, tender music reached their ears a few minutes later. Scorpius smiled.

"Looks like Evvie changed her mind," he whispered.

There was something about the sweet melody that left him feeling achingly nostalgic and tenderhearted. Those emotions seemed to fill him up and twist around his heart. He gripped Albus close and let the music fill his head until he was blissfully unaware of much of anything else. A long-forgotten memory came crawling to the forefront of his mind: his grandmother playing the piano with him held on her lap. He hadn't given it much thought in years, but laying there, the melody flowing through his brain, he could feel the softness of her lap beneath his legs, the security of her arms on either side of him, her pointed chin pressed into his scalp. Maybe she'd even been playing this same song. He remembered, too, his grandad coming in and rushing her to leave…he had always been in a rush when visiting Scorpius and his parents at their first home. He had never liked Scorpius's mum, and Scorpius never liked him for that reason. He remembered being so frightened of him as a small child, even though he had never so much as struck him. He had veered from his path, avoided greeting him and telling him goodbye. He'd decided early on, in that volatile, irrational way that children made judgements, that his grandfather wasn't to be trusted, and that had remained the same until his grandfather's passing. They'd moved into Malfoy Manor to be with his grandmother afterwards, but Scorpius realized he'd never heard her play the piano ever again.

Abruptly, he wanted Evvie to stop playing. His heart had taken on more weight than he was comfortable with carrying, and he didn't want to think about the people that he had lost any longer. That loss felt more powerful here as it intertwined and weaved with the piano keys. He was struggling to find a polite way to ask her to choose a different piece when the music broke off.

"What?" he heard Evvie ask Ben.

"I just said it's beautiful. Did you make it up?"

Evvie laughed. "Ben, it's Debussy."

There was a long pause.

"You…don't know what I'm talking about, do you?" she realized. "I forget that the Wizarding world has its own music."

"No idea, but I like watching your face as you talk about it, so carry on."

"Debussy was a composer in the 19th century. He did Clair de Lune."

"Yeah? Nice one. I bet she was fit. Most Claires are fit."

"No, it—oh, my god." Alcohol-induced giggles broke off her sentence. "He—he composed what I just played. 'The Girl with the Flaxen Hair'."

"Was Claire de Lune the girl with the flaxen hair?"

"...We're having a session on important Muggle musicians this weekend."

"Okay," Ben agreed at once. The grin in his voice was audible. A silence followed, and when Scorpius peeked curiously over the edge of the hammock, he saw Ben pressing a kiss to her cheek. He looked away as she smiled softly, feeling as if he'd just witnessed something deeply personal.

"I didn't know your dad was a Muggle," Roxanne suddenly said. Scorpius didn't dare look out again to see where in the room she was, but he could tell from the drowsy tone to her voice that she was probably lying down somewhere. Everybody seemed to have reached the sleepy stage of their drunk states at nearly the same time; that or Evvie's piano playing had urged it all along. Everybody was quiet and still.

"Yeah." She paused for a few beats. "My mum's a Squib."

"Seriously?"

"You never told us."

"Wicked!"

"Wait," Louis interrupted. "I thought your mum worked in the apothecary in Hogsmeade?"

"Yeah," Nora added sleepily. "I talk to her every Hogsmeade trip."

"That's my aunt," Evvie explained.

"What?! I thought that was your mum too, she looks just like you," Bec agreed.

"It's definitely not my mum. My mum is an engineer and she hasn't stepped foot in the Wizarding world since she turned eighteen."

"Damn, Evvie, what else are you keeping from us?" James demanded. "You can play the piano, your mum isn't your aunt, your mum makes engines…what next?! That's snaky, that is. All these secrets. We love you, why are you keeping secrets from us?"

"Sorry for not telling you every minute detail of my life outside of Hogwarts."

"Well, I'm just not ready to forgive you yet," James said.

"I know something else she's keeping a secret," Ben said slyly.

"Don't even think about it!" Evvie hissed.

"I know why she wouldn't go on a date with me! Why she tormented me for years!"

"Chase Wood!" Evvie scolded, clearly hoping to distract him from blurting whatever 'secret' he had planned. Ben didn't rise to the bait.

"Hazel. Her middle name is Hazel," he said wickedly.

"After a pianist with the same name!" defended Evvie.

"Hazel Wood. Do you get it, James?" Ben laughed. "She wouldn't go out with me because, if it worked out, she'd be Evvie Hazel Wood."

James succumbed to laughter at once and Ben roared along with him. After only a few seconds, Evvie's slurred giggles joined in with them. Scorpius's arm erupted with pins and needles from his position; he sat up and stretched his arm out. He glanced curiously in the Sevens' direction.

"Hazel…Wood…" James wheezed, their laughter continuing. Evvie and Ben were collapsed against each other in fits of giggles, still on the piano bench. James was laughing into Nora's neck. "Al's new wand is made of hazel wood!"

"Better than Chase Wood," Evvie shot back, but she was still breathless with laughter, so it didn't sound quite as cutting as it could've.

"You were named after a pianist, I was named after my mum's Quidditch position—I'm not saying it was meant to be—no, yes I am. It was meant to be."

"Well, that's that, he doesn't make the rules, Evvie," James said with a shrug. He threw his arm around Ben's shoulders a moment later and dropped a kiss to the top of his head. Ben ruffled his hair wildly in response and then smacked his stomach. James looked over towards Albus and Scorpius. "Hey, Al and Scorpius, do you want to play Exploding Snap with all of us?"

Scorpius wasn't sure about playing Exploding Snap while most of the people were drunk, but Albus shrugged.

"Sure, all right," he agreed.

Scorpius thought he probably found this a lot funnier than he was showing.

He also probably liked being the only Potter child who wasn't in trouble.

---

"I'm going straight to my mum and dad's," Albus declared. The Room of Requirement door disappeared behind them once Scorpius closed it. "I bet Mum will give me loads of sweets, she always does when James and Lily misbehave but I don't."

Scorpius nodded. "And I bet Harry would give us loads of House points."

"Ooh, yeah," Albus agreed. "And after the hit Gryffindor took tonight…yeah, let's go."

Albus reached over and grabbed Scorpius's hand as they walked. Scorpius smiled.

"So," Albus began. "Still keen on involving yourself with Potters?"

Scorpius thought back to their Exploding Snap competition, which had cumulated with James and Louis getting into an argument over who would win in a goblin versus centaur battle and wrestling it out atop the explosive cards. Nora and Clementine had still been mending the burns when Scorpius and Albus left. James took the burns—some of which that were located in very unfortunate areas—in stride; as he and Albus were walking out, Scorpius had heard James saying to Nora (about a burn located very, er, low): "No, that one is sort of shaped like an antler…let's leave it so it'll scar."

"Yeah," Scorpius said, fighting back belated laughter. "I'm sure. I'm ruined for any other families now. They'd just be too dull."

He was thinking fondly of his summer at the Potter household as they walked towards Harry and Ginny's living quarters. And then—all at once—he was thinking of nothing at all. He was light, free; every muscle was relaxed. There was nothing at all to worry or think about. Everything was right.

Look.

And he did. A girl—thick dark hair, unassuming yet pretty features.

"Hey," Albus said, but his voice sounded far away. "Iset! What are you—oh. Er. Are you…all right?"

"I'm…fine," she managed, her voice shaking. "I'm looking for…Nora and Evvie said their club is somewhere nearby…"

"Oh, yeah, it is. Do you want me to walk you there?"

Stay.

"Please. Please, thank you," Iset said.

"Yeah, no problem," replied Albus. He walked over towards her, a slight limp to his gait. "It's this way," he said. He started walking. Scorpius didn't. He stopped a few paces away. "Scorp?"

Stay.

"I'm going to bed," he heard his own voice say.

Albus frowned. Iset was staring at Scorpius, and that voice told Scorpius:

Imperius her.

For a brief second, he felt a sinking sensation in his stomach. But the discomfort passed. And nothing was really wrong, after all. He pushed his hands into his pocket.

"Why?" Albus asked. "What's wrong?"

Lie. You're tired.

"I'm tired," Scorpius said. He had his hand around his wand inside his pocket. Wait until their backs are turned. He waited.

"You weren't tired before," Albus said. He was beginning to sound uneasy.

Imperius him, too.

His heart fell in another quick swoop of terror. He was relieved when it passed, when everything was right again. Iset was looking at him strangely, and when he withdrew his wand, she had her own out in a second.

"Expelliarmus!"

Scorpius felt his own wand yank from his hand. He watched with vague contentment as it fell onto the tile and skittered away. That was okay. Everything was okay. He waited for what to do next.

"What the—!" Albus cried.

"He's been Imperiused, oh, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I should've come sooner, they tried it on me and I was going to come straight here to tell Evvie and Nora but I was upset and—"

"Iset, okay, all right—slow down! Who tried to Imperius you? How did you get away? How do we get Scorpius back to normal?"

"I didn't get away, he never managed to do; nobody's been able to Imperius me since I was seven, we have to find—"

Get your wand. Try again.

Scorpius immediately began to walk forwards. Iset quickly leaned over and snatched up his wand. She pointed hers at Scorpius afterwards. Her hand was shaking.

"Don't," she told him.

"My dad. Iset, let's get my dad!" Albus said urgently. "He'll know what to do!"

"Okay," she said, but she wasn't really paying attention to Albus now. She was walking around the edges of the hall.

Stop her. Stop her!

For a moment, Scorpius thought: Why?

"I know who it was," Iset told Albus suddenly. "He tried…but he didn't know…and I heard his voice in my head. I recognized it."

Now! Crucio them both!

But Scorpius's heart gained weight again, and he thought, with more uncomfortable insistence: Why?

"So Avery's around here somewhere, it's just a matter of finding him," Iset continued.

At that, Scorpius felt a strange tug inside his skull, and a moment later, he was left shaking in place, his mind feeling oddly vacant and bruised. He gulped in air. He shut his eyes. He could feel the cool air against his neck, the texture of his clothing, the floor beneath his feet. He was back—but he was—he'd been—

"Albus," he said, his voice quivering.

"Scorpius? Are you okay? Are you…Iset, how do I know if he's himself again?" Albus asked.

Scorpius wanted to run to him—he could tell Albus wanted to run to him, too—but he didn't want to frighten him. Albus was clearly still uncertain.

"Avery must've run off. I thought he would when I said his name…we have to get a professor or somebody before he gets too far or tries it again—"

"ISET!" Albus yelled, clearly frustrated. "How do I make sure he's okay?!" Iset jumped. She quickly walked over to Scorpius, but judging by her urgent, jerky steps, Scorpius got the feeling she was only doing it so Albus wouldn't yell again; she didn't look convinced that it was necessarily safe. And maybe it wasn't. How did he know that voice was gone entirely? What if it came back, right as Iset walked up? What if it told him to reach out and take her throat into his hands?

He took a step back from her, his eyes wide.

"Scorpius?" she asked hesitantly.

Scorpius was still shivering. "I want my dad."

"Scorpius, it's okay," reassured Iset, but Scorpius wasn't reassured.

"No—it's not—I could—I don't know what to do," Scorpius said.

"Think of something you want to do and then do it," she urged. He didn't move. "Go on. If you can do it without hearing that voice, you're okay, it's over."

So Scorpius thought: I want to be beside Albus.

He waited, quivering and sweat-soaked, but he didn't hear that odd voice. And when he took a step forward, there was no resistance.

"It's okay," he realized, and then he took a larger step and met Albus halfway. He fell into Albus's open arms and gripped his waist tightly. Albus's returning hold was tight and protective, to the point that Scorpius felt both reassured and a bit suffocated.

"We need our dads," Albus said. His voice had taken on a tone that Scorpius had hardly ever heard—fierce, yes, but in an almost intimidating way. An angry way. A way that abruptly made Scorpius certain that Albus could be somebody to fear. "We don't give them another chance. Straight to Draco, his room is closest."

Scorpius couldn't bear to move from Albus's touch. He stayed close to his side, their arms looped around each other's waists. Albus's hand was so tight around his side that it was pinching. He was still shivering.

He had never known—not really. He'd been vaguely aware of the horrors of the Imperius curse as they learned about it, but he'd never thought deeply enough about it to realize the full implications. But having now felt both the Cruciatus and this—he would've chosen the Cruciatus time after time. There was nothing more painful or frightening than the realization that something out there could make him hurt Albus.