Al got up late the next morning. His friends were already gone when he finally padded towards the bathroom.
He was just putting toothpaste onto his toothbrush, when the boy was in for a shock.
"That was good work yesterday," the voice he had heard the day before said from behind him.
This time, however, the speaker didn´t remain unseen.
The ghost of Severus Snape was hovering behind Al. The boy started when he saw him in the bathroom mirror.
Al yelped and jumped back from the ghost´s reflection, which turned out to be a mistake as he jumped right into the ghost. It felt like walking under an icy spray in his clothes. With another highpitched outcry Al jumped back towards the sink. He turned to face the real ghost instead of the reflection.
"What are you doing here?" he cried "You scared me to death!"
"As far as I can tell, you´re pretty much alive," said the ghost calmly. "And it´s considered very rude to walk into somebody uninvitedly." He glared at the boy. "And technically, I´m haunting you."
Al´s jaw dropped. "You´re doing what?" he cried when he had recovered from the first shock. "You´re HAUNTING me? Why? How? Since when and for how long?"
The ghost hovered over to the tub. "Many questions at once. If you asked so much during Astronomy lessons, you wouldn´t be so abysmal at the subject."
"Don´t try to change topic." Al said sternly.
"Don´t tell me what to do." The ghost spat back.
"Excuse me, you´re HAUNTING me. I can expect some cooperation on your part."
"I don´t rattle any chains at you. That´s enough cooperation."
Al snorted. "Rattle chains? Excuse me for laughing. You´re a Slytherin. You wouldn´t sink so low as to rattle chains."
"If it gave me an advantage..."
"Stop this silly discussion now and answer my questions."
The ghost sighed. "I´m haunting you since last Wednesday. I didn´t mean to, it was an accident."
"How can you accidentally haunt somebody?"
"You have to understand," said the ghost and Al recognized the beginning of a lecture, "that ghosts have to either haunt a place or a person. Most decide to haunt a place as it´s more comfortable. Ghosts can change their target of haunting, but it takes a lot of effort and the change can´t be done very often. On Wednesday I was so immersed in our conversation that I went after you to finish it without noticing that I went too far from the tower. When I realized it I had already changed from haunting the tower to haunting you. I intended to change back as soon as I had recovered enough."
"Did you change your mind or haven´t you recovered yet?" Al asked couriously.
"Both. First, it will take several months for me to be able to go back to my tower and second, I found out that haunting you is quite interesting."
"You weren´t around much since last Wednesday," Al pointed out.
The ghost chuckled. "I was around all the time, but unlike common belief, I´m very well capable of showing myself only when I choose to. I´m haunting you, so I was never more than some meters away from you."
"What?" Al cried. He frantically tried to remember how many showers he had taken since last Wednesday and how often he had changed. Unconsciously, he gathered his pyjamas closely.
"What do you think of me," the ghost sounded insulted. "This is the first time I followed you into the bathroom and I did show myself immediately. I thought it was a safe place to talk to you."
Al relaxed a bit. "You went to classes with me?"
"I went everywhere with you, but the bathroom. I was glad to see that you didn´t inherit your father´s inaptitude for potions. The way you sliced that daisyroot yesterday, that was really well done for a first year. And you did well in the snowball fight yesterday, after you stopped acting like a brainless Gryffindor."
Al blushed at the praise. "And you will stay with me for several months?"
The ghost nodded. "I won´t make myself seen to anybody but you. I won´t be your pet. You will respect my privacy, in return I promise to refrain from rattling chains and scaring your friends."
Al nodded. What was he to do? If he understood everything right, the ghost would stay anyway. So better make him feel welcome.
-x-
It was odd to walk around with a ghost in tow, especially as the ghost chose to stay invisible. Al felt reminded of some muggle films he had watched on TV, where people had invisible friends. Al giggled at the thought.
"What?" Scorpius asked curiously as they made their way upstairs for Monday´s Transfiguration lesson.
"Nothing," Al chuckled. "Just thought about something funny."
"Tell me, I could really do with a laugh." Scorpius had spent all Sunday evening working on his transfiguration essay and practicing how to turn stones into buttons, but he hadn´t done as well as usually. He was still tired from Saturday´s exhaustion.
"Perhaps later," promised Al. He thought telling his best friend about Snape without the ghost´s permission wouldn´t amuse the spirit and Al wasn´t ready to risk Snape ´rattling the chains´. Later, he decided, he´d ask Snape. It would be nice to share this secret with Scorpius.
The professor was already there and, in order to check whether they had done their homework properly, placed a small pile of pebbles in front of each student.
"I´d like you to transfigure these stones into small white buttons. The house elves need them for the plumeau cases," the witch explained their task.
Al got started immediately. He always enjoyed what he privately called ´useful assignments´. It was nice to know that they weren´t just fooling around, but their magic served a purpose. The boy concentrated hard, waved his wand and whispered the incantation.
The first stone changed into a neat white button with four holes, it had a pearly shimmer and Al thought it looked really nice.
One stone after the other was transfigured.
"Well done, Mr. Potter," the professor praised Al´s work. "Take one point for your quick work and another for the nice design of your buttons."
Having finished his own assignment, Al had time to observe his classmates. Enrico was doing well. The big blond wasn´t as fast as Al, but he was progressing nicely. His pile of buttons was easily bigger than his pile of stones.
Vern had more difficulties as Transfiguration was his worst subject, but he had practiced all Sunday afternoon and it paid off. One pebble after the other was turned into a button. They didn´t all look the same, some were a bit bigger than the others, and some had two holes and others four, but they were all white.
"Not bad, Mr. Parker," the professor acknowledged Vern´s efforts as she walked by his desk. Vern blushed at the unexpected praise and resumed his work with even more concentration.
Scorpius, that much was clear on first sight, was in trouble. His pebbles refused to become buttons. Rubbers, yes, and corks. No problem, but no buttons. Not a single one.
Luckily Professor McGonagall hadn´t noticed the desaster yet.
Al observed his friend closely. Unfortunately he himself had no clue what Scorpius was doing wrong.
"For heaven´s sake, tell Malfoy his wand movement is too wide. The swish is supposed to be small!" an urgent voice whispered into Al´s left ear. Now that he had been pointed at Scorpius´ mistake he saw it clearly.
Al waited until the professor was speaking to a Ravenclaw student and then whispered the hint to his friend. Scorpius frowned, but tried. And really on his second attempt the blond boy produced a perfect little white button. The two friends beamed at each other.
Scorpius continued his work and finally managed to finish before the professor came to inspect the outcome of his task.
"Very good, Mr. Malfoy," cried the old witch and awarded Scopius one point for the fact that all his buttons looked exactly the same.
"Well, children," the professor continued when she returned to the front of the classroom. "As you all mastered buttons, we´ll proceed to clasps today. We´ll make them from potato peelings. And this is how it is done..."
Al and Scorpius exchanged smiles while the professor lectured the class on the properties of clasps.
-x-
"You want to do what?"
Severus Snape was clearly not amused. It was Wednesday evening and Al was working late on top of the Astronomy Tower again. At least it wasn´t as cold as last week. Snape sat on the battlement beside Dumbledore´s tablet and looked out over the grounds.
"I´d like to tell Scorpius about you. He´s my best friend. I mentioned you to him back in September and I feel bad when I keep this secret from him."
"Tell him and give him a chance to stare at me? I´m not a zoo animal!"
"Of course you´re not," sighed Al as he adjusted his telescope. "But how can you know he´d do that? I thought you protected his dad? Scorp mentioned something along these lines. I bet he´d be awed to meet you."
Snape stared out at the lake. "I´ll think about it," he said softly. "And now get back to your assigment or you won´t finish again."
-x-
The ghost took his time thinking about the matter. Al didn´t see Snape for more than a week. It was strange to know that the Slytherin war hero wasn´t but meters away, but refused to show himself.
Especially on Wednesday, when Al was alone on the tower again, it was a funny feeling. The boy had hoped that the ghost wouldn´t be able to resist his favourite spot, but Snape was stubborn.
"You know," Al reasoned as he filled in another star chart, "this is completely ridiculous. I know you´re here. You can´t go anywhere else. So what´s the point in hiding?"
The ghost stayed invisible.
Al laughed. He must look a complete idiot, working on his astronomy assignment and talking to thin air.
-x-
Snape reappeared on Saturday. Al had just finished dressing, when somebody cleared his throat on his bed. Snape sat at the bed´s edge, legs crossed and looked at Al.
The boy held the spirit´s gaze unblinkingly.
"Okay," the ghost said at last. "I´ll do it. But only Malfoy. No one else. No exception for your brother, your cousin or any other of your little friends."
Al beamed at his namesake. "Thank you!" he cried happily. "Scorpius will be delighted!"
"Delighted about what?" The young Malfoy had chosen this moment to enter the dormitory. His jaw dropped as he saw the ghost on Al´s bed.
Snape smirked at the blond.
"Come in and close the door," Al whispered urgently and Scorpius obeyed. "Scorp, this is Severus Snape. Severus, this is my best friend, Scorpius Malfoy."
Scorpius stepped cautiously nearer. "Good morning, Sir," he piped and held out his hand to Snape. Then he became aware that the ghost wasn´t able to shake it and he hurriedly withdrew it.
"Good morning, Mr. Malfoy," Snape returned the greeting solemnly.
"I thought you said he was on the tower," Scorpius stagewhispered to Al without ever moving his eyes from the ghost.
"He was," Al said casually, "but now he´s haunting me."
Scorpius eyes widened even further, if that was possible. "He haunts you?"
"In a very discrete way," the ghost reassured the blond boy.
"My father speaks very highly of you, Sir," Scorpius said while he stared – Snape´s expression told Al ´I told you so´ – at the ghost.
Snape inclined his head in acknowledgement.
"My whole family is very grateful," Scorpius continued. "And Dad often says he wonders how you stood his idiocy back then."
Snape snorted in disbelief. "It doesn´t sound like your father, Mr. Malfoy, to admit that he behaved like an idiot."
Scorpius´ smile faltered. "Grandma says he matured a lot after the battle," the boy said defiantly.
There was an awkward silence, which the small blond broke at last. "So, for how long have you been haunted?"
Al smiled. "A bit more than two weeks. First Severus didn´t tell me and then he hesitated to tell you, but here we are. I told you he had stayed behind."
"You did," agreed Scorpius. He finally managed to tear his eyes from the translucent man on Al´s bed. "Is he around all the time?"
Al nodded. "Not when I go to the bathroom though."
Scorpius glared at Snape. "How can you know for sure?"
Al missed a breath. He had never thought about the ghost lying to him.
"First of all," Snape spat and got up from the bed. He approached Scorpius threateningly. "I have more important things in mind than haunting a little boy in the showers."
"Which things?" Scorpius had to lay his head back in his neck in order to see the ghost towering over him, but he didn´t lose his courage.
Snape harumphed and slid away. "Do you think I have no sense of honour?"
"I´m sorry," Scorpius said softly.
There was a sound outside the dormitory door and Snape dissolved into thin air immediately.
-x-
Over the next weeks, Severus Snape popped in and out of visibility occasionally. Sometimes he whispered advice or a mischievieous remark into Al´s ear. The ghost showed himself only when Al was alone and twice in Scorpius´ presence.
It was Friday evening in early March. Al had claimed to go for a walk after dinner. Scorpius had played along and dragged the other two Slytherin first years to the library to grant his friend some privacy to speak with his ghost.
Al went down to the lake and followed the beach for a while, until he found an area, which was hidden from the castle by some bushes.
"You can show yourself," he said and sat on a small rock.
There was no reaction and Al grew impatient.
"Oh, come on. I got rid of my friends and walked out here to talk to you. Now don´t be a git and show yourself."
The ghost popped into appearance a little left to Al.
"A bit nervous, are we, Potter?" Severus Snape asked with a sneer. Then he looked over the quiet surface of the lake. "I always liked the lake. I haven´t been here since before my death. Thank you, Potter."
"Why didn´t you come?" asked Al, but then he remembered that Snape had been bound to the shack first and later to the Astronomy Tower. "You know, you could visit quite some places while you´re haunting me. In two weeks, for example, I´ll go home for Easter. You´ll see our house."
"What?" the ghost was up in an instant. "You can´t be serious. You won´t drag me to Harry Bloody Potter´s house! I demand you stay at Hogwarts for the break!"
"You wish," Al grinned. "I haven´t seen my family in months. A grumpy ghost is not going to stop me."
"May I remind you there are different ways of haunting a person," Snape asked grimly.
"I haven´t forgotten," Al smiled. "But you won´t make things bad for me. You like me."
"That I do not!" Snape refused.
Al laughed.
When the ghost calmed down they had a conversation about sleeping draught (potions assignment), chocolate cake (Al´s prefered desert) and Albus Dumbledore (Al´s namesake and Snape´s mentor).
-x-
Snape was serious about not wanting to go to the Potters´. He didn´t rattle any chains to prove his point. No, that was below Severus Snape. He had different means to make Al see his wishes.
He woke the boy at least thrice a night. He made irritating little noises by Al´s ear to distract him from lessons and he gave him wrong advice when he was doing his homework.
The latter Al found out from a fit professor McGonagall got when she handed back his last essay.
"Really, Mr. Potter, I expected better common sense from you. If this was supposed to be funny, be informed that it is not. Never before was I forced to read such rubbish! Out of sheer interest I tried to complete the task the way you suggested in your . . .!" The witch was lost for words, but she brandished Al´s essay like a flag. "This is what I got." The Headmistress raged on. She rummaged in her pocket and produced what was supposed to be a cup and had once been an owl feather.
Well, the item was of porcelain, but it had a big, diamondshaped hole, four legs and several knots in its handle. It wasn´t white, as it was supposed to be, but a muddy brown, probably the colour of the owl, which had given the feather. It also had two short wings of porcelain, which flapped occasionally, causing a tinkling little sound.
"It is alive," snorted McGonagall. "You have to insert flobberworms and cucumber pieces through the hole or it will shriek with hunger."
Al wondered how the woman had found out what exactly the owl-cup needed as food.
"I will guess you had no idea how dark this spell was or I´d have to expel you, Mr. Potter."
Al paled. Expel? Dad was going to kill him. That was if Mum left enough of Al for Dad to kill.
"I´m sorry, professor. I had no idea," the boy piped.
His dormmates eyed him pityfully, especially Scorpius, who had an idea where Al had gotten the spell.
-x-
"You nearly got me expelled!" Al screamed at Snape. It was another Astronomy lesson and Al had stayed behind again.
"Sign up to stay at the castle and I´ll stop," Snape said coolly. He sat beside Dumbledore´s tablet again, but this time he stared at the boy rather than the lake.
"You wish," Al cried. "If they expel me, I´ll go home and stay there!" He crossed his arms in front of his chest and stared back at the ghost angrily. "And what are you going to do then, Mr. Mastermind?" Al asked quietly after a while.
Snape averted his eyes and looked over the lake. "I don´t want to go. Please!" His voice was barely more than a whisper.
"I have to," Al tried to explain. "I haven´t seen my parents in months, and my sister and my cat. I can´t stay here. I promise not to tell you are there and you can stay in my room all the time."
The ghost snorted. "Only until you start visiting the rest of the clan."
"There may be some visits," Al admitted.
"Some visits," Snape snorted again. "You may be a Potter by name, but you are a Weasley. You could visit a relative every day and still not be done by the end of the break."
"Please," Al hated that he sounded tearful, "I won´t forego to see my family. Don´t make me fight with you."
"I won´t," Snape said with a resigned sigh. "I can´t win. That´s how haunting a person works. The ghost follows the person. Wherever they go."
Al smiled weakly.
"But you are not going to tell your family about my presence."
"No, I won´t," Al promised.
-x-
The journey to King´s Cross station would have been fun, hadn´t Al been nervous about the ghost in the luggage rack. Rose and her friend Circe, the tiny perhaps-Veela, had joined the boys immediately after the train left the station. They were the only Gryffindor first year girls, who went home for the break and for some reason they prefered to sit with Rose´s cousin than with their Gryffindor classmates.
Rose was teamed with Al and Scorpius frequently in potions and Circe had worked with Enrico once, so although they were from rivaling houses, the children knew each other quite well.
The girls had brought a set of gobstones and the six played for a while. Later they moved on to exploding snap and shortly after the food trolley had passed their compartement, Scorpius produced his chess board.
Al admired his friend´s optimism. His own dormmates had been refusing to play for months, as Scorpius was really good at the game and some time around Christmas the other boys had decided that they had been humiliated enough. Nevertheless the small blond had taken the board for the journey.
Rose, who had no idea how good the blond Slytherin was, agreed to play.
Al was in for a surprise. Scorpius and Rose were well matched and soon the two were deep in thought about their next moves. The other four watched for a while, but then went for another game of gobstones.
When the train approached the station, the girls left the compartement to find a place to change into muggle clothes. Rose and Scorpius´ game wasn´t decided and they announced it a draw.
"We have to play again when we go back," Scorpius suggested solemnly.
"It will be my pleasure," Rose replied with a smile. "We´d better start immediately after the train leaves King´s Cross or we won´t be able to finish again."
The blond boy nodded. "So we have an appointment."
Rose nodded and followed Circe to the corridor.
-x-
"Oho," teased Enrico playfully, "it seems Scorp has found his other half. They certainly look cute together."
The blond blushed crimson. "We do not," he protested.
"In fact you do," Al joined the teasing good-naturedly.
"Hear who´s talking," laughed Vern. "After you´ve been giving Circe the eye for hours."
Al blushed as crimson as his friend. Vern and Enrico roared with laughter and after a little while Al and Scorpius joined in.
Al hoped Rose was going to bring her friend for the chess match.
-x-
Mum and Lily waited for Al and James on the platform. Lily was excited to see her brothers and showed it by hugging them in turn and hopping around them like an over-emotional bunny.
"Where´s Dad?" asked James and looked around as if he expected his father to materialize out of thin air – which would be a very impolite thing to do in a place where muggles, though aware of the magical world, were present.
"He´s in Ireland. They´re hunting down some culprit."
Al and James blanched. "Dangerous?" Al whispered.
Mum smiled. "I don´t think so," she said soothingly. "He said something about illegal trades."
Al scrutinized his mother´s face, looking for a trace of a lie, but he couldn´t find any. "What´s for dinner?" he asked eagerly.
"Surprise! Surprise!" Lily chanted happily.
James laughed and took his little sister´s hand to lead her to the barrier. Al and Mum followed closely behind.
Once back in the muggle world, they exchanged some shy smiles with the Parker family and then Mum took them home. It was strange to see her drive.
-x-
Dinner was, indeed, a surprise. Kreacher had outdone himself again. He served a dish of roast beef with vegetables and mashed potatoes along with a rich, dark sauce.
"This is my new favourite," announced Lily. "I asked Kreacher to make it today."
"Kreacher knew that Masters James and Albus will like it, too," said the elf. Al couldn´t help the impression that Kreacher was apologizing for not making their favourites.
"It is delicious," said James. "You were right, Kreacher. I love it." He licked some sauce off his knife to emphasize he was serious.
"I like it, too," Al hurried to agree and Kreacher beamed at the two boys. "You know that I love mashed potatoes and this sauce is really excellent," Al continued.
They had started dessert – fruit salad – when Dad arrived. He looked tired, but Al couldn´t find any trace of injury.
"Hello, boys," Dad greeted them happily and went to hug them. "Had a good journey?" He pressed a light kiss on each boy´s hair before he sat down.
"Yes, thank you," said James. "I had a discussion about the secrecy act with Tom and Jerry. I´d like to hear your opinion on it sometime during the holiday."
Dad nodded and tucked into the plate Kreacher placed in front of him. After some forkfuls of meat he relaxed a bit. "And you, Al?"
"We played gobstones and chess. It was fun."
"You played chess?" James asked with an expression of disbelief. Uncle Ron had taught them how to play and Dad practiced with the boys from time to time, but it was common knowledge that Al was hopeless at the game.
"Well, no," Al blushed, "Scorpius and Rose played. But I watched."
"That sounds more like you, little brother," grinned James.
"Don´t tease him, James," said Mum. "Your father wasn´t such a good player at your age either. He improved a lot later."
"See!" Al cried. "I´m taking after Dad!"
Dad laughed. "That you are, son, that you are!" He rumpled up Al´s untidy mop of hair, which was an exact copy of his own.
-x-
The family retired to the living room after dinner. Dad had a cup of tea. He and James played a game of chess. Mum sat in her favourite armchair and knitted a sweater. Gran Molly had started a tradition of giving one to every Weasley for Christmas. As the number of Weasleys had increased over the years, Mum and Auntie Mione had started to assist her in the task of knitting. At the moment Mum worked on a fluffy pink sweater and Al asked himself who it was for.
Al and Lily sat on the carpet and played Exploding Snap.
Dad beat James, but only after over an hour. After the game they discussed the flaw in James´ strategy for a while before Dad announced it was time for bed.
Lily tried to negotiate for another half hour, but her wide yawn made it a losing battle.
Mum put her needlework aside and took Lily upstairs, Al and James followed without argument.
-x-
Somebody, probably Winky, had unpacked Al´s bag (he hadn´t taken his trunk home for the short break) and laid out his pyjamas for him.
Al changed quickly and crawled under his duvet. Some minutes later Mum and Dad peeked in to wish him good night. Mum put out the light before she left the room.
Al snuggled into his bed and he was nearly asleep when he was startled by the wellknown snarl.
"Well, well, look what a cosy little home Potter has built." The silvery ghost of Severus Snape hovered over Al´s bedside table. His voice was dripping with sarcasm and malice.
"What?" asked Al and sat up, rubbing his sleepy eyes.
"Your father," sneered Snape. "He´s an arrogant rowdy and look what an act he pulls for his precious breed."
"My father is not a rowdy!" Al replied angrily. "He´s friendly and good."
"Excuse me!" snarled Snape, "I knew your father for seven years. He was never friendly and good."
"What would you know about being friendly," Al retaliated. "You´re shouting at me most of the time! No wonder my Dad was never nice to you, if you treated him like you´re treating me. You get what you give!"
"Al," Mum´s voice was heard from the corridor. "Are you alright, dear?"
The ghost vanished.
"Yes, Mum," cried Al. "Good night!"
"Good night, pumpkin!"