I do not own Harry Potter. If I did, I would be at Hogwarts being the Queen of Everything, not here writing to you all. J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter, and sadly, as I put before, I do not. Enjoy the tenth chapter!

A month and a half passed in a blur of droning voices, painfully satisfactory potions that were nothing compared to the perfection Albus brewed, sideward glances at Scorpius – always keeping distance, tension between Albus and Matilda, who were trying and failing to act like nothing was going on, and Ciara forcing herself onto Albus in her irritatingly possessive manner, much to Matilda's dislike. In fact, Ciara tagged along with the trio as they walked the grounds, the late Saturday sun smiling down on their faces.

Matilda had chosen the spot on the edge, furthest away from Ciara. Her smiles were forced and her teeth always gritted, and Rose, standing next to her, could hear her teeth grinding together when Ciara stopped blabbing on about Merlin knows what. Albus was next to Rose, their fingers always linked, unless Ciara had one of her hyperactive bursts and launched herself at Albus. Ciara, as previously mentioned, was on the end, her hands roaming over Albus, completely oblivious to the glares from Rose and Matilda, as well as the bewildered looks from Albus.

"Oh, it's so romantic, isn't it?" sighed Ciara, gazing wistfully at the golden leaves glowing in the sunlight and settling on the grass, sparkling with dew. "An evening walk in the sun. This is the perfect moment." She looked at Albus expectantly.

He raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"You were supposed to kiss me, right then," hissed Ciara, scowling. "Oh well." She shrugged. "If you want a job done, you have to do it yourself." She swung her arms around Albus' neck and would've kissed him, if not for Matilda springing into action like a demented wildcat.

"You're mental!" screamed Matilda, shoving Ciara away.

"Just because you want him too."

"That has nothing to do with it. We're just friends! I'm not going to let your filthy lips taint him!" shrieked Matilda, her voice lifting into its crescendo.

"You're never just friends with any boy! You've been out with almost the entire male population of this year already and about half of the fourth year as well! Not to mention Dunecrus Ammant, now a fifth year!"

"I was eleven!" shouted Matilda, her dark skin colouring even deeper.

Rose stepped forward, blocking Matilda and Ciara from savaging each other. "Guys, can you just calm down please…?"

"It wouldn't be wise to stand between them right now, Rosie," whispered Albus, dragging Rose back.

"Dating at eleven? That tells us a lot about you! You should hear what they say about you, Matilda!" screamed Ciara. She laughed – the fake, glassy, silvery sound dissolved in the tense air.

Matilda's arms flailed as she hollered, "You can talk! You chatted up Alex Longbottom and the same day he turned you down, his owl died! How could you do that? At least I can get a man!" Matilda reached for her wand, but Rose slapped her hand as it approached her back pocket, thwarting her.

"You slut! You only want what you can't have! You have your eyes on the sexiest boy in school, bar Leon Binning, because Agrippa, he… that isn't the point! Albus deserves better! Albus deserves me!" Ciara began frantically combing her fingers through her silky, straight, light hair. Fake crocodile tears pricked the corners of her eyes and she glanced at Albus for support.

"Oh, no. You can't call my friend a slut in front of me. Who the hell do you think you are?" said Albus, blatantly supressing his rage.

"Al, please," whispered Ciara, her glossy bottom lip trembling.

Albus grunted in dismissal and carried on walking, Rose rushing to his side. Ciara hesitated for a few seconds before running away in tears, and Matilda took a few deep breaths before catching up to her friends. Rose intertwined fingers with the both of them, now in the middle, and frowned at the furrowed brows of her friends.

"At least she's gone," said Rose in an attempt to lighten the mood.

Matilda shrugged. "She wasn't cut out for us."

Albus shook his head with a smile. Rose sighed, swung their linked arms back and forth and carried on down the field, kicking the crisp, frail autumn leaves as she went.

An hour later, they found themselves near the borders of the Forbidden Forest, lying on their backs and staring at the sky. Fluffy clouds edged slowly through the blue, the perfect sort for cloud busting. The dew on the grass soaked into Rose's clothes, but she didn't care. She was with the two people she loved dearest and the sunlight filled her with joy. The air was growing a little cold, and it nipped on her bare arms where her sleeves rode up, but that wasn't bothering her either.

"That one looks like a horse!" said Rose.

"Which one?" asked Matilda.

Rose pointed at a white cloud that looked like a stallion reared up on its hind feet, its long mane blowing in the wind.

"That looks nothing like a horse," Albus disagreed, eyes squinting with concentration as he examined the said cloud, which was not starting to break away.

Rose got up, brushing dirt, blades of grass and crushed leaves from her body. She hadn't even noticed, but the sky had taken a peachy tint. By the time they'd get back to the castle, it'd be nearly curfew. Rose held out her hands and hauled up her best friends, before trekking out through the long grass again. It was like wading through water – the grass was so thick and high that she had to cram herself into the non-existent spaces between the blades. Every so often, she got a little gash like a paper cut on her hands from the edges of the leaves, but she used a quick healing spell from The Basic Essentials of Duelling and problem solved.

Her friends silently followed. Only the soft crushing of leaves under their feet could be heard. It was a small bubble of tranquillity so rarely saw, and after the Ciara outburst – she didn't want to think about that – everyone had released their anger.

"Oh, um, sorry," whispered Albus.

Rose turned around. Matilda had tucked her hands into her pockets and a small bashful smile was on her face. Albus twiddled his thumbs, the tips of his ears colouring.

"It's fine. It was a shock, that's all. You can hold my hand if you want," said Matilda quietly.

"No, I'm fine, thank you," snapped Albus. Matilda winced at his tone, but Rose knew Albus. He was rude because he was embarrassed.

Rose gave Matilda and Albus an apologetic look. It was odd, being the only one to understand the other. Rose still couldn't believe Albus hadn't caught on yet. He was supposed to be fantastic at identifying emotions, so fantastic it bordered on plain scary. This area of emotion was obviously his Achilles' heel. She dropped back to their level and took their hands again, hoping that she could glue them together. Inside she was willing them to kiss, hug, hold hands, or at least do something to relieve the choking tension between them that had grown so thick it constricted her.

The sun was moving faster than Rose predicted across the sky, so the trio picked up their pace until they were at a dead sprint to the castle. The long grass and jagged leaves whipped them worse than ever but they couldn't risk pausing to heal them because if they did they'd be caught out after dark. After the war and the horrible things that happened to Albus' father, the professors had been taught to be extremely strict with children out after dark. Admittedly, Rose was wary too, especially near the Forbidden Forest. You never know what's lurking out there.

Her thighs burnt, her hands bled, her skin prickled with the fast advancing cold, but still Rose ran, her fingers locked into Albus' and Matilda's, until their feet hit stone and they leapt over the low walls to the square. The fountain sprayed water in their faces as they sat on its edge, clutching their frantic hearts. Their gasps made shapes in the air like phantoms.

"Mister Potter, Miss Thomas, Miss Weasley, what on earth are you doing out after dark?" asked a stern voice from behind them.

Matilda and Rose screamed before falling onto the freezing ground, but Albus turned and faced the owner of the voice and grinned sheepishly.

"I'm sorry, Professor McGonagall. We were out quite far and we didn't notice how late it was getting. We were just heading back to our common rooms. I assure you, professor, it wasn't intentional for us to be out so late," said Albus. "And I swear, Professor," he continued, when Professor McGonagall tried to cut in, "that I dropped my habit of sneaking out of the common room during second year."

Matilda and Rose gaped at how innocent and angelic he sounded. It was really freaky. He didn't sound like the Albus they knew.

Professor McGonagall, the Transfiguration professor and Head of Gryffindor House, was touched – Rose could see in her eyes that her stern resolve had crumbled. "Well, five points from each of you. Hurry back to your common rooms before someone stricter than I catches you, and count yourself lucky I didn't give you all detentions."

Silence reigned over the trio when the professor left.

"Wow, well done, Al!" said Rose, grinning. "That was amazing!"

Albus shrugged with a smirk. "I try."

"How did you do it?" asked Matilda.

"Do what? Worm out of trouble? Because if what I've heard is correct you've done that many a time," replied Albus.

Matilda glared. "No, how did you sound so…"

"So…?"

"So bloody innocent!"

"I am innocent," Albus answered simply.

Rose elbowed him in the ribs and said, "No, you are not. Dropped the habit in second year? That is the biggest lie I have ever heard."

Albus shrugged again and shoved his hands into his pockets. "You're common room's in the opposite direction. I'll see you tomorrow." He began to walk away.

"You come ba—" shouted Matilda, until Rose's hand gagged her mouth and muffled her voice.

"Shush! Let's go," Rose whispered, grabbed Matilda by her sleeve. She looked with disgust at the dry blood on the back of her hands, but she could wash that off when she got to the common room.

Rose glanced behind her, but Albus had already vanished into the night. With one last look behind her, Rose and Matilda darted into the shadows. Through them they made their way to the common room. They both sighed a breath of relief simultaneously when they shut the door to the girls' dormitory behind them.

Albus didn't go back to his common room after that. His head buzzed, and going-ons elsewhere teased the edge of his vision. This happened a lot, when he was either exhausted or exhilarated. He needed to clear his head; he didn't want the nightmares tonight. The voices rang like sharp bells in his ears.

I thought you were going to let me go.

Merlin, he hated it. He hated seeing the things he did. He hated being so furious at random times. He hated lying. He hated invading his friend's minds. But he couldn't help it. He was different, and since second year Albus had know why.

Albus was a Seer.

Albus slammed his eyes shut and tried to block that male voice out, but as soon as his vision was cut off, the images came. In a surge of vertigo, Albus toppled to one side and collapsed against the wall of the corridor. The world swerved and split around him.

You think too much of me, Finch-Fletchley. Did you do as I asked?

Footsteps echoed in the freezing night air. Someone was coming, but Albus didn't know whether this was his vision or reality. Even if it was reality, Albus couldn't move a muscle. His body seized up.

I want you to let me go.

Albus wanted to tear at his pounding had, but his hands were bound to his sides. A bead of sweat was searing on his cheek.

I'll let you go when you answer my question. Did you do as I asked?

Albus suddenly knew that it wasn't the vision that made his body seize up. There was someone else, someone who had hit him with the Body-Bind. The footsteps were getting closer, and Albus could see the shadow of a human figure out of the corner of his eyes, yet he couldn't move his head to see who.

I did. Take it.

The footsteps stopped, but the pounding in Albus' head did not, unfortunately. Inside he was screaming in the agony that was a headache, the struggle to supress the vision and the power of the Body-Bind.

This information is valuable to me. You did well. You may leave, and take your family with you.

The figure made a little sound as they evaluated the situation. They sounded female.

Oh Merlin, oh God, thank you.

The vision ended, and Albus would have cried out with relief as the pain subsided, but his throat locked.

"Hm, now what do we have here?" asked a familiar voice to itself.

Delilah Kyte.

The Body-Bind faded from Albus' head and neck, and he stared at his captor.

"I've been waiting a long time for you, Albus. Just like your father, you have an aptitude for snaking out of sticky situations." Kyte twirled her wand through her fingers, a malicious glint in her eyes.

"What do you want?" rasped Albus, his voice hoarse from silent screaming.

Kyte smiled mockingly. "Oh, don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you."

Albus' entire Inner Eye swelled at that. Lies, lies, lies.

"I'm here to get revenge, you see. I know she loves you the most," hissed Kyte.

"Who?" asked Albus, fear in his heart.

"Rose Weasley." Kyte spat the name like is was foul-tasting in her precious, Pure-blood mouth.

"Why?" Albus demanded, the fear now blossoming into terror, ripping at his heart. Well, better him than Rose.

Kyte stared at Albus for a second before dissolving into tears of rage. "She stole him! He was mine and she stole him! I've come to get him back."

"WHO?" yelled Albus.

"Scorpius," cried Kyte, her body shaking in fury. She looked really dangerous, and Albus had no doubt that she was.

"She isn't dating Scorpius," insisted Albus.

"Oh no, she didn't need to. She batted those pretty little blue eyes Scorpius loves so dearly and he was bewitched. If she's depressed and aggrieved by the insanity of her cousin, the spell will be broken. Will you let me do this to you?"

She was the mental one!

Seeing the horrified look on Albus' face, she continued, "If you don't, I'll do it to Rose, or maybe that little Matilda girl you keep eyeing up. Yeah, Albus, everybody noticed."

Albus gritted his teeth, before nodding. "Okay." He shut his eyes and enjoyed the fact there was only darkness. The frosty air that gnawed on his skin was pleasant now. He'd only just appreciated the pleasures of—

"CRUCIO!"

Pain.

Agony.

Fire.

Hatred.

Memories.

Burning.

Searing.

Agony.

Agony.

Agony.

Nothing else.

ALBUS! NO! You have no idea how much it hurt me to write this. I don't even know what to write here, I'm so gutted.

There's no Scorpius in this, but expect a big blast next chapter. Something to look forward to while I sob.

Reviews are evening walks in the sun, Albus owning Ciara and BLUEBERRY MUFFINS.

Look, just review please, okay? :3 It'd make me happy again.

Mwah!

PIMP.