Chapter 10: Welcome To Malfoy Manor

Almost a week had passed since Albus had tracked Ares through the halls of Hogwarts, and December had entered with cold winds and flurries of snow. As the teachers began piling up their homework in anticipation for the holidays, students were left with hardly any time at all to enjoy the fresh snow. But of course, none of this seemed to matter. As Morrison had so eloquently put it, they'd have "the entire day before it's due!" to do their homework.

And so, on a particularly chilly Thursday afternoon, the Hogwarts grounds were filled with fast and furious snowball fights, the fastest and furious of which had Albus face down in the snow.

Rose had point blank refused to play such childish games when there was work to be done, but James had made Albus a challenge that was not to be rejected. Albus, Scorpius, Morrison, and Bartleby had formed Team Slytherin, and they were cowering behind their snow fort as James, two of his fourth year friends, and Mirra pelted snowballs at lightning fast speed.

"Why did you agree to this again?" Scorpius said as his blue lips quivered, desperately trying to add more snow to their fort as chunks of it fell off.

"Br-br-br-bragging rights?" Albus managed to stammer out.

"Oh yeah" Bartleby said as he emptied his jacked of snow. James had dumped at least a pound of it down his back before declaring Team Gryffindor to be the victor of round one. "Yeah, we'll have bragging rights after this for sure."

"Okay okay!" Albus screamed at the top of his lungs, standing up so his head went over the fort. "We surrender!"

But the snowballs just kept coming.

"Well that was fun" Scorpius was saying half of an hour later as he ferociously dried his hair with a towel. "Hopefully we'll be dry by the time we hit my house" he added with the tiniest bit of a smile.

Albus had written to his father telling him that Scorpius' parents were going to allow him to stay for a few days over the holidays, and he had received a letter back assuring him that they were okay with it. Scorpius had been nothing short of ecstatic, despite clearly trying to hide it. Though Albus mentioned it to no one, he had the strange suspicion that Scorpius rarely had company over his house that he enjoyed. Anyone who knew Scorpius knew that he was just fine, even if he was a little sarcastic. But the Malfoy family had a very bad name behind it.

Of course, he had recieved more than one letter regarding his visiting to the Malfoys. His Uncle Ron had sent a letter the next day warning him against a variety of dangers. Though he approved of Scorpius, as both his daughter and nephew were his friend, it would take several miracles to get him to trust Scorpius' father. He had even went as far to make ridiculous statements like "Just wait for them to lock you in the cellar" and "Don't come running to me when you end up burping slugs."

Still, Albus stayed in a good mood for the first week in December, and was quite ready for Friday afternoon Potions, knowing that he would have the entire weekend to relax and play in the snow.

They lined up outside of Professor Darvy's class at the usual time, and he was, predictably, late. This particular trend had become even more common recently, and once or twice he seemed to have forgotten that he had an afternoon class at all.

The door opened and a hoarse "come in" welcomed them into the classroom. Albus took his seat at the front of the class and nearly gasped when he saw his Potions Professor.

His normally straight blonde hair was more ruffled than it had ever been, and it appeared as though he had ripped chunks out of it. The large bags under his eyes had now stretched to his entire face, and he had a greyish tinge to his complexion that was quite unsettling.

The class muttered about his disheveled appearance, but took their seats nonetheless. As Albus had now become accustomed to, Morrison and Scorpius were settled on either side of him, with Mirra and Rose at the table directly behind him.

"Settle down" their professor said with a yawn. "I know that I look rather...atrocious today, and I apologize. I have not been getting much sleep recently."

The muttering in the classroom died down as he spoke, but many students were still looking worried.

"We will be working on a Shrinking Solution today" he said, waving his wand towards the ingredient cupboard. "The directions should be in your books, page thirty-four. There will be no twist to today's lesson" he finished in his new hoarse voice.

At this, the muttering broke out again. No one could remember a lesson that had been this straightforward in their Potions class before. Darvy stared around the room with his bloodshot, droopy eyes. "When you are finished," he continued, "fill a vial of your potion and place it on my tray to the right. Feel free to talk or work together."

And with that, he put his head down at his desk and appeared to fall into a very deep sleep. Mirra pulled a chair up to the table and sat across from Albus, who already had his cauldron out.

"Look hard?" Scorpius said, pushing his textbook up to Albus, who quickly scanned the directions.

"Not really" he answered back. "But we're going to need a lot of skinned shrivelfig."

Morrison went to the cupboard to get the shrivelfig as Mirra leaned in close enough to whisper. "What's up with Darvy?" she asked him. "Why do you think he's so tired?"

Albus shrugged. "No idea" he said. But that was far from the truth. He now knew exactly why Darvy was tired. Their Potions professor was spending his nights tailing Ares, ensuring that the students were safe. His respect for his professor had doubled over the last week; it was hard not to respect someone who sacrificed their health and job for the sake of their students.

Sadly, however, that seemed like it was the last bit of information he was going to get for a long time. True to his deal with James, he had handed over the Cloak and the Map, and wasn't set to get it back until after the holiday break. And what's more, Scorpius and Morrison had "voted" that Albus was not to speak about Ares, or murder, or late night wandering to anyone, as they were getting quite bored with it.

Morrison returned with the shrivelfig and began skinning it in random quantities. "Darvy looks dead" he said.

"Yeah we were just talking about that" Scorpius said as he prodded the flame under his cauldron. He then peered up at their professor's desk, grinned, and said "Think we could make anything and just label it right?"

Worried though he was for his favorite teacher's health, Albus had a hard time concentrating on anything that wasn't Quidditch related these days. He had thought that several inches of snow on the ground would reduce, or possibly even cancel the remaining scheduled practices before the holidays. He was quite wrong though.

"Look, to be blunt, the snow isn't going anywhere" Atticus said fiercely in the locker room a few days later. "There's a pretty solid chance there'll be just as much snow when we play Hufflepuff, so there's no point complaining about it. We need this practice."

"Well the Hufflepuffs aren't practicing!" Damian Peesley said through chattering teeth.

"Well the Hufflepuffs are dumb, and so are you if you think that the holiday break won't effect your game!" Atticus snarled back.

And so, twenty minutes and several more outbursts later, Albus was zooming around on his Lightning's Edge, trying to catch the Snitch with his frozen fingers. He had just seen the tiny glimmer of gold shining amidst a snow covered middle hoop when he noticed that there were people on the ground.

Scorpius and Morrison were walking on the field, talking very fast. In Scorpius' hands appeared to be an issue of the Daily Prophet.

As if on cue, Atticus blew his whistle. Albus flew down to the center of the field where his team was. He noticed that he was not the only one with chattering teeth and blue lips, and Atticus clearly noticed it too.

"We'll practice this Thursday" he said. "It's a tad bit cold tonight."

His teammates attempted to mutter under their breaths, but it seemed as though none of them could muster more than a sigh of relief. Albus shouldered his broom and walked his near frost bitten feet over to his friends.

"What's up? he asked them.

They exchanged one of their all too frequent glances at each other, until Scorpius held up the paper and waved. "It's freezing, come inside. I want you to read this."

Not needing to be told twice, they walked back to the castle, and even down to the Common Room before talking again. Albus sat in one of the comfortable chairs by the fire, allowing himself to dry off. Scorpius and Morrison settled themselves on the floor, and Scorpius handed him the paper.

Albus flattened it out and saw that he had been slightly incorrect earlier. It was the Evening Prophet. He raised his eyebrows at it.

"Page four" Morrison said.

Albus turned to page four and saw a long article that, upon seeing the title, knew precisely why they thought it would interest him.

Chekov Murderer Caught?

Last August, the Ministry of Magic was under heavy pressure after Vladimir Chekov, formerly a famed wandmaker, was found dead in the muggle village in which he resided. Originally downplayed as nothing more than a typical murder by the Ministry, even the subject of jokes by some (for a full list of Auror Ronald Weasley's sarcastic remarks about the murder, see pages 12-15), the murder case has recently resurfaced.

Though many Ministry members refuse to comment on why, Arvin Macklehaster, aged 35, was taken in for the murder of Mr. Chekov. Minister of Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt claims that a startling amount of evidence has been stacked up against Macklehaster, including his lack of an alibi and reputation (Macklehaster previously served two years in Azkaban for admitting to illicit activity following the death of Lord Voldemort).

However, there has been some debate over the arrest. Some Aurors, including Head Auror Harry "The Boy Who Lived" Potter, admit that the suspect continued to swear himself innocent even under the influence of veritaserum, a powerful truth potion with few ways of having its effects negated. Also, Macklehaster had no motive for the murder, as even skilled Ministry Legilimens were unable to tell if he knew the wandmaker at all. Regardless of these arguments however, The Minister of Magic, as well as a vast majority of interrogators, feel that the evidence that they have is more than worthy of putting Macklehaster away.

The arrest as a whole is considered surprising, considering that the only other development on the Chekov case is the Ministry's admittance that something was taken from the murder scene, more than two months ago.

Macklehaster is unmarried, with two children, both of whom are campaigning for a fair trial.

Albus looked up from the paper and saw that both of his friends were grinning at him.

"Ready to put it to rest?" Morrison asked him.

"Put what to rest?" Albus asked, then catching on, continued "Why?"

"Because it's done" Scorpius said, snatching the paper away and attempting to unwrinkle it. "They caught him. Ares wasn't even mentioned in the article. Some Mackleblaster bloke is getting locked up. It's done."

"What are you talking about?" Albus said incredulously, snatching the paper back. "There's no conclusive evidence anywhere! Look, my dad told me all about The Prophet. Three quarters of what they say is false, or grossly exaggerated. And the Ministry tries to make itself look better all the time, even he admits to it. They just picked some random scapegoat to take the fall!"

Morrison's mouth fell open. "I can't believe what I'm hearing. They have the murderer. He has no alibi. He's done. It's done."

"Then explain this!" Albus said, smoothing out the paper and pointing at the second to last paragraph. "Something went missing. My guess is a wand. And this guy obviously didn't have it on him."

"He probably pawned it!" Scorpius said. "Gave it to Borgin & Burkes! They'll pay up to six hundred and fifty galleons for anything with enough history behind it!"

Morrison raised his eyebrows and turned to Scorpius. "You know an awful lot about that" he said, and Albus saw Scorpius' ears turn pink. "Anyway," Morrison continued, "there's no proof it was a wand or anything like that. So don't even pull that one. Just let it go mate."

"Then what's Darvy following Ares into the Forest for?" he asked.

"I don't know, maybe because he's insane!" Scorpius said.

"Fine!" Albus shot back. "Then why is Neville following him?"

"He's obsessed with catching dark wizards and showing off, he'll do anything to catch anyone doing anything" Morrison fired back with a smug expression.

Albus gripped the paper tightly. "Fine! Then what's Ares doing in the Forest anyway? Picking flowers?"

"Probably" both of his friends said at the same time.

But Albus wasn't having any of that. Nothing made sense. Ares had been in Azkaban, he was up to something, and the Ministry was sending people to inspect his school. He didn't know how it all connected, but he knew it did.

"So are you done with this?" Scorpius asked.

"Yeah" Albus lied. "I'm done."

Determined to keep Scorpius in a good mood the weeks leading up to the Holidays, Albus carried the charade of believing Ares to be innocent for the remaining weeks. It was easier than expected, as everyone in the castle was seemingly much more talkative with the thought of more than a week off from school. Everywhere he went, people were excitedly talking about their plans.

"I'm visiting my sister and her new boyfriend" Bartleby said gloomily over dinner one day. His sister had left from Hogwarts at the end of the previous year. "They're always giggling and stuff, and since his house is small I'm going to end up sleeping in the attic."

"Better than me" Morrison said. "Surrounded by muggles for ten days. I don't know how I survived without magic when I was younger."

There was one person who seemed far more cheerful than anyone else however, and that was including Scorpius. Mirra, as one could assume, had never exactly had a good Christmas. In fact, Albus wasn't entirely sure that they had acknowledged any holiday at all. Now with her parents locked away in Azkaban, she was free to spend Christmas with her grandparents.

"Oh nothing much for me" she said, positively beaming. "Just going to relax with my grandparents, maybe read a few good books, get away from school."

She looked absolutely ecstatic at the idea of doing nothing special.

The professors had done almost exactly what they had done last year. Some of them had allowed them to play games in class or simply talk amongst themselves, whereas others continued to keep them working. One thing that they all had in common, however, was that they all seemed to think assigning work over the break was going to prevent them from being lazy when they came back.

And so, on the Friday before they would leave for home (Albus was going home at first, he would be dropped off at Malfoy Manor following Christmas) Albus found himself in the library, trying to reduce the holiday workload.

The group was smaller this time. Morrison had opted to take a "nap" instead, though Albus knew for sure that he wouldn't be up for hours, and Rose had decided to stay in the Common Room and take a break from studying, which in itself seemed like the first holiday miracle.

It was only Albus, Scorpius and Mirra sitting at a round table in the library this time, and truth be told, they had stopped doing work a while ago. They were mostly just talking about random things now. Scorpius had triumphantly announced that Albus had been completely wrong about Ares, and though they both tried to explain their thoughts on the matter, Mirra seemed more inclined to agree with Scorpius.

"Well...if they have enough evidence to lock him up...then maybe he did it" she said hesitantly.

"Of course, Ares could still be a mass murderer Al" Scorpius said with a grin. "He's a pretty grumpy guy. But not this time."

They all chuckled a bit, and Scorpius looked at his watch. "It's almost nine" he said. "They're going to close the library soon. I'll go and return these books."

He picked up the pile of books that they had abandoned more than an hour ago and started carrying them off. Before he went however, Albus could of sworn he saw him wink in Mirra's direction.

Albus was now sitting across from Mirra in silence, and quite suddenly, like a monster that had been lying dormant, the urge to vomitreturned. In all of the time he had been with her this school year, there had always been other people there to drown out the uncomfortable feelings. Now though, the ignominious feeling of what had happened was washing over Albus like a fresh coat of the snow outside.

He desperately looked away in an attempt to make the silence more bearable, and saw Scorpius randomly withdrawing books and putting them back in. He was clearly biding time; he and Mirra had orchestrated this, and Albus knew that there was probably a signal for him to come back. A signal Mirra wasn't going to give until he broke the silence.

"So...yeah" he said slowly, looking back at her. He felt that was sufficient. He had broken the silence, hadn't he?

She opened her mouth to speak, and Albus braced himself. All chances of her having forgotten their argument were now gone. She was going to bring up everything, him spying on her and reading her note, throwing hateful glances at her, refusing to talk to her, and every other stupid thing that he wished he could take back.

"So I...I wanted to talk to you real quick" she said, brushing her jet black bangs off of her forehead. "About...about me and you arguing last year."

He heaved a sigh. He knew that he had two options. He could either be a man, stand firm, and admit that something bad had happened, or he could be a little wuss and play dumb.

"What are you talking about?" he asked in what he hoped was a calm, clueless voice.

She raised her eyebrows at him skeptically. "Erm...last year?" she asked. "After I tumbled down the steps..."

"Oh! Oh right, that!" he said, and he felt his heart rise to his throat. He really did not want to have to talk about this. Couldn't she tell that he was sorry enough? "What...what about it?" he asked.

"I wanted to apologize" she said, turning the tiniest bit red.

His heart returned to his chest and his breathing slowed. He almost laughed. "What?"

"I wanted to apologize to you...for yelling at you and calling you a coward and all that. I know that you were only trying to look out for me. I was just...my parents..." she broke off there.

"No, no, it's fine!" he said quickly, flapping his hands around like an eight year old girl. "Really it's all fine. I'm sorry I ignored you and stuff" he added. "Everything was just a mess last year."

"I know, I know" she said, and he saw her glance sideways over at Scorpius, who was leaning against a bookshelf casually. "That entire argument was stupid. But everything's okay now, right?" she asked.

"Yeah of course!" he said, breathing out yet another sigh of relief. "I mean, I shouldn't have acted so weird around you. I was...I was young" he finished stupidly, as he was only a few months older now than he had been.

She let out a nervous laugh. "And...and one more thing" she said.

"Yeah?"

"I wanted to thank you for saving my life. For saving everyone's life, really. You must have been really brave."

So this is what it feels like to be on fire, he said to himself, as his face burned up. He knew that he now closely resembled a very rotten tomato. "Yeah well...what was I going to do? Let you die?" he finished with a nervous laugh of his own.

She laughed very hard, causing many others in the library to turn and look at her, but she didn't seem to care. Albus felt elated, and slightly stupid. He had been dreading that?

He watched as she yawned, and saw that she carefully raised the thumbs up sign on her right hand as she did so. By the time her arms were back down, Scorpius had returned.

"Man, we took out a lot of books" he said with a grin.

"Obviously" Albus replied dryly.

The train ride back to King's Cross was just as hectic as it had been last time. Albus, Scorpius, and Morrison had managed to find a compartment near the back of the train, whereas Mirra and Rose were sitting with members of their own house. When Scorpius fiercely inquired as to who, they both seemed to have forgotten before leaving.

"Eckley" he muttered as he closed the compartment door behind him.

"You still on that mate?" Morrison asked him as he pulled out a pack of Exploding Snap. "Wasn't that like...Halloween?"

"Not just Halloween!" he snapped back. "My reputation took a serious blow. He'll get his after the break though."

Albus was quite close to mentioning that at this time last year Scorpius had a reputation for being a shy know-it-all, but decided against it. Instead he decided to ask him about something that would keep him cheery for the ride.

"So what's Malfoy Manor like?" he asked; he figured if he would be staying there in a few days he had might as well know something about it.

"Well, it's just me, my parents, and my grandparents" he said. "It's pretty big, there's this real nice field outside of our house to practice Quidditch; no muggles anywhere. And we've got a lot of rooms, but I've convinced my parents to just let us both stay in the basement. A lot more room down there."

"What are your grandparents like?" he asked him, slightly anxious. The vast majority of his family seemed to dislike Scorpius' grandparents even more than his father, though Albus felt that it would have been quite rude to mention this.

"Well my grandmom is...weird" he answered with a shrug. "And kind of creepy. My grandad is real quiet. Always just reads the newspaper and sighs. My mum doesn't like me talking to them much. And my dad had to practically beg her to let them stay when I was born-that's when the next Malfoy becomes in control of the manor."

The rest of the train ride comprised entirely of swapping chocolate frog cards and playing Gobstones, as well as the occasional batch of pumpkin pasties that they got from the elderly lady who pushed around the cart. By the time it had hit midday, the grassy fields had disappeared to welcome busy pedestrians, and before nightfall the train had stopped completely.

They exited the train and scanned the crowd for their families, though it was quite hard to see or hear with students sobbing uncontrollably over not being to see their friends for an entire week. Albus steered himself through a crowd of giggly sixth year girls, Morrison and Scorpius following him.

"Hey, wait up!" shouted a loud voice. Rose was following after them. "Mirra says goodbye and she hopes you all have a good holiday" she said when she was walking alongside them. "Her grandparents are already here."

"Oh I'm sure she's in a hurry to show off 'Charlie and Donnie' to them" Scorpius said with his typical sneer. Albus privately agreed, though he didn't mention it in fear of a scolding from Rose.

"Well that's probably because those are her only presentable friends" she snapped. "Apart from me of course. Oh look, there's my dad!" she yelled out as Scorpius muttered under his breath.

Uncle Ron was indeed standing against the barrier leading back to the muggle world. For the second year in a row it seemed, he would be taking them back to the Potter Mansion. He grinned when he saw his daughter and nephew. "All right?" he asked as Rose ran to him and hugged him.

"Fine" Albus and his friends chorused.

"Right, well I've got to get you guys back. Have a good holiday you two" he said to Morrison and Scorpius.

"You too" they both said, before patting Albus on the back and wishing him a Merry Christmas. They then walked away, Scorpius calling out "See you in a few days!"

They walked back through the barrier, Rose with her arms still practically wrapped around her father's middle.

They entered the Potter Mansion a few hours later, greeted by the sight of the numerous decorations that now filled the house. Albus, just as he had done the previous year, entered the kitchen expecting to see a group of people, but was somewhat disappointed. Only his mother was there, looking very tired as she peeled potato skins. She always started cooking Christmas dinner the night before.

"Mum?" he said as he entered.

She spun around and gave a wide grin. "Al!" she yelled, hugging him around the middle, accidentally getting bits of potato all over his shoulders.

"Hi" he said, wiping the bits off.

"How are you? You look cold" she said as she bustled around the kitchen.

"No...not really...I'm- I'm fine" he said, but it was too late, she had already pulled a sweater out of thin air and crammed it over his shoulders. Albus grinned in spite of himself. It felt good to be back home.

Christmas Day carried with it one of the most remarkable feasts that his mother had ever created. Bowls of thick chocolate pudding were littered throughout the table, in between the entrees that included a handsomely carved turkey and a delicious fat ham. Albus helped himself to iced tea as he listened to the conversation around him, which had quickly turned to his defeat over James.

"Regret buying him that broom now, huh Jamie?" his Uncle Ron teased his brother, who was scowling into his bowl of corn.

"Now really!" Percy said from across the table. "Must you bring that up Ron? It's embarrassing enough, losing to your younger brother!"

"I didn't lose" James mumbled. "My team lost."

A few seats down, his father was in deep conversation with his godson, Teddy. They both stopped speaking at once when they saw Albus eyeing them. "Have you had any of the mashed potatoes Al?" his father said cheerfully, as he pulled a bowl of them nearest him. "They're delicious."

Albus turned to Teddy, who gave him a wink that clearly said that they would talk later. "They really are Al" he added.

Albus turned back to the rest of the table and listened to his Grandmother Weasley fret over his mother.

"There are bags under your eyes dear" she was saying. "You're working yourself much too hard. Why don't you let me do the dishes after dinner? You can go and take a nice nap..."

"I'm fine mum" his mother said, rolling her eyes. "I don't mind doing a few dishes."

Dinner carried on for more than an hour; stuffed though they all were, they couldn't help but keep eating. Uncle Ron was leaning back casually in his chair, looking half asleep and holding his full stomach. After rising from their seats, Grandmother Weasley opted for a nightcap, and put her favorite holiday songs on the radio. Albus carried his Christmas presents up to his room; there were so many of them that he had to cram several items (like various joke shop items) into his pockets.

As they sat around sipping eggnog and chatting, Albus approached Teddy, who was stretched out on an armchair in front of the fire. He grinned when he saw him.

Teddy Lupin had always been somewhat of an idol for James, as they were both pranksters at Hogwarts. Albus respected him too, but for different reasons. He was generally quite wise on dealing with childhood things-it had been he that had stood up for Albus when being bullied by his brother. He also happened to be a metamorphmagus, someone who could change their appearance at will. Today, his hair was jet black, much like Albus', and his eyes very brown.

"What's up Al?" he asked.

Albus sat down on the ground next to him. "You were talking to my dad about me, weren't you?

Teddy rubbed his chin, deep in thought. "Your dad...your dad. He's the one with glasses, right?" he smirked.

Albus gave him a playful frown. "C'mon I'm serious...I wanna' know."

"Yeah you might've been mentioned" Teddy said. "Mostly he was just talkin' about work though. He always keeps me on the inside going on's of the Ministry. My grandma never keeps up."

Andromeda, Teddy's grandmother, was very old. Albus had no problem at all believing that she stayed out of anything that involved too much thought or stress. "Was he telling you about the Chekov murder?" Albus asked him, hoping he wasn't pushing his luck.

Teddy raised his eyebrows. "Might've mentioned it" he said slyly. "But anyway, he was telling me he was proud of you."

"Proud of me? For what? Getting Seeker?"

"No not getting seeker you prat!" Teddy scolded him. "For visiting that Malfoy boy tomorrow, and staying there for the rest of the holidays. You're not letting anyone else's personal problems interfere with your friendship. That takes serious bludgers mate."

Albus grinned at Teddy's comments, but hours later, as he lay in bed, his mind wandered off to what he had said. Rolling over on his side to drown out the sound of Teddy chasing James around the living room, he thought about being friends with Scorpius. Did it really bother people? Scorpius was one of his best friends...did it matter that their parents didn't get along?

And hours before he was set to go to Malfoy Manor, Albus felt worried for the first time about going there. He could only hope that Scorpius' parents were just as welcoming as his own, and more welcoming than Uncle Ron.

Albus woke up early the next morning, worriesome thoughts still in his head. He walked downstairs and entered the kitchen to find his father reading the newspaper and drinking coffee. Uncle Ron was also reading, though his newspaper had been cast aside in favor of a magazine called The Quibbler.

"What are you guys doing up so early?" he asked as he entered.

They both looked up. "Going to work in a few" Uncle Ron said.

"You guys have to go in this early?" Albus asked in awe. The sun was barely up.

"Well I'm going to go in a bit late" his father said. "I'm going to take you to the Malfoy's."

Albus poured himself a glass of orange juice and took a seat at the table. "Floo powder?" he asked.

His father gave a small cringe. "We're actually almost out. I'm going to Apparate you there."

Albus shuddered. He had never Apparated before, though the idea of it had always amazed him. Traveling somewhere else, almost instantaneously, was fascinating. He had heard that it was highly unpleasant however.

He waited for his father to finish reading the newspaper. He stared around the room for a little while, suddenly realizing how little he recognized his own kitchen. Hogwarts had taken a toll on him. It was more of a different home now, rather than a second one.

His father rolled up the newspaper and checked his watch. "It's pretty early" he said. "But the earlier the better I suppose. Why don't you get your clothes on and pack your things. We'll leave in a bit."

"Shouldn't I say goodbye to everyone?" Albus asked. "Is James awake?"

"Doubtful" his father said. "He was wrestling around with Teddy all night. He stole the locket he got from his girlfriend. Denise, I think her name is."

Albus grinned. "James got a locket for Christmas? Are you serious?"

Uncle Ron snorted. "It's shaped like a heart and everything. It's the stupidest thing I've ever seen. It might be worth it to wake him up just to see it."

Albus laughed, but his father had given his uncle a shifty grin. "I don't know" he said. "I've seen dumber, Won-Won."

"Who's Won-Won?" Albus asked, but his uncle batted The Quibbler over his head. "Don't ask questions!" he said, his face red. "Go pack your things!"

Albus hurried off to his room as his uncle muttered under his breath. The sounds of his father roaring with laughter were drowned out as he closed his door and gathered his things. He grabbed his schoolbag, which had been emptied the second he had gotten home, and filled it with clothes that he hadn't bothered to fold. He slipped in his toothbrush and took a long look around his disheveled room. Now that he thought about it, he didn't have that many treasured belongings. James still had the Cloak and the Map, leaving Albus confused as to what else he should bring.

"Got all of your things?" his father hollered up.

"Just need to get dressed!" he called back down. He slipped on the jeans that he had been wearing the previous night, and felt his wand, among numerous joke shop items, in his pocket. He didn't have time to clear anything out, and within seconds he had slung his bag over his shoulder and met with his father downstairs.

"All ready?" his father asked him in the living room.

"Yup"

"Wand?"

"Yup"

"Clothes?"

"Yup"

"Okay then" his father said, approvingly, clapping his hands together. "Are you going to need your broom?"

"Scorpius has it" Albus said. "I let him borrow it before the holidays, he wanted to try it out."

"Well then let's go" he said, leading Albus out the door.

"Bye Uncle Ron!" Albus called through the living room. His uncle grunted to show that he had heard. They exited out of the mansion and walked through the garden, finally exiting the yard. The sun was just coming up now, and Albus was forced to shield his eyes from it.

"Everyone knows I'm leaving today?" he asked his father.

He merely nodded. He looked very serious all of a sudden. "Grab onto me" he said. "Apparation can be a little...uncomfortable at first."

Albus did as he was told. One hand still firmly around his schoolbag, he gripped his fathers arm. "Have you ever been to Malfoy Manor, dad?" he asked.

"Once" his father replied dryly. "Keep your arm gripped like that, and whatever you do, do not let go. This will only take a second."

Albus swallowed, nervous. The next second, he felt as though he was hurtling through space-though he wasn't even whole anymore. It was like his entire body had been compressed; there was no air, no room, no nothing. He felt like he was going to explode at any second-

He breathed fresh air a moment later, and almost fell to the floor. Apparition was officially worse than the Ministry phone booths. Still gasping, he looked up at his father, who looked down and gave him a grin. "Weird, right?"

Albus nodded his head, then looked around. They were still in a garden, though they were facing a very handsome manor instead of the usual Potter Mansion. There was a large gate that looked as though it had been broken. A pathway led straight to the front door, and there were several peacocks wandering aimlessly around it. Albus swallowed again; he was more nervous than ever. Off in the corner of the broken fence stood a wooden sign that looked as though it had just been put up minutes ago.

Welcome to Malfoy Manor

Albus made to walk to the front door, but his father grabbed his shoulder and held him back. Albus turned and saw that he was staring at him with a very serious expression. "Before you go Al, I want to talk to you."

Albus stared right back at him, and noticed at once that something was wrong. There was a grayish tinge to his father's skin-he was more than overworked; he was stressed. The large bags under his eyes that hadn't been visible until they had reached sunlight were making him look remarkably like Professor Darvy.

"Dad, are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine Albus" he said. "There is a lot going on at work, I admit, but it's nothing that I can't handle. But I want to talk to you before I leave, and I want you to listen very carefully."

"Are you sure you're okay-"

"Albus are you going to listen to me carefully?" his father repeated, cutting him off.

Albus nodded.

"Good. Al, there's no doubt in my mind that Scorpius is a nice young man, and I've heard that his mother is quite nice as well. His father... well I don't think he'll be too much trouble. But Scorpius lives with his grandparents."

"Uncle Ron doesn't like them" Albus said.

"That's right, he doesn't, a lot of our family don't, and with good reason. I don't want you to be paranoid, but be on the lookout. Do not be so trusting of his grandparents, stay away from them if you can. And if one of them steps out of line...I want you to tell me."

"Steps out of line?"

"You'll know what it means if it happens" his father assured him. "I'm sure Scorpius will let you use his owl, just write to me if you need me. Have fun-but be safe. Okay?"

"...Okay" Albus said. His father continued staring at him for a moment before steering him to the door.

They walked through the pathway and up to the front door, where they traded looks once more. Albus couldn't tell who was more nervous-he or his father. He watched as his father took a deep breath, wiped sweat from his forehead, and knocked twice on the door.