Well, here's the next update! I meant to upload yesterday, but oh well. Now you get two chapters! And the next one is pretty long. :) Thanks for the reviews, but please review as much as you can! I love hearing what people think about my story. Anyways, for those who have requested it, there is some Rose/Scorpius, cuz I find them really cute too. :P but not much. again, they're only 11. Anyways, have fun reading! :)

Chapter 11: Snow Problem

As they entered December, students had seemingly forgotten about the break-in. It had been more than a month since Harry's office had been broken into. People had calmed down about the event; feeling reassured that they were safer now. There was no way that anyone could break in again, they thought. Not with Harry Potter, the world's saviour on the case. However, Albus thought that the culprit would strike again soon. He was not the only one with these suspicions; he knew Rose, Sapphire, and Scorpius shared them. And he couldn't be more grateful for that.

While people may have assumed that nothing was going to happen, Albus' dreams had a different view. From the way that the man was speaking, it sounded like he was going to try again soon. Albus recalled one of them as he stepped foot in Transfiguration.

"You've hidden it well," said the man. "But this is not a game, child. I will do whatever it takes to find the Potestum."

Albus sighed and answered for what seemed like the millionth time. "I've told you, I have no idea where it is! Or what it is, for that matter. Maybe if you told me...?"

"Lies! All of it!" exclaimed the man. "I admit, you are a good actor. But no one can fool me. I am at the advantage here, not you. You are in no position to contradict me."

"I'm not contradicting you! You're asking the wrong person! I don't know anything about what you're trying to ask me!"

The man stepped forward. Albus gulped and tried to avoid his gaze. He already knew what would happen if he looked into the man's eyes, and personally, he didn't want to go through it again. Unfortunately, the man seemed to have a different idea about that. He stood directly in front of Albus, lifted his chin, and forced him to look straight at him.

Suddenly, Albus was in a graveyard. He looked around, seeing many gravestones surrounding him. He frowned, wondering where he was. He began to read the names on the gravestones, and his heart stopped. Here lies Harry James Potter. Here lies Ginevra Molly Weasley. Here lies James Sirius Potter. Here lies Lily Luna Potter. Here lies Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy. Here lies Rose Nymphadora Weasley. Here lies Sapphire Willow Todesworth.

Then, the scene changed. His friends and family were chained to a wall. Albus stood, facing a wizard in dark robes with his wand. He got ready to strike, but his wand left him immediately for some reason. He had not so much seen the wizard utter a word or flick his wand. Then, searing pain. It was so great it made him fall to his knees, screaming and crying. But he wasn't the only one. His friends and family started screaming and crying along with him, begging Albus to help. Albus tried to get up, but he couldn't. He merely collapsed, his dying breath spent listening to everyone he cared about wail in misery, knowing Albus was their only hope to survive.

All of a sudden, Albus was back with the man. This time, he was determined to keep his eyes closed.

The man laughed. Albus shuddered; the man's laugh sounded like explosions and destruction, the way it boomed with an undertone of danger.

"You will tell me where it is," he said, smiling evilly.

Albus tried to choke out a response but found he couldn't use his voice.

"Nothing to say? Shame. Coward, you are. I will destroy everything meaningful to you if you do not tell me. You've seen it for yourself. Letting other die for you? No greater dishonour."

"But I have no idea where it is!" Albus managed to say.

The man frowned. "I see you're still being difficult. I would have thought you cared about your family. No matter, this will not deter me. I have one last location to check. If that turns out not to be the venue...you will truly regret it, Albus Severus Potter. You will experience true pain, which is much, much worse than what you feel now."

He laughed again, and Albus screamed. A whirlpool of colours surrounded him, drowning him in his misery.

Albus opened his eyes. He was on the floor, in the Transfiguration classroom, sweating profusely. Around him, he saw the worried eyes of Rose, Sapphire, and Scorpius. Professor Laxford was also looking extremely anxious. The Slytherins, however, were whispering to each other and looking at him strangely. Some were sniggering.

Albus rolled his eyes. He was sure to hear of this later. The great Albus Potter, fainting in class for no reason.

"Mr. Potter, are you alright?" asked a concerned-looking Professor Laxford.

"Yeah, Potty, need your mummy to come so you can faint in her arms?" whispered Goyle.

Albus clenched his teeth. "I'm fine." He muttered. "Let's just continue with the lesson."

"Oh, no, Mr. Potter. I refuse for you to stay if you're not feeling well. Head up to the Hospital Wing and get a calming draught from Madam Clearwater, would you? I would have you discuss this with Headmistress McGonagall, but she isn't with us currently. Maybe you can talk to her when she returns later this evening." Professor Laxford said.

Albus sighed and obliged. There was obviously going to be no arguing with his professor on this one.

"Would anyone like to go with Mr. Potter?" he asked, just making things worse.

"Yeah, Potty needs a bodyguard to walk up two floors with him!" snickered one of Goyle's friends.

Apparently the professor had not heard this comment, and searched the room. "Ah, Miss Todesworth. Why don't you assist your friend Albus?"

"Of course," she replied quickly. She and Albus left the room and headed up to the Hospital Wing. As soon as they left the classroom, she faced Albus and hissed, "What happened?"

"I don't know! I was just in class, thinking about my dream, and I found myself on the floor when I stopped!" Albus exclaimed.

"Well, what we saw was you were sitting in class, looking dazed, when suddenly you started shivering. Then your eyes rolled up and you fainted for about five minutes, while Slytherins laughed at you and Rose threw them glares." Sapphire said matter-of-factly. "Maybe when you were thinking about it, it caused you to have another dream."

Albus stared at her. "That's kind of creepy. So I can't even think about them?"

Sapphire shrugged. "I don't know, it's your dream! But I guess so, seeing the results we got."

Albus sighed. "Fine, I won't dwell on them anymore. But this dream was the worst by far."

Sapphire looked curious. "What was it about?" she asked.

"I'll tell you later, when Rose and Scorpius are around." Albus said. With that, he headed into the Hospital Wing to get a calming draught, knowing it would do nothing to help. However, he knew Professor Laxford would check, and so he reluctantly consumed it. He headed back to the common room, knowing Transfiguration would be over by now and his friends would bring his things. He sat in an armchair by the fire and sank into it, waiting to have another discussion with his friends.

Rose and Scorpius, led by Sapphire, entered the common room and walked over to Albus. "Okay, spill." said Rose simply as she dropped her things as well as Albus' on the side table by the furnace.

Albus relayed his dream word for word and watched as their expressions grew to looks of horror and confusion. It was actually quite scary that he remembered it exactly; every single detail. Well, it had been really vivid, but he didn't know how he memorized every single thing that went down.

"How do you remember it word for word?" asked Rose curiously, voicing is thoughts.

Albus shrugged. "I don't know, really. I guess it was so vivid I memorized everything."

Scorpius, Sapphire, and Rose exchanged looks of worry.

"Well, what do you think will happen if he doesn't find it at that last location?" asked Sapphire nervously.

Albus frowned. "I don't know. He said I would experience pain worse than what I felt during the dreams. I don't really see how that's possible though, since they're awful to begin with."

Rose and Sapphire shuddered simultaneously. Scorpius just looked thoughtful.

"Hmm...maybe actually feeling it will be worse. Maybe he'll do the things you saw in his eyes, and it'll feel a lot worse in real life." mused Scorpius.

Albus, Rose, and Sapphire just stared at him. "Thanks, that's real reassuring." Albus said sarcastically. "But I guess you're right."

"Well, what are we going to do?" asked Rose worriedly.

"We don't know anything yet. Once he checks this location, we worry. Maybe he'll find it there!" Sapphire said.

"How is that any better? If he finds the Potestum, and it really is as powerful as we've heard, then we're probably in more danger!" exclaimed Scorpius.

"So we're done for either way," concluded Rose. "What should we do?"

"Let's start at square one," Sapphire suggested. "Where do you think this location is? If we find it and stop him, then everything would be alright."

Albus sat up suddenly and breathed out his thought, "McGonagall's office." He whispered. "Remember in Transfiguration? Professor Laxford told us McGonagall wasn't here. And she's the headmistress of the school, close to my father. Where else would he think a good location for the Potestum is?"

Scorpius frowned. "That's true," he admitted. "But we don't know when he's going to do it!"

Now it was Rose's turn to add on. "Yes we do," she said. "Right now. Laxford said she'd be back by evening, right? Well, don't you think that's a little convenient? Bulstrode's probably already in her office. She knows the password, too, so she could get it for him! If it's there, of course."

Sapphire started. "Well, alright then, let's go! We've got a half hour till curfew, so we don't have to leave so sneakily."

Albus stared. "Now? But we don't have a plan!"

Rose rolled her eyes. "We don't need a plan. She won't know that we're there, and we can disarm and incapacitate her like we intended to last time."

Albus sighed, still thinking that it should have been thought through a bit more. However, seeing the truth in his friends' words, he agreed. "Alright, let's go!"

They exited the Fat Lady's portrait, and began to walk the corridors, trying to avoid suspicion. They chatted as though they were merely walking together, and not like they were going to catch a criminal. They were almost there, and Albus felt a thrill of excitement. They were going to catch her this time for sure, he thought. Unfortunately, this is where their luck went bad. Goyle and his goons stepped out from behind a wall, their wands withdrawn.

"Going for a nightly stroll, eh, Potty?" he jeered.

"Leave us alone," growled Sapphire. "Or you'll be angling for a rematch."

"Yeah, like we're so scared of you. Mummy! Mummy! I'm going to faint!" one of his goons said, imitating Albus in class. "We haven't forgiven you for those detentions, and look around! Daddy can't save you now."

"No, but we can." answered Scorpius.

All four of them raised their wands and started muttering incantations. Albus threw Goyle across the hallway, while Sapphire disarmed his friend. Scorpius attempted to block a spell, but it him and he banged into the wall. Rose growled and moved her wand; a welt appearing on Goyle's friend's forehead, no doubt the result of a Stinging Hex. At this point, they realized they were outmatched, and took to fleeing. Scorpius got up and they all congratulated each other. However, their joy was short-lived as they all remembered the reason they went out anyway.

All four rushed to the Head's study's entrance. All they saw was a swirl of dark robes turn a corner. They followed, but the person just vanished without a trace. They were too late.

After their failed attempt at finally capturing Bulstrode, they received no further clues for the month of December. Albus' dreams had also stopped occurring. His friends tried to cheer him up using this piece of information, but this actually made Albus more curious. Had they stopped because the man found it? Or because he had failed, and was plotting revenge on Albus? He was nervous either way, and half-hoped he would have another dream to find out what had happened.

He guessed the reason soon enough, though. An announcement in the Great Hall had stated that Professor McGonagall's office had been searched thoroughly. However, to assure the students, they told them that nothing was taken. This just made Albus more uneasy. This meant that he should get ready for whatever "pain" the man from Albus' dreams had in store for him.

These were his thoughts as he stared out the window on the ride to King's Cross from the Hogwarts Express. He could barely believe that Christmas was just around the corner. He had been so caught up with everything he had forgotten about the holidays. Maybe he would be safer at home, Albus thought. Nothing could happen with his parents and siblings just a few rooms away.

Rose interrupted his thoughts as she bickered with Scorpius yet again. Albus smiled and listened in, realizing this would probably be their last argument until January.

"If you're so great, why does no one but us talk to you of their own accord?" asked Rose.

"They would, but they're too scared to approach someone as spectacular as me. Plus, you're always around, which drives them off. You think you're so smart, using fancy words like "accord"!" retorted Scorpius.

"If you think "accord" is fancy, I can see why no one approaches you. You wouldn't be able to hold up a conversation!"

"How would you know? No one talks to you but us, and I just do it out of pity."

"Like you're so popular! At least people acknowledge me; they just treat you like you're invisible!"

"I wish you were invisible! That way, I wouldn't have to look at you."

"Oh, you don't like my look? I'm sorry; I was trying to look like you this morning!"

"So you try to copy the way I look? Why am I not surprised..."

"Oh, I like that comeback! It reminds me of something I would've used when I was young and stupid!"

"So you see it too?"

"You're calling me stupid? Look, I don't know what your problem is, but I bet it's hard for you to pronounce."

It would've continued, but the train lurched to a stop. They had reached.

Sapphire sighed. "Oh, thank the heavens. You two sound like an old married couple."

"If I was her husband, I'd put poison in her every meal." Scorpius said, determined to get the last word.

"Please. If I was your wife, I'd eat them!" Rose retorted.

Albus and Sapphire had to laugh at that one. All four of them stepped off the train and looked for their parents.

"Well, I see my parents. Bye guys! Hope you write!" Sapphire said cheerfully. She hugged Rose and Scorpius, then leaned over to hug Albus. As she did, Albus felt a strange, warm feeling come over him. Shaking it off, he noticed his parents and slapped hands with Scorpius as a goodbye. Rose just shook his hand awkwardly, and ran off to her parents.

"Well, bye Scorpius!" Albus said.

"Bye, Al! See you soon!" Scorpius said. He walked over to his parents, whom Albus noticed were looking at him strangely. Albus supposed it was because of the old rivalry between their families, and ignored it. He simply hugged his mum and his sister, Lily, and walked with them to their car.