Chapter 11 : Surprises

Dear Teddy,

I already warned you, in my last letter, that I did something I deeply regretted afterwards, now you know what it is. I should never have told Mathias where Albus was going that day… You'll see later, but this event set into motion some things I could never have anticipated. Does the fact that the consequences were unforeseeable make me feel any less guilty? Not really, but I guess it was also inevitable, one way or another…

Again, I'm too far ahead, you just continue reading we'll get there eventually and when we do, please don't judge me too severely.

Kisses,

Lily P.

P.S.: How is Victoire? Send me a letter as soon as you know the gender of the baby. I wish my father will let me go to France to visit you, Victoire and see the baby when he'll be born even if it is during the school year.

"Are we getting closer now? I hate surprises… Can I open my eyes, please?" Jamie asked as she let Anna lead her through the almost empty Hogwarts's passageways, not knowing where they were heading.

"No." Anna repeated for what seemed to her at least the hundredth time, but a faint smile crossed her lips which the other girl didn't see, because she had her eyes closed.

Jamie had not known Anna Goyle for a long time, but she knew she was not usually the kind to plan surprises or to play foolish games. That explained why she was so surprised when the young woman had told her she had a surprise for her and had asked her to close her eyes while she was to lead her to the alleged surprise. Jamie had frowned with suspicion, but she had obliged.

Jamie was holding the other girl's hand as they were walking and it felt strange to hold it for so long. She couldn't stop thinking about it, wondering if Anna was feeling the same way or if it was only her. It was not awkward. Her hand was warm, soft, not damp. In fact, it was quite pleasurable.

Anna stopped for a moment and told her to be careful as they entered a room. She heard the door closing behind them with a clicking sound and she asked if she could open her eyes now. Anna muttered a "yes" and she did. Jamie blinked, they were in a room where she had never been, it was a big, very luxurious bathroom with white marble floors and stained-glass windows as high as the ceiling. The colourful windows represented a mermaid. In the middle of the room, there was a bath, if you could call it that, as big as a small pool and it was surrounded by many golden taps of different shapes and sizes.

"Is this the…" Jamie began.

"Prefect's bathroom." Anna finished, nodding slightly.

"You had the password?" Jamie inquired with an amused, but suspicious glance.

Anna made a dismissing gesture. "Don't mind about that, let's just say the Hufflepuff's prefect owned me."

Jamie gave Anna a quizzical look, wondering what, in the name of Merlin, could the Hufflepuff's prefect have done to owe something to the slytherin girl. Jamie could not believe Anna had listened to her so closely and had remembered what she had told her on Christmas Eve. She didn't have to do this for her, at all. Jamie would never have thought she would go through all this trouble for her caprice. She was feeling she now owe the other woman.

"Thank you." Jamie said, touched by Anna's surprise.

Anna gave a faint smile which was a big deal coming from her and it certainly meant she was in an outmost joyful state. Jamie didn't mind the very reserved nature of Anna, she was getting used to it and it was appeasing in its own unique way. Anna had been on the team for two years and she regretted to have never taken the time to know her better, but, on the other hand, Anna had the ability to render herself almost unapproachable and when she did that, it was forbidding.

Then, Jamie took a step and touched one of the taps, pink scented water started coming from it, she activated another one and, this time, foam came out of it. The bath was enormous, but it filled itself within minutes and automatically stopped when the water reached a certain level. Jamie touched the water with the tip of her fingers, the temperature was just perfect. She then turned to Anna, who was looking at the stained-glass windows, the mermaid was moving slowly, like she was underwater, her long hairs floating around her body.

"So…"Jamie began to say.

"I'll leave, then." Anna replied.

"You can stay, I think the bath is big enough for both of us." Jamie replied, pointing at the pool that was big enough for at least twenty people, depending on how you liked to be squeezed in a tub with other humans.

"I don't have a bathing suit." Anna replied in a neutral tone.

"We're witches… This is not a problem." Jamie said, raising a brow, and then, she pointed her wand at herself and murmured a spell, her clothes transformed into a bikini harbouring the same colours her pants and sweater had.

Anna sighed, clearly uncomfortable.

"What's the matter?" Jamie asked, not understanding why she was acting so strangely. Was the other girl this modest or was it something else?

The silence between them went on for what seems to Jamie like a small eternity, because it was so awkward, but in fact, it must have lasted less than a minute. Anna seemed to be debating internally what to do. Jamie was about to say something, when her friend muttered a spell and her clothes transformed in a bathing suit too, but hers was a one-piece. It was not covering up enough skin to hide the scars presents on the curly-haired girl body, though, and Jamie couldn't help but glance at them for a second too long. She understood now why she hadn't wanted to wear a bathing suit in front of her.

Anna quickly got into the water and they didn't talk for a while. Awfully aware of what the other was thinking about, but they didn't know each other well enough to know what to say or what not to say, so they both preferred to hold their tongues.

Jamie looked at Anna as she submerged herself completely underwater and, as she resurfaced, pulling her wet hair back, her eyes closed. Jamie felt anger rising in her, she couldn't believe Anna's father had done this to her, she had not thought there would be scars; she hadn't thought it was that bad. The other girl always seemed so in control, so strong, she didn't look and acted as if she was a victim, at all. It reaffirmed Jamie's idea that you never know what is going on behind closed doors.

She wondered what was going to happen to her at the end of the school year, when she'll be forced to go back to her father's house. Will she have similar scars, then? The social worker had told her to contact her if anything happened, but she was afraid she would not be able to do so. Her father had been a Death Eater and he would still be one if he was to be given the choice. So, holding her captive was no challenge for him. She didn't have a choice, she would have to escape, one way or another, she would never go back there.

"Enjoying the bath?" Anna asked, to break the heavy silence that had settled between them.

Jamie nodded, exiting her thoughts, then she smiled. "Thank you. I didn't know you were a genie, granting wishes and everything… Does that mean I have two wishes left then?"

Anna rolled her eyes. "I guess so…"

Jamie nodded with a mischievous smile, let her head rest on the edge of the pool and closed her eyes, enjoying the moment. The school would start in a few days and she would have prolonged her vacations for a while.

"So, what are your other wishes?" Anna asked after a few moments.

Jamie opened her eyes, looking at the other women. "I don't know, I'll save them for later, I don't want to waste them for something that's not worth it." She said with a blink.

Anna nodded. "This is wise of you, but you should wish for a new Keeper, because I can't swear to you I won't direct my Bludgers at her if she's on the team for our next match."

Jamie sighed heavily, knowing she was right, she had to find someone to replace Greengrass and she should start the tryouts as soon as school resumes. She had so much in her head right now, this had been relegated to a position of second importance in her mind.

Albus was very surprised when he realized that it was Scorpius Malfoy who had addressed him, but, at the same time, he felt relief wash over him. It wasn't his mysterious penpal, it was only Malfoy. The blond man and him never really spoke to one another, but, truly, he had nothing against him. He just found it strange the other boy had suddenly decided to speak to him. Albus looked around, but it seemed Scorpius was alone, he wondered what the usually discreet young man wanted with him.

"Well… hum… happy new year." Albus said, not knowing what to say and wishing to end this conversation as soon as possible, so he wouldn't miss his date.

"Happy new year." Scorpius answered faintly, like he was unsure as to what he was supposed to reply.

Albus gazed at him, not knowing why the other young man had saluted him in the first place if he had nothing to say to him, they were not even friends. He thought Malfoy was acting strangely.

"So… What are you doing here? Shopping with your father?" Albus said to break the awkward silence growing between them.

Scorpius lifted one eyebrow in a very Malfoy manner and snorted. "I'm not with my father, nor am I shopping. I'm here to meet… a friend." He explained.

Albus ignored the snort and assented. "Me either, but it seems he's late… again." He replied with a touch of annoyance in his voice, as he looked around, hoping to see a cute ravenclaw boy walk up to him, but, of course, it didn't happen.

Despite what Vincent had hinted, he was sure the man he was waiting for was good-looking. He thought, stupidly enough, that an ugly person couldn't have written those beautiful letters, he would have felt it if it was the case. He knew this didn't make sense and that beauty wasn't what defined someone, but…

"Is it Vincent MacDougal?" Scorpius asked.

"Sorry?" Albus said, inattentively, while continuing to look around trying to glimpse the one he was looking for.

"The friend you're waiting for…"

"Ah!... No, no… You don't know him. Well… M-maybe you do in fact! You're in Ravenclaw, aren't you?" Asked Albus with a sudden mischievous smile, thinking maybe Malfoy could help him find who the other Ravenclaw student was or to recognize him in the crowd surrounding them. There were a lot of students in Hogwarts and he didn't know everyone by name or even by sight, especially outside the school walls and dressed in regular clothes and especially those who were not in his House. "I would like to ask something from you, but feel free to decline if you don't want to, after all, you owe me nothing. If you oblige, I would owe you something, though."

"You truly are a real Slytherin at heart, calculating the value of helping someone and adding it to an invisible bill of… favours." Scorpius said, rolling his eyes like he couldn't believe what he had heard from Albus.

"Is this meant to be an insult?" Replied Albus cheekily, giving him his best cocky, and yet captivating, smile.

"No, only an observation. As you may know, I've got my share of slytherins at home..." Replied Scorpius in a seemingly serious manner, but Albus could see he was joking. "But I'm glad to say I'm quite different from them." He added with, this time, a superior smile.

"You have to admit your physical resemblance with your father is stunning, though." Albus replied in an amused tone, not offended, whatsoever, by the half-covered insult against Slytherin.

"I can assure you, the resemblance ends right where it starts." The blond boy said in a way that clearly meant he wanted to end the subject.

"So… going back to the initial subject. Are you, indeed, willing to help me?"

"Only to one condition." He replied.

Albus's eyes narrowed, he knew the young man would ask for something in return, no one does anything for free. Scorpius could pretend he wasn't like his father or like a slytherin, but Potter knew the fruit could not have fallen that far from the tree. He wondered what the blond man wanted in exchange.

"State your demand." Albus replied in a neutral voice, ready to start the negotiations.

"I don't want you to owe me anything in return." Scorpius said with half a smile, looking at him in the eyes intently.

Albus frowned, not quite sure he understood. He was not even friends with Malfoy and there was no reason he would just help him like that, it didn't make any sense. "You truly are a Ravenclaw, trying to play with my mind and to outsmart me. I know you're trying to trick me…"

Scorpius rolled his eyes again and sighed. "You are paranoid or what? I don't want anything in return and that's all. So, is it a deal?"

"It's a bad deal for you… but, as I understand it, it's a deal nonetheless?" Albus asked in the most suspicious tone you could think of, putting his hand in front of him, waiting for Scorpius Malfoy to shake it.

Scorpius nodded briefly, shook his hand and smiled. Albus frowned some more, not trusting the young man one bit. This was too strange, it felt like a trap.

"My first question is : Do you see any Ravenclaw student around here?" Albus said.

Scorpius looked at the people passing by and, then, he turned to the black-haired student. "Except me, none." He replied, riding up his dark-blue cashmere scarf, since it was a little windy.

Albus sighed, looking truly disappointed this time. "I should have guessed he wouldn't come."

Albus felt almost stupid he had believed this time the mysterious ravenclaw student would show up. Why would he this time? What was different? He really should forget this story and think about something else, because it was only hurting him.

"Did you have a… a date?" Scorpius asked shyly, avoiding the slytherin's eyes.

"Sort of… Well, in fact, I don't know... He has stood me up before, so I should have known he would do it again this time." Albus Potter replied, more to himself than to Scorpius.

"I see… M-maybe he has… a good explanation? Maybe he's only late or… too shy?" Scorpius said, reddening and hesitating a little.

Albus snorted, but then he smiled at Malfoy. He would have never guessed the only son of the snobbish Draco Malfoy which his uncles and his father hated so much was so naive. No wonder he had not been sorted in Slytherin, he now understood why the young man had told him earlier he was the opposite of his father. He remembered the conversation he had had with Lysander on Christmas Eve, the way she had described Scorpius. Maybe she had been right, he seemed like a pleasant person.

Albus thought about his older brother and his cousins and he wondered why they bore him this deep-rooted hatred. Except for the way he looked, he couldn't see any resemblance between Scorpius and his father, the way his family had always described him when he was younger and attending Hogwarts with them.

Many times, his uncles, and even his father, had told him stories about their time at Hogwarts and some of them contained Draco Malfoy. In each and every one of these stories, Scorpius's father was depicted has a coward who was also a pretentious spoiled-brat following his own father's idea unquestioningly. When his uncle Ron pronounced the noun Malfoy, he always made a face that clearly showed what he was thinking of this family. Albus thought his family would blackout if they could see him walking side by side and chatting with Scorpius Malfoy and he took great delight in this idea only.

Each Potter child had inherited the same hard head and untamed personality their parents had, in this, they truly was the descendant of their grandfather, James Potter. Lily was the most unruly of them all and it was a miracle she had not been suspended from Hogwarts at least once, but she was more often than not in detention on Friday nights. She didn't seem to mind, to her, talking in class, being late, running in the hallways and going out after the curfew was irrepressible.

As they walked along the streets, they chatted some more and Albus was having an unexpectedly good time. Scorpius told him each time he saw a Ravenclaw student, but none were alone or fitted the hazy description given by Albus. Potter didn't seem to mind about having been stood up anymore and, soon, they were just talking and looking at the window displays of the different stores. Albus stopped before the Quidditch Shop and looked at the new Nimbus 3500 with envy. Scorpius said he couldn't understand how he could possibly want to continue to ride a broom after the fall he had just before Christmas.

Albus shrugged and smiled, he told him Quidditch was his passion and nothing could keep him from playing. Once, he had even played with broken ribs due to an accident he suffered when he was practising alone, he hadn't told Jamie Nott, his captain, or she would never have let him play. They had won the match, this time, but, afterwards, he couldn't breathe or sleep because the pain was so intense.

"Too bad we won't win the cup this year, because of our rubbish Keeper, Rodolfa Greengrass, I can't believe Jamie did not find someone better than her, everyone would be better!" Albus exclaimed.

Scorpius winced and Albus thought it was his way of approving what he was saying.

"You must be rejoicing, since your house is probably going to win the cup, damned Greengrass!" Albus said, sighing loudly.

This time, Scorpius frowned. "Don't you know Rodolfa is my cousin?"

Albus's eyes widened for a split second, he hadn't realized this at all. He looked at the other man and made an apologizing face. "I just put my foot in my mouth, it seems."

Scorpius nodded. "Indeed."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that… But it's true, nonetheless." Albus replied.

Malfoy raised his eyebrows like he could not believe what he was hearing. "This is the worst excuse I have ever heard in my entire life." He told the slytherin student, but he couldn't help but smile a little, hiding his smile behind his scarf.

At this moment, they ran into a couple of Slytherin's students one year older than them, they both nodded at Albus Potter, but they gave Scorpius an inquiring look and they started murmuring to one another. Albus rolled his eyes.

"I hate people; they can't mind their own business." Albus Scorpius said turning around and looking at the couple walking away.

"It doesn't mind… I'm kind of used to it, being a Malfoy." Scorpius smiled, but Albus could feel his smile was false.

Albus knew Scorpius was not very popular at school, so were the children of ex-Death Eaters or of people that had associated with Voldemort during the war. Malfoy was a very discreet person, but Albus had seen him being harassed, pushed around or even insulted during their school years at Hogwarts. However, he had never seen the blond boy fight back or reply.

"I know what you mean, being a Potter." Replied Albus winking, trying to relax the mood.

Being Harry Potter's son had brought on Albus a lot of attention. It had been worst for James, being the first born, when he was a newborn, their parents had told them they couldn't leave the house without being harassed by journalists. His father, who had never been very kind to journalists of any sorts, had lost his temper on more than one occasion and their mother had had to intervene before things got out of control. Albus was used to being the son of the most famous wizard in the world, but, like his father, he hated journalists.

When he had been sorted in Slytherin, the next day, the newspaper headlines only talked about it. The press even went as far as to suggest he may be attracted to the dark arts and could turn out to be a powerful dark mage… He was eleven years old. He remembered how appalled he had been at the moment and how angry, but someone must have complained to the press, because the day after, the journalist who had written the article presented public apologies.

"We've been walking for more than an hour and a half, I guess this means I was truly stood up again." Albus laughed.

"Yeah…" Scorpius replied faintly.

"You told me you were meeting a friend, you're going to be late too, he's going to think you've stood him up." The slytherin said like he just remembered.

Scorpius nodded with hesitation, looking everywhere but at Albus. "I think he already thinks that… I-I have to tell you… I mean… I may not have told you… precisely what I... I mean… It was going well and… It's t-the first time I… You know…"

Albus's eyes narrowed as he felt many emotions rise inside of many without letting them show. He stared at Scorpius's eyes, like he could read through them. He had a flash and looked at the blond man's wrist. Scorpius followed his gaze, certainly realizing what he was looking for, so he pulled up his sleeve a little and here it was: Albus's watch. When he saw it, Albus blinked in surprise, unable to identify the emotion that washed over him like someone had emptied a bucket a water over his head, he didn't know what to say for a while. He avoided looking at Scorpius's face, not ready to face it. He would have never guessed it was him, never.

After what seems a very long time for both of them, Albus finally looked in Scorpius's eyes and he talked. "I don't want you to write to me anymore…" He said very slowly, detaching each syllable, in a very neutral tone.

Scorpius took a small step back, he was biting his lips. "I…I understand." He managed to reply, in an almost inaudible voice.

"I want you to talk to me, instead." Albus continued, gazing intensely at the other student, trying to decipher what he was thinking, almost holding his breath.

Writer's note:

Dear readers,

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. It was hard to write, because I thought it was a very important chapter. Also I burned my hand very badly while cooking and it took me forever to type it.

I wish you all a happy new year!

Thank you for your comments and your support,

Harley Q.