The door to the common room swung open with a bang.

"POTTER!" A female voice bellowed. Albus half rose from his seat, saw that it was Kate Turnbow who had shouted his surname, and hastily sat back down, turning back to Elsie and the charms work he was helping her with.

"Collins," she snapped, approaching Avery, who was lounging in front of the crackling fire. He slowly opened his blue eyes and looked up at her.

"Yes?"

"Where is James?"

Avery sat up all the way. "Dunno. I saw him in the hall with that Ravenclaw girl, Violet something, when I came up. I haven't seen him since."

For one moment, Kate's eyes flashed something like sadness. Then she straightened up. "How convenient for him," she remarked, but knowing that James wasn't around seemed to soften her.

"Wait," said Avery, yawning, "why are you looking for him?"

"Well, for one thing, he's out past curfew," she said pointing to the prefect's badge on her chest.

Avery smiled. "You didn't know that until I told you, but nice try."

"Fine," she huffed, hiding a grin in acknowledgement of his statement, "his sister's passed out in the library."

Avery suddenly stood, towering over her. "Lily?"

"He hasn't got another sister." Kate's features softened slightly. "I didn't want to wake her, I don't think she's been sleeping. I keep finding her up when I finish my rounds and everybody else has gone to bed. But I couldn't bring her up myself. Will you find James and tell him for me? I've still got rounds to finish."

"I won't bother," Avery said, starting towards the portrait hole, "I'll just get her myself."

"Um, Avery?" Kate called softly, as if unused to calling him by his first name and unsure if it was alright with him, "Thanks. For taking care of it. I guess hanging out with Potter doesn't make everyone scum."

He smirked at her. "I'll try to keep his bad influence from having an effect on me," he called over his shoulder as he left.

"Don't you think that should be you?" Scorpius called over to Albus, who was sitting at a different table than he and Rose.

Albus turned reluctantly away from Elsie. "No," he said, "Lily's almost as big as I am. How am I supposed to lug her up the stairs? Let Avery go, he doesn't mind. She's practically his sister, too."

Scorpius rolled his eyes and turned back to Rose, who was staring into the fire thoughtfully.

He nudged her elbow and she jumped, her eyes snapping into focus on his face.

"What are you thinking about?"

She sighed. "Avery."

"Why?"

"Because he's hopelessly in love, that's why."

"Um… does that pertain to you?"

She smiled a little, looking at her hands. "It's not me, if that's what you mean. And I'm not in love with him either."

"Is it Kate?"

She smiled a little more. "Kate's in love with somebody else, poor, stupid girl."

Scorpius sighed in frustration, dipping his quill in the inkpot. "Is everybody in this bloody place in love with somebody?"

"What you're not?" Looking at her still caught him by surprise, sometimes. He still wasn't used to the changes he had noticed in her at the wedding, but once he had seen them, he couldn't unsee them. It was very disconcerting to suddenly notice how beautiful his best friend was, especially now, skin glowing and curls gleaming from the crackling fire.

He looked back down at his potions essay. It was a good one, guaranteed to get him an O. "No, I'm not," he said.

"Gisela?"

He met her wide, blue eyes again. "I told you, we're only friends."

"See, that's what Albus says about Elsie. But we both know that they're lying."

Scorpius looked over at the pair. They had scooted their chairs close together and their knees were touching under the tabletop. Their heads were bent over the same piece of parchment, almost touching, and whenever Albus looked over at her, his green eyes gleamed in a way that Scorpius had never seen them gleam before, not in all their four years together. Elsie's violet gaze matched Albus', gleam-wise.

"Well, I don't lie," Scorpius said to Rose. "Do you think it'll be weird? When they get together?"

"They already spend most of their time together," Rose said, "so it probably won't be much different. Except for the snogging factor." She dotted the last sentence on her parchment and pushed it towards him. "Will you read it over for me? You're much better at potions."

He scanned the rows of her neat handwriting. "Looks fine," he said, rolling it up for her.

"It has to look more than fine!" She said urgently, "I have to be top of the class!"

Scorpius slid his gaze over to her. "You are top of the class," he reminded her. "The only other one that's even close is me, and seeing as I'm only good at potions and you're good at everything else, it's likely to stay that way. Why does it matter so much, anyway?"

Her retort was cut off by the portrait hole swinging open again, and Avery strode in with Lily, who was still sleeping, cradled in his arms. He made towards the staircase for the girl's dormitory, but Rose said, "You can't go up there, boy's aren't allowed. It's cursed," so he set her instead on the couch before the fire where he had previously been laying.

"Lils," he said softly, kneeling beside her and running a finger down her cheek, "you have to wake up, it's nearly midnight."

She stirred slightly, but didn't open her eyes.

"Lily, you have to wake up now. You'll be more comfortable in your bed." He shook her shoulder a little. "Come on, sweetheart, wake up."

Slowly, her brown eyes blinked open. "What time is it?" she asked in a sleep clogged voice.

Avery grinned down at her. "Almost midnight."

Lily gasped, and sat up so quickly that she almost smashed her head against Avery's blond one. Then she clutched her head and swayed a little.

"Careful," Avery said, catching her. "You should get up to bed."

"I can't! I have a charms essay to finish!"

"Lily," Hugo, who had moved from his chair to stand at the end of the couch, said, "That's not due until next week."

"But—" she said, but Avery cut her off.

"Bed. Now."

"I can take her up," Rose volunteered, stowing her parchment in her bag, "I'm finished, anyway."

Lily stumbled as she stood, but Avery caught her again. "Come on, Lily," Rose said, snaking an arm around her waist.

"Maybe I should help," Elsie said, fetching her own bag. "Night, Al." She reached Lily and took her other side, and she and Rose hauled Lily, who looked to be half asleep again, up the staircase.

Albus moved over to join Scorpius at his table.

"That was weird," Scorpius said, watching Avery's back as he climbed his own staircase.

"Not really," Albus replied, "He's practically her big brother, too, and he's even more protective than James is."

Scorpius shot him a skeptical look.

"Honestly! I call her sweetheart too, sometimes."

"Albus."

"Okay, once in a while."

"Albus."

"Fine! But I probably would in that situation!"

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'm going to bed." And he climbed the staircase up to the boy's dormitory, thinking that whoever it was that was in charge of all the love floating around Hogwarts, he was thoroughly sick of them at the moment.