Saturday, November 4, 2017
"Ugh! Your dads are impossible!" Tilly groaned, dropping Scorpius' latest copy of Modern Portrait Painting Monthly - which she'd been holding up over her head, for a different perspective - over her face.
"Tell me about it," Scorpius muttered, dabbing angrily at his canvas. "I've hardly spoken to him in weeks. I didn't mind so much when he was so obviously happy, but - hold still Ivan!"
"Sorry! It's the a-a-a-"
"Don't you dare!"
"A-choo! Addergies." Ivan sniffled miserably.
Sasha rolled her eyes. "Only you would be allergic to Mandrakes. Remind me not to be your partner in Herbology next year."
"Actually," Tilly said slyly, emerging from under the magazine, "you have only yourself to blame, Scorpius. If you hadn't insisted on helping Professor Longbottom this morning…"
Scorpius glared at her.
"Break time!" Al called cheerfully, dragging Scorpius away from his canvas and distributing the cauldron cakes he'd just brought from the kitchens. "Had to bribe the house elves, but I got them."
"But -" Scorpius protested weakly
"Yes!" Ivan shouted, diving off the stool and onto the bed next to Tilly, who rolled her eyes and swatted him with the magazine.
Sasha chewed thoughtfully for a moment. "Maybe," she said, "it's time for us to do something."
"But what can we do?" Ivan asked.
"Nothing," Scorpius said bitterly, still stung by the way Neville had shot down his ideas a few hours before. Not that Neville wasn't right, probably, but… he was still bitter at being dismissed out of hand. "We're just kids."
"Actually," Tilly said slowly, "I think I might have an idea…"
They all groaned.
"Merlin, Tilly, not another one!" Sasha exclaimed.
Tilly chucked a pillow at her head.
And so began the Great Pillow Fight of '17.
When they'd flopped back down, exhausted, Tilly spoke again. "I mean it though," she said, idly making loose feathers dive and swirl around the room with her wand, "I really do have an idea."
"Well, let's hear it then," Sasha said. "We will anyway," she added under her breath.
Ivan, ever the peacekeeper, said "What is it?" before Tilly could get offended.
"Well," she said, "it seems that you're right. We are just kids, and that means that the adults don't always take us seriously."
Scorpius, stretched out on his stomach, chin pillowed on his folded arms, grumbled quietly, and Al stopped rubbing the knots out of his shoulders and ruffled his hair affectionately.
"What do you suggest?" he asked, once Scorpius had subsided again.
"We need to call in reinforcements. We need an adult that's on our side."
"Like who?" Sasha asked.
"Well. My aunt, for one. She was friends with your dad, Scorp, back when they were students. She's clever, and cunning, and she loves to meddle." She paused, thinking. "Actually, her girlfriend might come, too. She was friends with your dad, Al."
"Surely you don't mean - " Al started, but was cut off by Scorpius, who sat up suddenly, nearly toppling Al off the bed, to stare at Tilly. "You're related to Pansy?"
Tilly smirked. "Are you surprised?"
Scorpius turned to Al, relieved to see his horror mirrored in Al's green eyes. "No," they both said emphatically. Sasha giggled.
"Actually", Tilly said, ignoring them, "your mums might be helpful too."
Scorpius considered this, then looked at Al, who nodded. "Yeah, it's true. They might even agree to it."
Ivan, who'd been watching quietly as usual, spoke up then. "What about Luna?"
"Luna Lovegood?" Tilly asked.
"Do you think she'd come?" Scorpius added.
Ivan nodded. "She'd come. She's my godmother, you know."
"Well," Al said slowly, "she'd certainly provide a unique perspective."
Scorpius snorted and shoved him.
"She could help us with this too," Al said, tapping the book on magical plant breeding they'd abandoned in frustration earlier, after their unproductive visit with Neville.
Scorpius nodded. "That's true. Pansy and Hermione might be helpful with that too."
"But…" Sasha frowned. "How do we get them here?"
They stared at one another, pondering. A knock on their doorframe interrupted the heavy silence a moment later.
"Enter!" Al called.
Teddy ducked under the beaded curtain, looking not the least surprised to find the five of them inside, as usual - though, Scorpius thought grumpily, if he'd checked a few hours earlier, he'd have found them in the greenhouse. Obscenely early on a Saturday morning. So if he was going to tell them to go outside again…
"Albus? Scorpius? I'm going to have to ask you to come with me," Teddy said, face stern and serious. Ivan squeaked.
"What did we do?" Scorpius asked, grumpiness replaced with worry.
Teddy rolled his eyes and a shadow of his usual grin escaped. "I'm meeting with Neville and Minerva in a few minutes, about your fathers, and I thought you might like to join us." He turned to look at the others, stern expression back in place. "Actually, you may as well all come. There's also the small matter of your 'slumber parties.'"
They all gulped. "Yes, Professor," Sasha said, biting her lip. Only Tilly didn't seem particularly concerned as they made their silent way through the castle to the Headmaster's office.
Al's fidgeting got more pronounced as they went, and he'd graduated to alternately twirling his wand and scrunching and unscrunching his sleeve by the time they got to the spiral staircase.
Scorpius, fearing Al would accidentally hex one of them, or, barring that, simply rumple the fabric of his robe in his sweaty palms so much that even the house-elves wouldn't be able to restore it, slipped his hand quietly into Al's. As expected, Al froze, which, though slightly awkward, at least stopped the fidgeting. After a few turns of the stair, during which Scorpius applied firm, even pressure to Al's hand, but otherwise didn't acknowledge the link, he felt Al relax. Scorpius didn't drop his hand.
Teddy turned to them with a piercing look and opened his mouth, but the stair deposited them at the Headmaster's door before he could say anything, and they were all distracted by the distinctive sounds of a heated argument taking place behind the door.
Teddy rolled his eyes as he reached for the knocker. "I swear," he muttered, "they are such children! I leave them alone for five bloody minutes…"
The door swung open, cutting off his words, and they all stared at the spectacle of Professor McGonagall shouting at Headmaster Longbottom - Scorpius couldn't think of him as Neville, not in his office - and attempting to hit him over the head with what looked like a scone.
Scorpius tried valiantly to suppress his giggles, but he didn't quite manage it.
McGonagall and the Headmaster turned to them, then, straightening their robes, brushing off crumbs, and otherwise pretending that they hadn't been about to have a food fight.
Behind them, the portrait of the late Headmaster Albus Dumbledore was cackling gleefully, and the portrait of the late Potions Professor Severus Snape was rolling his eyes.
"Ah," Headmaster Longbottom said, brushing off the last of the crumbs and sitting down behind his desk. "Children. So good of you to join us. Have a seat please. Would you care for a scone? They're fresh - Madam Puddifoot sent them over this morning."
Scorpius sat, dragging Al down into the seat next to him. Portrait Dumbledore grinned widely at him, looking pointedly at their joined hands, eyes twinkling merrily.
Teddy, Tilly, Ivan, and Sasha all sat too, as did Professor McGonagall, still looking a tad ruffled as she poured herself a cup of tea.
"Now," Headmaster Longbottom said, once they all had a scone and cup of steaming tea, "what's this I hear about slumber parties?"
Scorpius sank lower in his chair, as did the others - all but Tilly, of course. "How did you - " she began, but the Headmaster interrupted her.
"We do have some protections put in place, you know, to keep students out of one another's dormitories - and out of trouble."
Al gulped. The Headmaster's stern mask cracked and fell away, to be replaced with a broad smile. "However," he continued, "Teddy has assured me that your intentions are good, and, as he can monitor you, and ultimately has responsibility for you while you are in his House, I will leave the matter up to him to sort out."
Teddy smiled. "You're not hurting anyone. Although, I'm surprised no one has noticed you missing from your dormitory, Miss Davison - or you, Miss Leatherwood, as you're not even a Hufflepuff."
"She's a Hufflepuff at heart," they all said in unison. Headmaster Longbottom collapsed, chuckling, against the back of his chair; Professor McGonagall rolled her eyes and smiled.
"I will allow it, then, so long as you continue to behave and it does not interfere with your schoolwork," the Headmaster said, shoulders still shaking. "Far be it from me to separate best friends." He rubbed his hands together then, snagging another scone from the serving platter in the center of the table. "So. About the real purpose of this meeting."
Teddy sighed. McGonagall did too. "We need a plan," Teddy said. "Our current approach isn't working."
"What we need," McGonagall said acerbically, is a miracle. She brightened. "Or, we could do what I've suggested all along - lock them in a broom cupboard until they stop being idiots."
They all grinned at that mental image.
Tilly spoke up then. "I have a plan."
"Oh, well then, Miss Leatherwood," the Headmaster said, polishing off another scone, "do tell. I'm all ears, as it were."
Scorpius listened intently as Tilly relayed their earlier discussion about bringing in reinforcements, waiting for the moment the adults scoffed and told them to leave these matters to them.
Instead, Headmaster Longbottom grinned in delight, setting his scone down on his plate. "Oh, I like that. That's quite clever."
"We'd need an excuse to bring them in, though," Teddy cautioned.
"What about art?" Ivan asked suddenly. "We've all been studying it, in our spare time, but there's not any classes offered here in it."
The adults stared at him.
"Oh," Headmaster Longbottom said, clapping his hands, "that's wonderful. Hmm. Advanced Muggle Studies… Muggle Art Studies… Oh, I like this! But, why them in particular?"
"Well," Sasha said, "Scorpius' mum is a designer and photographer."
"And my mum's her model," Al added. "And she draws some." He glanced at Scorpius. "Plus, they're already interested in getting our dads together."
"Pansy and Hermione dance," Tilly added.
Teddy looked at her oddly. "How do you know that?"
She waved her hand airily. "Pansy's my aunt. She used to babysit me when I was little. Mum says I take after her side of the family."
"Of course," McGonagall rolled her eyes. "That explains rather a lot. And Luna?"
"She dabbles in most arts," Scorpius said. "She's writing a book right now, about her latest expeditions."
"And she's my godmother," said Ivan.
"Do you really think they'd come?" asked McGonagall, skeptical.
They looked at one another. "They will if we ask," Al said decisively.
Headmaster Longbottom rubbed his hands together. "Well, then. I think we have a plan."