Albus stepped out of the portrait hole and took a few steps down the corridor when he realised that his brother was coming after him. He found himself groaning silently. He turned around and waited.

"I don't know what you think you're doing, Al, but you'd better stop this idiocy before you turn the whole house against you..." James said as soon as he caught up with his brother. "You're being ridiculous! No one quits the quidditch team. It's just not done," he continued.

"What do you mean, it's not done? I don't want to play anymore. Why is that so hard to understand?"

"If you quit, you let down the team and the house. Why don't you understand that?"

"I don't know why you guys are making such a big deal of this...I'm not the only seeker in Gryffindor."

"No. But you're best we have."

"True, but Shelly is good too. So is Albert. All they need is a little bit of training, which I'm sure you can manage."

"This is not about them. This is about you."

"I don't want to play anymore."

"And that's all that matters, isn't it? You don't give a damn about the team or about any of us. You don't care what any of us think anymore and that hurts, Al."

"Oh and you think your behaviour doesn't hurt me?" Albus said. "Have you stopped for one second to think about me and try to understand why I want to do this? I'm not like the rest of you Jamie. I don't care about quidditch. I care about books and school and magic. Unlike you, I want to study and spend more time on my assignments instead of hastily putting something together and turning it in because I don't have the time to do any more. Does any of this make sense to you?"

It was obvious that it didn't. "You want more time to study?" James said as if that a very strange thing for a student to want.

Albus couldn't resist the urge to roll his eyes. "Yes, strange as it seems. I want more time to study. And I don't want be playing quidditch when my heart is no longer in it. You may not understand it, Jamie, but I hope you'll try to accept it," he said and he made to turn away.

"I don't believe a word of that," James said, as he grabbed his brother by his arm and stopped him. "Until a couple of months ago, you were one of us. We hung out together all the time. But now you're not around at all. You've changed, Al. Being with Malfoy has changed you."

There we go again, Albus thought, as he tried to keep a lid on his temper.

"I told you not to drag Scor into this..."

"I can't help it. I've tried to accept this relationship of yours, but it's taking you further and further away from us."

Albus wanted to scream, he was so frustrated. "For the last time, Jamie, leave Scor out of this! This is about you and me and the sad fact that we just can't seem to get along anymore. It's been two days, just two days since we made up and now we're fighting again."

"It's your own damn fault! You insist on doing one idiotic thing after another. And you don't seem to care about me at all. Quidditch is one of the big things that we used to share and now you want to just give that up? Doesn't it matter to you that in a few months time I'll finish school and then we can't share any of this even if we want to?" James said bitterly and then he turned on his heel and left before his brother could say anything.

Albus wanted to bang his head against the wall. It's just like Jamie to accuse me of something and walk away without letting me say anything...as if he believes that I couldn't possibly have a defence, he thought as he stood in that corridor suddenly feeling very alone. Finally he turned and walked away feeling frustrated and upset. Some of the things that his brother had said had really bothered him.

Albus walked into the Ravenclaw common room and found Scorpius waiting for him. He went straight up to him and pulled him into a hug. And then he just stood there and held on without saying anything. Scorpius didn't ask any questions. He just held his boyfriend close and told him that everything was going to be fine.

"Am I being selfish?" Albus said after a while.

"Not at all. And anyone who told you that is just trying to manipulate you. There is nothing wrong with doing what you want to do, trust me."

"Then why do I feel so lousy?"

Scorpius pulled looked back and looked at Albus for a moment. "What happened, love?"

"Jamie..." Albus said and then he sat down heavily on the couch and put his head in his hands.

"What did he say?"

Albus told him. "He shouldn't have said some of those things, but it sounds like he misses you...like that's where the anger is coming from. That not a bad thing, exactly."

"No, but why does he insist on being so unfair? He says that I haven't been spending any time with him ever since you and I got together...that's true. But why does he not understand that if I've been staying away from him, it is because he does everything he can to make you feel uncomfortable and unwelcome when you're around. And he of all people has no business asking me why I want to spend all my time with you. I mean, ever since he got together with Jennifer, I haven't seen him once without her hanging on his arm. She's around all the time. None of us has ever complained about that. In fact, we do everything we can to make her feel welcome...Why the hell can't he do the same for me?" Albus was clearly very agitated.

Scorpius put his arm around him and kissed him softly on his cheek. "Maybe you should talk try and talk to your brother about it, you know without either of you getting angry and yelling."

"I don't think that's possible, Scor. Jamie doesn't want to talk or to fix anything...he just wants to blame me for the fact that we're not getting along. And I'm done trying to explain myself."

"Hmmm...Then maybe you should just let this go for a while. Give yourself a little bit of time to cool down and then once you're home with your parents, you can talk this out peacefully."

"Maybe..."

"Why don't we go up to the dorm?" Scorpius suggested after a bit. "It's nearly bedtime."

"Okay."

They went up to the dorm, changed into their pyjamas and got into bed. Albus shut the curtains and Scorpius put up a privacy spell. Then they lay on the pillow, holding hands and looking at the glowing ball of purple light that Scorpius conjured for them every night. Albus was still a bit upset, but there was something about lying in the dark and looking at that little ball of light that soothed him. He turned to look at Scorpius and wondered how he could always be so peaceful, so happy and so delightfully himself...

"I love you," Albus said.

"I love you too..."

Albus sighed and then he turned and put his arm around Scorpius and snuggled up to him. Scorpius pulled him close and gently ran his fingers through that thick mop of dark hair that he'd grown really fond of. They stayed like that for a long time, neither of them felt the need to say anything...just being close was enough.

...

In another part of the castle Draco Malfoy walked back into his rooms and put away his books. He watched in amusement as Harry continued to be engaged in a spirited conversation with Snape and Dumbledore who had snuck into Snape's portrait to have a look at his favourite student. That look had turned into an hour's worth of conversation and it was still going on. Draco had joined in for a while, but then the demands of his job had drawn him out. He'd ventured to the library to pick up a few books that he would need for his sixth and seventh year classes the next day. He'd just got back to find that Harry was still in the middle of lively conversation with the two former head masters. He put the books on the table and went over to the couch.

"Well, someone looks comfortable." he murmured as he looked fondly at Harry who was sitting back in the couch with his shoes off and his feet resting on the coffee table. He'd tossed his cloak on the armchair, he'd rolled up his sleeves and he was sitting with his hands behind his head...he looked entirely at home. It pleased Draco no end to see Harry feel so completely at home with him.

Harry smiled up at him and shifted so Draco could join him on the couch. "You took your time," he said.

"I ran into Minerva on the way and she was a bit upset and we got talking..."

"Why was she upset?" Harry asked.

"It seems Edwards had just been to see her...he teaches Defence," Draco said when he saw the look of puzzlement on Harry's face. "It seems he has to take six months off to go back to his job as an auror. He has a case in Europe, something that he had been involved in sorting out a few years ago. It's been reopened for whatever reason and now he has to go back and deal with it...He apparently received a letter from the Head Auror himself, " Draco said as he looked pointedly at Harry.

"Oh!..." Harry said. "I'd completely forgotten that he was teaching here. I got a letter from Monsieur Lumiere about week ago and I told my secretary to get hold of Edwards. I didn't make the connection."

"Anyway thanks to you, we've lost our Defence teacher with more than six months of the school year still to go. And Minerva has no idea what to do..." Draco said thoughtfully.

"The curse of the Defence teacher...I had hoped that it would end with Voldermort, but it seems it hasn't." Dumbledore said thoughtfully.

"Really?" Harry was surprised. "Are you still being forced to get a new teacher every year?"

"It hasn't been as bad as that, but the longest anyone has ever stayed is three years," Dumbledore said.

It was a couple of minutes before Harry realised that the other three men were looking at him with a decidedly speculative look in their eyes. Dumbledore, in fact, had that twinkle in his eyes which had always made Harry wonder what kind of trouble he was going to find himself in next.

"What?" He said.

"I think it is a wonderful idea," Dumbledore said.

"I think that's a pretty good idea too," Snape said. "I've never had a particularly high opinion of Potter, but this is something that even I think he can do."

"Besides, he's the one who's responsible for this mess so he should be the one fixing it," Draco said with a sly look on his face.

"I can't believe I never thought about it before," Dumbledore said.

"Minerva will be thrilled," Snape said.

And that was when Harry realised what they were all talking about. "Oh no! You have got to be kidding!" He said.

"Of course not, my boy. I think you'd be perfect for the job," Dumbledore said.

"But I already have a job!" Harry protested.

"Which you hate..." Draco pointed out.

"Yes, but at least I'm good at it. I would be miserable at teaching, trust me."

"That's not what your mates from the DA thought. They all said you were brilliant," Draco said.

"But that was different!" Harry said.

"That was Defence, Harry and you did a brilliant job of teaching it though you were only fifteen at the time. Now you're older and you have so much more experience," Draco said. "You can't tell me that you didn't enjoy running the DA."

Harry sighed. He couldn't deny that Draco was right. Running the DA had been the most fun he'd had at school other than playing quidditch. "Well, you're right about all that, but it still doesn't mean..."

"It is only for six months, Harry," Draco said. "All I'm saying is that you should try it. It's better than going back to that job you hate so much."

Harry was reminded of the way he'd felt that morning when he had walked out of the ministry and then he sighed. "I'll think about it," he said...

...

Breakfast the next morning was stressful time for a lot of people. Albus knew what everyone in Gryffindor was thinking and saying about him and he really didn't want to face any of them. He was particularly wary of facing his siblings. He had been tempted to sneak into the kitchens for breakfast, but Scorpios had insisted that they go to the great hall. "You cannot let them see that you're uncomfortable," he'd said.

Stanley had spent all night tossing and turning and thinking about everything that Louis had said to him that day and Ellie's suggestion that he and Louis should try to be friends and...He came down to breakfast feeling unsure of himself and wary of what Louis might say or do next. Louis had spent a sleepless night too, wondering how Stanley had reacted to his gift and thinking about what he could say or do to convince Stanley to give him another chance. He walked into the great hall that morning with a plan in mind, but it was a plan that made him nervous, so he could barely eat as he sat across the hall from Stanley staring at him and trying to calm his nerves.

All of Gryffindor was talking about Albus, but Louis was off in his own world, a fact that irritated James and Fred no end, but no matter what they did, they couldn't draw him out.

"Doesn't it bother you?" James asked finally.

"Not in the least. Albus should be free to what he wants to do," Louis said dismissively. "And now if you will excuse me," he said and then he stood up and made his way to the Slytherin table.

Stanley saw him coming and he was very surprised, but he pretended not to notice. Louis walked right up to him and said, "Stan, I need to talk to you. Would you take a walk with me?"

Stanley stared. He was aware that everyone at his table at least, was looking at him. Ellie nudged him. "Why are you thinking? Go," she whispered fiercely.

"Okay," Stanley said.

"Good," Louis said and then he held out his hand. It was a calculated gesture, one that could've blown up in his face, but luckily for him, Stanley understood the importance of it. It was Louis trying to prove to him that he really meant it when he said that he didn't care what anyone thought anymore... so he quietly took the offered hand and they walked out of the great hall, holding hands and leaving quite a few people looking curiosly after them...