Scorpius Malfoy's sweet tooth is now canon as far as I'm concerned. Enjoy!

As I dismounted and wiped my glasses clean(er), I saw James striding across the pitch. How did he get down so fast? Albus had landed beside me, looking fairly pissed off. As usual.

"Brilliant job, Lil!" James clapped me on the shoulder, a bit too hard.

He turned to Albus.

"That second throw you got in was pathetic, Al, it only went in because Jamie is a shite keeper. I would have saved that easily. With one hand!"

James yelled this in Jamie's direction. I rolled my eyes.

"Don't worry, Rhys looks like he's about to give him a dressing-down anyway."

I noticed Albus's gaze lingering on Rhys's retreating form a bit longer than he should have. Albus looked unusually forlorn.

"Coming, Lily?" called Nate.

"Yeah!" I jogged across the field, waving to James and Albus. Malfoy, who had somehow just dismounted from his broom, winked at me as he alighted near Albus. I groaned internally as I headed inside, dreaming of dry clothes and a hot shower.

Chapter 10: Birthdays, Baking and Basilisks

"I've figured it out!" Albus was waiting for me outside the DADA classroom. It must have been something important for him to risk being spotted by Persephone. I waved Hugo, Maddie, and Carla ahead of me; I'd catch up with them later.

"What, Al?"

Albus was rarely so excited.

"The basilisk heart! There's something that looks exactly like it! A place in Hogwarts!"

I tilted my heart to the side. "I don't follow. Somewhere in Hogwarts looks like a lizard heart?"

"Lizards have three-chambered hearts," said Albus, as if this was common knowledge, "The Slytherin common room happens to be in the exact same layout as the heart. I believe we'll find the next clue there."

"But how do we know if you're right?"

He held out his hand. "Let me borrow the Marauder's Map and do some snooping. I'll let you know if I find anything."

I looked over my shoulder to make sure that we were alone in the hallway before handing him the map.

"Should you being doing this alone? What if it's dangerous?"

Albus shrugged. "If I encounter anything, I'll alert you and James."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

He nodded curtly and swept out of the hallway.

Albus's birthday was tomorrow, and I wanted to surprise him, so I convinced Lysander to help me bake. Lorcan was always busy being the responsible Scamander, James was grading papers, Hugo and Maddie had detention with Magellan, and Carla was at Frog Choir practice that evening.

Malfoy overheard us at dinner and the git decided to invite himself, trailing us down the steps that led to the Hogwarts kitchens.

"He's my best mate, too!"

I rolled my eyes.

"Can you even bake, Malfoy?"

Lysander snorted inelegantly.

Malfoy sounded offended. "Of course I can bake, She-Potter, I did a cake once." He sounded very proud of himself. "Didn't turn out right, though. It deflated."

I sniffed. "That's what I thought."

"He can measure stuff," said Lysander.

I turned around to simper at him. "Can you measure stuff, Malfoy?"

He stuck his tongue out at me. Very mature.

An army of bug-eyed, chattering house-elves were flustered and excited by our entrance. I let Lysander handle them as he was the best at it.

The kitchen was very cosy inside due to the gigantic fireplace. Heaps of brass pots and pans lined the walls. The first snow of the year fell outside, judging by the enchanted windows.

"Never been down here before. So what are we making?" asked Malfoy, pacing the length of the kitchen and peering through the window.

"It's traditional in Britain to bake a cake for someone's birthday, Malfoy."

He rolled his eyes. "Clearly, I'm not an amnesiac."

Lysander had decided that we were making an earl grey and rose flavored cake with lavender-infused frosting. He was the Ravenclaw mastermind, so I just went with it.

He instructed Malfoy to measure out the flour and sugar while I cracked and separated eggs. There was no electricity in the Hogwarts kitchen, so we (Lysander) had to beat them by hand.

I had thought that working with Malfoy would be a pain, but it was actually... surprisingly bearable.

His white-blond hair flopped in his face as we took turns mixing the lavender buttercream.

Malfoy tried to blow his hair out of his face, failed, and laughed. I had anticipated getting messy and my hair was pulled up into a ponytail.

I took a few bobby pins out of my pocket, laughing too. "Hey, maybe I can pin it up."

He grinned, wiggling his eyebrows. "Eager to get your hands on me, eh, She-Potter?"

"Shut up or I won't help you." I scooted over to his right side and started to pin his bangs out of his face. He turned towards me. I'd never been this close to Malfoy before. His cheeks were very pink and his lips were slightly parted. He had a few beauty marks that I'd never noticed before; the biggest one was under his left eye. I could feel his warm breath tickling my cheek and I shivered.

"Cold, She-Potter?" he whispered, smirking.

I scooted away and went back to mixing the buttercream. "All done."

He tried to dip a finger into the bowl and I slapped it away.

"What?"

"You and your bloody sweet tooth. That's unsanitary!"

Lysander nodded to himself as he folded flour into the batter. "She's not wrong, that is just a little bit nasty, Malfoy."

Malfoy had managed to get a bit of frosting on his finger, and licked it off, smiling ear to ear.

"You're incorrigible."

"Good."

"You just came down here to indulge your sweet tooth!"

"Did not!"

He leaned forward, laughing. "I came down here to bask in your presence, She-Potter."

Lysander looked miffed

"Hey, stop bickering, I'm going to put the cake in the oven!"

The three of us spent the next thirty minutes sat on the floor in front of the oven watching the cake rise. Malfoy kept trying to sneak some buttercream out of the bowl.

After we took the cake out of the oven, Lysander had all sorts of ideas on piping different designs over the sides, and conjuring flowers and weirdly shaped candles. We just let him get on with fulfilling his artistic vision and switched out piping tips, or filled bags with buttercream.

By the time that we finished decorating the cake, it was well past curfew and the three of us were covered in flour and completely exhausted.

"It's a bloody masterpiece."

"The frosting tastes really good."

"Yeah, and you ate half of it."

Lysander leaned down to whisper something to one of the house-elves, then we left.

Malfoy waved as he headed off in the direction of the Slytherin common room.

Lysander and I continued up the stairs.

"I like Albus," he said suddenly.

"Yeah, me too."

Lysander looked aghast. "Not like that Lily, Merlin. I mean I like Albus."

I coughed. "Excuse me?"

"Yeah, remember the night before Halloween when you said I was thinking about someone I liked? Well, you weren't wrong."

"You and Albus." I tried, and failed to imagine my serious, sulky brother with my flighty, romantic friend.

I noticed Lysander looked rather sad.

"Oh, Ly."

He smiled sadly.

"Want a hug? Not that it'll fix anything."

"Shush, hugs do fix everything."

He did look a little bit better after I hugged him.

"Shit, I think I hear Lorcan's voice. He's on patrol tonight."

"Okay, we'll split up then. See you tomorrow, Lil!" He plastered on a smile as he headed towards Ravenclaw Tower. I put on some speed to avoid Lorcan, ducking behind a suit of armor as he passed.

What a mess. Albus and Lysander, me and Malfoy. When did I start liking Malfoy?

"Morning, She-Potter!"

"Oh, God." I glared at my egg. He was almost worse than James.

He stuck out his hand and poured something into mine. "Here's your pins from last night." Then he walked off.

"Here's your pins from last night?" Carla repeated incredulously, peeling the wrapper off of her muffin.

Maddie gestured with her shoulder. "Yeah. What she said."

I rolled my eyes, "We were making Albus's cake last night."

"You and Malfoy baked together?"

"Ly was there too."

Hugo let out a low whistle.

I ignored him and sipped my tea. "Did you guys study for the Transfiguration practical yet?"

Carla nodded, and Maddie and Hugo shook their heads, predictably. I skimmed.

Hugo sighed and made a face at his toast. "Professor Clearwater's such a hard-ass."

"Hugo! You shouldn't say that about your professors, that's disrespectful," scolded Carla.

Maddie shrugged. "Yeah, she's not Professor Longbottom or Professor Flitwick, but she's not half bad as teachers go. Unlike Magellan."

"Magellan's not exactly a high bar."

I lowered my voice. "It's Al's birthday today. We're doing a party for him at seven in the Room of Requirement. Don't breath a word to him, it's a surprise."

We walked to Transfiguration together, with Carla loudly chastising Hugo and Maddie for not studying.

Lysander, Malfoy, James, and I went down to the Room of Requirement straight after classes finished to start setting up for the party.

James hung silver streamers from the ceiling as far away from Malfoy as possible, while Lysander and I filled balloons and Malfoy sorted out the furniture.

I wondered if any of Albus's Slytherin 'friends' were going to come. Probably not.

"So, what did you get him?" Lysander asked, tying string around a pastel blue balloon.

I handed him a yellow one, pinching the end to make sure the helium wouldn't escape. "I went to Scrivenshaft's and got him a black swan quill that he's been eyeing for a long time and some really nice ink and stationary. You?"

He grinned. "Shh, that's a secret."

The guests began to file in as it got closer to seven.

Lorcan and Hugo were followed by Rose, Carla, Aurelie, and Maddie, then Rhys with Frank Longbottom (he was in the year below me) and surprise, surprise, Lucas and Imogen Zabini.

"He's very sulky," Rose said as she put her gift on the table.

I smiled. "Good! Who wants to surprise-"

"I'll do it!" James yelled, to everyone's amusement as he sprinted out of the room.

After a few minutes, he dragged a pissed-looking Albus inside by the elbow. Al's face lit up instantly.

"Happy Birthday, Al!"

He smiled. "I thought you forgot."

James snorted. "Forget your seventeenth birthday?" he said in a mocking tone, wrapping an arm around Albus's shoulders.

"You would."

"Shut up!" If I didn't stop them now, they'd just continue arguing.

I stood up on one of the tables, ignoring Lorcan and Rose's protests. Someone handed around glasses of non-alcoholic champagne.

"I'd like to propose a toast to Albus-"

"Hear, hear," James butted in.

"Shut up, James. Anyway, we're all here to celebrate our favorite grumpy bastard."

Albus glared at me.

"He's sulky as hell, but we love him to pieces. Can't believe he's finally an adult now, he's been an old man since we were toddlers."

Albus tried to fight back a smile, "Lil, that is not how you give a toast-"

"It's the way I do. I am so incredibly proud and happy that you're my brother, Albus. Even though you are an enormous pain in the arse, you inspire me everyday."

"Kay, are you done, Lil? My turn?"

"No James, you may not have a turn."

"Who says?" James pouted.

"I say, it's my bloody birthday party."

Someone had put music on (probably Hugo). Malfoy even managed to get Albus to dance a bit (Al was a horrible dancer, but he was enjoying himself and that's what mattered).

James and I stood by the wall.

"Looks like he's actually having fun."

"I know. It's nice to see him smiling for once."

It turned out that Lysander had painted a cyan-and-silver likeness of Houdini. He got a watch from Mum and Dad of course, that was tradition.

"Turn out the lights, Al's going to cut the cake!"

The room went dark, and the only light in the room was the seventeen candles on the cake.

Albus was smiling as everyone sang 'Happy Birthday.' He had a silver party hat perched on his head and for the first time in a while, he looked truly happy.

Rhys was standing next to Albus as he blew out the candles. Al turned to his left as the scent of beeswax and smoke filled the room, and his face was so raw with emotion that I had to look away.

Rhys stared back at him for a second.

Then Albus looked away and the moment was broken.

As the party wound down, I noticed the birthday boy sitting all by himself in the corner of the room, looking sullen again and fiddling with the now-crumpled silver party hat.

"What's wrong, Al, didn't you enjoy the party?"

He smiled weakly. "It was great, really, really thoughtful of you Lil."

I pulled a pillow onto my lap. "Something's up. Spill."

He sighed. "I nearly fucked up there. With Rhys. Do you think anyone noticed?"

"Al, honestly, we're all here because we care about you. I don't think anyone here, least of all Rhys, is going to judge you for-"

"But it's one more thing for them to write about me, isn't it? Harry Potter's Slytherin, gay son."

"Al!"

He sat up. "It's true Lil, you can't deny it. People will talk, and I just - I just can't handle it." His voice wavered at the end of the sentence.

"I'm sorry."

He took a sip of his butterbeer and attempted to regain his composure. "Not your fault. You and Dad are the only people I can talk to about it, that's all."

"James and Mum-"

"Know too, I know. But they're hard to talk to. Everything just comes so easily for them. And James has the emotional range of a guillotine. Up and down in an instant."

He leaned back in the chair with a hand to his forehead. Rhys walked by.

"Oh God, not now," he muttered.

"Hi Lily, Albus," Rhys said as he sat down opposite.

"Hi Rhys." Albus muttered with his arm still covering his face. I glanced at him, and he was clearly engaging in please-leave-me-alone body language.

"Just wanted to come over to say Happy Birthday."

"Thanks." Albus shifted his hand down so that it was no longer covering his face and looked directly at Rhys. "Could you leave?"

"Huh?"

"We need to clean up."

"We do?" I cursed myself for speaking without thinking as Albus shot a glare at me.

"I'll help," Rhys offered.

"No, it's fine, you're a guest. Hope you had fun." Albus got up and stalked away.

"I'm sorry Rhys, he's just a bit sensitive sometimes-"

"I know. He's right, I should leave." Rhys stood up too. I wanted to tell him that he was welcome to stay, but Albus wouldn't like that.

"It's not personal, Rhys, really."

"Yeah, I know. Albus is Albus, he's grumpy with everyone."

Especially you, I thought.

"I do really have to get going though. It's the full moon-" He clapped a hand to his mouth as if he said something that he shouldn't have. The white lines of his hands matched the ones on his face.

"Anyway, I've got to go. Bye Lily!"

He left in a hurry. I wondered what he meant about the full moon. Maybe some kind of Astronomy event was going on. I walked back to the tables, and started helping Carla and Lysander discard wrapping paper.

I asked Lysander, the resident Astronomy nerd, about the significance of a full moon tonight as soon as Carla wandered off to check on Aurelie.

"Nope, nothing of interest is going on tonight. Why, d'you fancy doing a bit of star-gazing?" He brushed a bit of hair out of his face with cyan-and-silver stained fingers.

I shook my head. "Rhys seemed very concerned about the full moon tonight."

"Oh."

"Oh what?"

Lysander leaned down a bit to whisper in my ear. "I've had a terrible idea, Lil."

"Not sure if I want to hear it."

"What if Rhys is a... werewolf? It would explain the strange scars."

The pieces began to click into place in my mind. "Ly, Albus has been helping Magellan prepare Wolfsbane. He said Magellan told him it was for extra credit, and he took it since Potions is the only subject he really cares about, but what if..."

"Rhys is a werewolf and Albus has been helping Magellan make Wolfsbane so that he can remain calm during his transformations? It's not entirely impossible."

I shivered. "Imagine Magellan knowing a secret about you. Especially a secret like that?"

"He probably doesn't know who it's for."

"Poor Rhys. Can you imagine how terrifying that must be to go through month after month, Wolfsbane or not?"

"Hey, what are you two gossiping about?" called James.

"Nothing!" I sing-songed back.

"Right, then what's stopping you from helping me unstick these streamers?"

"Coming, one sec." I turned to Lysander. "Let's not investigate any further or tell anyone."

He nodded tightly.