Correspondence and Confrontation

If Albus could purr, he would have. Everything seemed to be looking up for him. His parents had accepted him, he had made friends, and he was even doing well in his classes.

At the moment he was heading to the owlry, carrying a letter for his parents, the reply to his long unread letter. He was in a happy daze, and that may explain what he did next.

When he came up to the owlry, someone else was there. It was Scorpius Malfoy, of course. He was beginning to crop up a lot. Malfoy appeared to be chasing an eagle owl around, to no avail.

"Come here, you useless bag of feathers, or I swear I will give you to house-elves for dinner."

Malfoy noticed Albus and skidded to a stop.

"I am a wizard, am I not?" he asked.

"Um, yes," Albus said.

"Stupid!" Scorpius cursed.

"Accio!" he called, and the owl zoomed to him.

"Having owl problems?" Albus asked.

"Like you can not believe. Owls hate me."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Erm, is that. . . your owl?"

"No, he is the family's. I am not stupid enough to get an animal that will irrationally hate me."

"Have you tried feeding him owl treats? My owl, Prospero, loves them."

Scorpius flipped his hand up to show several bandages around his fingers.

"I have already tried that," he stated.

Albus winced. Then he remembered. His parents had accepted him, even if his brother hadn't. Why not become more accustomed to his life as a Slytherin?

"Hey, Malfoy," he said. "Do you want to hang out with my friends and I this afternoon? Your cousin will be there."

Malfoy seemed hesitant, but finally he relented.

"I suppose. But can you call off Ruis? She has been hounding me about joining dueling club."

"Sure. She told me she was going to ask you, but I figured she'd take no for an answer."

"Nope, she's been following me all over. It's driving me nuts."

"I'm sorry about that, and I hope your owl starts to like you."

"Thanks. That is very nice for you to say."

Although it didn't show on his face, Albus was secretly unnerved by Malfoy's monotone, blank expression, and inability to use conjunctions. All in all, Albus was secretly wondering whether Malfoy was robot.

"Well, I have to go. Thank you for inviting me to hang out with you."

And with that, Malfoy left, leaving Albus staring bemusedly after him.

James Potter was in a foul mood. Not that things had been going badly for him, in fact all of Griffindor idolized him for still managing to score, despite being knocked out by a bludger. But so many questions were whirling around his head that it was impossible for James to sleep. On top of that, Ruis had been unusually quiet as of late, and James knew better than to think she had simply lost interest. She was up to something, he was sure of it. She always was.

Of course, there were other issues. For starters, Quidditch practices had been bumped up to four a week. Elsie Wood had been spooked by there near loss with Ravenclaw, and had prepared accordingly. In all weathers. Poor Jason Hertz actually had to spend time in the hospital wing for severe pneumonia, caught from a particularly wet and cold series of practices.

Now, there were, of course, other problems. The mystery surrounding Malfoy for one, and the unknown voice from under the bleachers. All in all, it was a stressful conundrum, and James would be glad to be rid of it.

According to the laws of the universe, there should be a new revelation/problem to add to his load appearing soon. Believe me, the universe did not disappoint.

"Well, well, well," Patricia Ruis snarled. "What do we have here?"

"Drop the cliché lines, Ruis," James snapped. "Unless you have chronic short-term memory loss, I'm sure you remember me."

"Ah, yes. That Griffindor pest."

"Lovely to know that after all this time, all those pranks, I'm still not to be bothered with."

"Small fish, Potter."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Pranks are too childish. I have bigger things to do. Bigger plans."

"Care to elaborate?"

"No, I don't think I shall."

James didn't know what to say. So he went with the Potter default. Childishness.

"You suck."

Ruis just blinked coldly, and smiled slowly. "You'll get what you deserve, Potter," she whispered softly, not that James didn't hear her, of course.

"Cute," James snapped. "Just like you, to throw your weight around, spinning whatever web ou want. But you can't fool me. I know your style."

Ruis just smirked.

"We shall see, Potter. We shall see."

James watched as his enemy walked off. Her aura of smugness just ticked him off in ways he couldn't explain. He made a mental note. It was time to owl uncle George. The trickster trio had laid low for far too long.

Lunch with Scorpius was understandably awkward.

Ty and Jake were welcoming as ever, but neither they nor Malfoy seemed willing to make the effort for a friendship. And even Albus had to admit, none of them seemed really suited for a friendship with each other. Then again, he never would have pegged Ty and Jake as good friends.

Most of the conversation at the table revolved around Isabella Nott and Rose Weasley, who had seen what was going on and joined in. The two were now chattering away about something or the other. Albus had a feeling the two would end up as friends.

Behind him, Tino and Scorpius were talking in low whispers. From the sound of it, they were having an argument. Even though he disliked eavesdropping, Albus could feel himself involuntarily leaning in to their conversation.

"-just don't get it," Tino was saying, "You used to be so fun to hang around with. What changed?"

"I do not know what you are talking about. What is your problem with me?"

"My problem with you is that you aren't you anymore! Come on Scor! We used to be best friends. You can't fool me, or my sister."

"You are crazy."

"No I'm not! I know you! This. Is. Not. Like. You."

"How do you know what I'm like?" Scorpius snarled, suddenly on the defensive, "All I see is a brat of a cousin who just can not face the fact that I have grown up and moved on. Who says you ever knew me?"

"Well," Tino said reasonably, "When we were ten and spying on Mom and Aunt Astoria, what did you say to me when I froze up?"

"That's easy. 'Get down from there, you idiot.'"

"And how did you feel?"

"Angry. You were messing up my plans."

"No you weren't. You were scared, I could see it in your eyes. So why lie? You never used to. Is someone doing this to you? We can stop them, you know."

"I do not know what you are talking about."

"Yes you do!"

Malfoy was beginning to get angry. "Leave me alone, Nott!" he snapped and left the table.

Tino also looked angry, but at the same time, devastated. "He yelled at me. He never used to. I mean, when we were in danger, yes, but he had no reason. Why is he acting like this."

Albus patted his shoulder comfortingly and thought of of the way James had been acting as compared to Malfoy.

"I wish I knew, Tino. I wish I knew."

Please don't kill me! This chapter has been hell to write. It doesn't help that I'm taking loads of honors classes in high school. Yay me. Ah well. I'm better off than Poketrooper. He's taking German. Ever hear the phrase 'Homework Overload'? Yeah.

Loads of thanks to Danielle Show for reviewing. Speaking of reviews, I have a game planned. If I get ten reviews by this Saterday, I'll have the next chapter up by Sunday. Otherwise it will be released next week.

Read and Review

Foorocks10