Author's Note: Sorry that it took so long for this to be posted. I hope you enjoy it! Please review! - Frankie
Bad News for Broomsticks
The week rolled on for Blake, Albus, Scorpius and Halim. Scorpius helped them with the essay on pomegranates on Sunday having finished his Saturday night when Halim and Blake were playing Wizard's chess and Albus was writing a letter to his parents. Blake had more trouble than the others and admitted that at home when he'd tried to help his Dad cook dinner that he'd nearly melted a pot once and had burned nearly everything else until his Dad had banned him from the kitchen calling him a fire hazard. The story had made the boys laugh and caused more Gryffindors to either wonder about Scorpius or write him off as non-threatening until further notice. No one had ever seen a Malfoy look so cheerful.
Scorpius was trying to explain how he'd known the bit about the sugar when he felt like he was being watched and he turned and looked and met the narrowed blue eyes that were glowering at him yet again. "In the name of Merlin's Pants," Scorpius muttered and went back to trying to explain about the sugar when Blake started to smirk broadly and Halim sat up and said, "Incoming."
The four boys paused in their discussion and looked up at Rose Weasley as she stalked across the common room toward them. Albus sighed. "What do you want, Rose?" he asked calmly although he nearly couldn't conceal his frustration with his cousin whom he had formerly considered a fairly rational person who could think logically about any given situation.
"I can't believe you aren't doing your own work, Albus," Rose said tartly and did not just glare at Scorpius or Albus but the other two boys as well.
Albus blinked. "What?"
"You're copying off of Malfoy," Rose said angrily and she looked furious.
"I'm not copying, Rose," Albus said firmly.
"Then they are," Rose said and gestured to Blake and Halim.
"Oh go away," Blake said and rolled his eyes. "No one cares what you think," he said and then shrugged in Albus's direction when his friend frowned at him.
"I swear I'll tell Professor Goldwyn!"
"For Merlin's sake, Weasley, what is your problem? Are you worried that I'm helping them to get better marks than you, or what?" Scorpius said irritably unable to keep his opinion to himself.
Albus's eyes widened. "Rose-"
"Shut up, Al," Scorpius said and he looked at Rose. "This is between the two of us, I'd rather not cause problems between you and your family," he said calmly.
"You smug, arrogant git! What makes you think I care what your grades are?!" Rose snapped tartly.
"You're the one that came over here, Weasley. I'm not the one who glowers across the room and makes a rather large and loud scene in the middle of the common room… So the question is, if you don't care what our grades are, what is your problem?" Scorpius said coolly and his eyes narrowed.
"I don't want my cousin getting in trouble for cheating that's what!"
"I think we've fairly well established that Al has done his own essay, Weasley… Or would you like to read both his and mine to check for similarities? Oh, wait, wouldn't that be cheating?" Scorpius said and a hint of sarcasm crept into his tone.
A few second year girls giggled from nearby. Rose blushed scarlet, turned on her heel and stalked away.
Scorpius watched her go feeling both annoyed and a little let down, although he wasn't sure why. He ignored the second years, ran a hand through his pale hair and looked back at his friends. He knew Albus was embarrassed and torn. "Look, mate, er… it might be best if… that happens again if you don't say anything. I don't want to cause trouble with your family, Al, and it doesn't seem like your cousin is going to let up about… me," Scorpius said calmly.
Albus shook his head. "She's wrong, Sam. Completely wrong about you and she's going to be like this until something serious happens to make her realize you aren't the next Voldemort incarnate or something else ridiculous like that," Albus said quietly.
"And I don't think she wants you to continue to get good marks, Sam. I think that's what this was about more than anything else," Halim said calmly.
"She needs to mind her own business. She's got friends of her own, why does she have to come and hassle Sam?" Blake said and he sounded a bit irritated.
Albus ruffled his hair and turned a bit pink. "I think she's angry with me. We were… we are the closest in age and our families are always together… it was natural for the two of us to be close. My little sister is close with her brother, Hugo, they're the same age…" he trailed off and shrugged.
"I know she's your cousin and everything but… do you think…" Blake started and then looked a bit grossed out. "Nevermind, I'm not going to finish that question because I do not want to know the answer."
Halim burst out laughing at the look on Blake's face and the implications about Rose and Albus. Albus hit Halim in the shoulder. Blake smirked and started laughing too. Scorpius shook his head at them and sighed a little but he smiled. "The lot of you are mad."
"Course we are, we're friends with you aren't we?" Blake said and he grinned. Scorpius threw his quill at him and Blake dodged it and started to laugh again.
Crisis averted, Albus started grinning as well but he dragged a hand through his hair. "What do you say we get out of here? She's still glaring at me and I'd rather not be in firing range right now," Albus said calmly.
"Sounds like a plan to me," Scorpius said and internally he agreed with Albus.
The four boys got to their feet lugging their bags along with them and left the common room. They ended up exploring the library at Halim's request although Blake almost got them all thrown out when he nearly knocked over a bookcase and Madam Pince threw a fit about her precious books.
Scorpius managed to convince Madam Pince that Blake would be more careful and that no harm would come to her books. She glowered at them but allowed them to remain in the library. The four boys found a mostly secluded table to sit at and finish their pomegranate essays in peace. Scorpius doodled on a scrap of parchment while Halim and Blake continued to work on their essay and Albus finished the conclusion to his own.
Albus put his essay into his bag and sighed a bit as he looked around. "Something wrong?" Scorpius asked calmly and Blake looked up from his essay. "You keep working," he said to Blake. Blake stuck his tongue out Scorpius who grinned a bit. He looked back at Albus.
Albus shrugged. "Rose has always been the more bookish one of the two of us, but… this place is actually kind of cool," he said and smiled a little embarrassed.
Scorpius smiled. "I get that," he said.
Blake smirked.
Halim rolled his eyes at Blake. "Take the Mickey at your own risk. Some of these books probably have really cool spells in them that these two would be more likely to find than you would, Blake," Halim said calmly.
Blake pretended to be bored but the thought was actually a little intriguing. "But would either of them be able to pull them off? We've had one class so far," Blake said pointedly.
Albus looked at Scorpius and grinned. "What do you say?" he asked calmly.
Scorpius looked thoughtful. "We could find something excellent," Scorpius said in a lazy sort of tone.
"We could," Albus agreed.
"Go on then," Blake said sounding amused.
"You'd better keep at that essay, Blake," Scorpius said calmly but he looked pointedly at Blake.
Blake rolled his eyes. "Get going already," he muttered.
Albus and Scorpius got to their feet and by mutual agreement went together into the stacks of books with faded and obscure titles, the bright covers of new books and the dingy ones of old books scarred from years of use. They were turning a corner when Albus collided with someone slightly shorter than him with long dark hair. They both stumbled. Scorpius managed to catch Albus before his ass met the stone floor but the other person wasn't as lucky. The books they were carrying tumbled to the floor with heavy smacks and they rammed into the stone wall.
Albus quickly gained his feet again. "I'm so sorry, are you okay?" he said and he tried to help the girl, since he'd realized she was in fact a girl, get to her feet.
"Get the hell off of me you incompetent moron!" the girl shouted and pushed Albus rather violently so that Scorpius had to help him keep his feet again.
"I'm sorry! I didn't see you!" Albus said trying to apologize again.
The girl pushed her hair out of her face to reveal furious hazel eyes that looked almost gold as they shone with her anger. "That much is obvious," Eldora Connor snapped as she glared at them.
"Come on Connor, it was an accident," Scorpius said calmly.
"I do not care Malfoy! I really couldn't care less," Eldora snapped furiously and she stooped to pick up her books.
"Let me help you-"
"I do not need help from the likes of you, Potter!" Eldora snapped and pushed Albus's hands away from the books. She quickly stood up and stalked away while the two Gryffindors stared after her.
A few older students peered out of the rows they were in, in the direction of Scorpius and Albus. They heard rapid footsteps and remembered their earlier confrontation with the Librarian they hurried away from the scene of the crime and back to the table they'd been at with Blake and Halim.
"What is wrong?" Halim asked as he looked at them.
"Al ran into Eldora Connor," Scorpius said calmly.
"I didn't mean too! I didn't see her!" Albus said sounding both annoyed and apologetic.
"Neither did I, to be perfectly honest, but…" Scorpius trailed off and shrugged. "Is it really that big a deal?" he asked. "She'll probably forget about it in a few days."
"You obviously don't know girls," Albus said irritably. "They have a longer memory than anyone and if you make them seriously angry they're more likely to hate you than accept an apology," he muttered.
"So what's the big deal?" Blake asked frowning as he looked at Albus.
"She's already hated by everyone in her House because she's muggleborn, I didn't want her to think the rest of the school hated her too. But it seems like she's taking me running into her twice now as a personal offense or something," Albus muttered and he ruffled his hair a little bit.
"What? Do you like her or something?" Blake asked with an amused smirk.
"No!" Albus protested. His cheeks went a little pink.
Blake started to laugh.
"Blake, leave him alone," Scorpius said calmly. "He's just trying to be nice to her, that's all," he said to intervene.
"It doesn't look like she wants anyone to be nice to her," Halim said calmly as he looked at Scorpius.
"Would you four stop talking about my sister, please?" a much taller boy who towered over their table behind Blake said calmly with slightly narrowed eyes that he shared with his sister.
"Eldora Connor is your sister?" Scorpius asked calmly.
"Yes," he said calmly.
"Would you tell her I really did not mean to run into her?" Albus asked sounding really apologetic.
"You ran into her?" he asked and his brow arched slightly.
"Yes. It was an accident," Albus said quietly.
The older boy sighed a little. "Elle has always been a bit touchy about her personal space. I'll talk to her, but there's no guarantee she'll listen," he said and hitched his bag up on his shoulder. "I'm Perry Connor, by the way, sixth year Ravenclaw," he added as a sort of afterthought before he walked away from the four first years to rejoin his friends.
"He seemed nice enough," Scorpius said calmly.
"Well he's mature… maybe he knows something we don't. He is her brother after all," Halim suggested.
Albus moaned miserably. "This is a disaster," he muttered.
"Don't make such a big deal of it, she's just a girl," Blake said with a little bit of amusement.
Albus shrugged and tried not to make it seem like he cared. Scorpius cottoned on to Albus's embarrassment and he changed the subject. "Did you finish your essay yet, Blake?" Scorpius asked calmly.
Blake made a rather rude hand gesture and Scorpius started to laugh. Halim joined in a moment later and Albus did shortly after that although he was grateful that Scorpius had changed the subject and his thoughts didn't completely leave his difficulties with Eldora Connor.
Blake and Halim eventually finished their essays and then the boys went up and down the aisles of books looking for anything interesting. Scorpius made a quick list of the books that were really interesting to them for future reference and then they headed back to the common room since the library was closing.
Monday morning dawned with thick gray clouds on the horizon that didn't bode well as they rolled closer and closer to the castle. The boys headed down to breakfast together and got lost on the third floor when the staircase changed and sent them in the opposite direction than where they were headed. It took them almost ten minutes to find a staircase and then another five minutes to get back on track to the Great Hall.
"This place is mental," Blake said when they found themselves in the entrance hall to their intense relief.
"Yeah well, we'll get used to it eventually," Albus said as he rearranged his robes because his bag over his shoulder had disarranged them. As they passed the Slytherin table to several low hisses and boos Albus found he was unconsciously looking for Eldora.
"Just like I'll get used to Warrington trying to smash me into walls," Scorpius said with a bit of a grin as he looked at Albus who smiled and then laughed. Blake snickered and Halim rolled his eyes as they reached the Gryffindor table and sat down to have breakfast.
They had been sitting down for a little more than five minutes when the post arrived and dozens of owls flew into the Great Hall and flew around trying to find the students that they were delivering to. Albus saw his family owl fly over his brother James's head, drop a letter, and then fly to him and drop another in his lap before flying off.
Albus looked at James who shrugged slightly and then opened his letter. Albus picked his up and cracked the wax seal before he quickly opened the letter and found a short note from his father that read:
Dear Al,
I'm writing because something happened in Hogsmeade this weekend to one of your teachers. It's a bit suspicious, but I don't want you and your brother, or your new friends going out and sticking your nose in. I know how tempting it might seem to go about investigating things but your Mum and I don't want you to get hurt.
I'm serious, Al. If you see something weird or suspicious happening at Hogwarts tell one of your teachers… Neville and Hagrid will listen, even if you think they won't. I don't know what is going on, but there is certainly something happening right now that I really don't want you getting all mixed up in. I love you. I'm just looking out for your best interests.
There will probably be some kind of announcement about what happened. It will be thin on details, but Al, please don't go trying to find out what's going on. I've told James to look out for you and Rose and Neville will probably have his eyes on you and your friends. I can't tell you what not to do; it will probably make you want to do it more. Just be careful, Al.
Love,
Dad
Albus frowned slightly as he looked at the letter. He glanced up and looked down the table at his brother. James was looking skeptical but he shrugged and tucked the letter into his bag. Albus looked back at his friends who were looking curious. "Apparently something happened in Hogsmeade this weekend," Albus said quietly.
"What sort of something?" Halim asked.
"If Al's Dad was involved then it was probably something Dark," Scorpius said quietly.
"What?" Blake said sounding curious.
"I don't know. Dad said we'll be told a little and he doesn't want us sticking our noses in trying to investigate," Albus said with a slight shrug.
Scorpius frowned slightly and he looked across at the Slytherin table, scanning quickly for those members of the House that he knew were involved in the Dark Arts. He looked intently and then looked at Albus. "No one's acting smug… at least no more than usual," he said calmly.
"What does that mean?" Blake asked.
"Either they weren't told that something was going to happen-"
"Or this is only the beginning," Scorpius said quietly.
Albus and Scorpius exchanged dark looks.
"The beginning of what?" Blake asked, frowning.
"Merlin only knows," Scorpius said quietly.
The four boys finished their breakfast and headed to their first class of the morning; History of Magic on the first floor. The boys walked in and sat down. They were shortly joined by Rose and her friends who took the seats in the front of the classroom. When Professor Binns, the only ghost teacher in the school, came sailing in from behind the blackboard most of the students jumped.
"Weird," Blake said rather loudly.
Albus and Scorpius snickered.
"Shut up," Blake muttered.
Professor Binns started his lecture, never varying his tone or pitch. Soon most of the class had fallen asleep due to his droning; it was like being in a beehive. Scorpius managed to stay awake and take notes, as did Rose who glowered at Scorpius once from the front of the classroom. Scorpius ignored her and continued to take notes although it did get to the point where he had trouble concentrating and his notes were barely legible.
When class ended Rose glowered at Albus with a 'you-had-better-not-copy-his-notes' sort of look on her face. Albus ignored her and he rubbed gunk out of his eyes as he joined Scorpius, Halim and Blake on their way out of the classroom.
"How did you stay conscious, Sam?" Blake asked with a yawn.
Scorpius shrugged. "I don't know. I figured one of us should stay awake. It's not like Rose would let any of us copy. I think she's the only other person who managed to stay awake for the whole class," Scorpius said calmly as they headed down the stairs into the entrance hall and started for the doors. Their next class was Herbology in the greenhouses with Professor Longbottom.
"You're going to let us look at your notes right?" Blake asked with a grin.
Scorpius laughed. "Would it encourage you to stay awake if I said no?" Scorpius asked grinning as they started across the grounds.
"Probably not," Blake admitted.
Halim snorted and the other three started to laugh out right.
"Come on, before Al's cousin decides to nark on us," Blake said with a hint of sarcasm when he noticed Rose and her friends coming up behind them.
Albus sighed a bit and the four of them set off at a little faster rate when a rumble of thunder echoed in the distance. None of them wanted to be soaking wet. Blake opened the door to greenhouse one and they filed in.
"Good afternoon boys, please take a seat," Professor Longbottom said when he looked up at the opening door.
"Good afternoon, Nev… I mean, Professor," Albus said and he turned a bit pink.
Professor Longbottom smiled with good humor. "Where's Miss Weasley, I would have thought you two would have been as inseparable at Hogwarts as you are at home," he said with a slight smile.
"Rose doesn't…" Albus turned pink and trailed off.
"She doesn't like me, Sir," Scorpius said calmly as he sat between Albus and Blake.
"Ron's influence, I imagine… Regardless… Good afternoon girls, please take a seat," Professor Longbottom said and a flicker of several unidentifiable emotions crossed his face before he smiled again at the girls who walked into the greenhouse.
"Good afternoon, Professor," the girls intoned and they found seats at the tables that were covered in various trays. The girls sat across from the boys and Rose averted her eyes.
"I hope you are all having a good day, although I have an announcement that is probably going to disappoint several of you," Professor Longbottom said and he dusted soil off his hands on his robes.
Albus held his tongue but noticed that Neville Longbottom looked at him a little longer than most of the other students. He tried not to smile but look interested in the announcement.
Longbottom took a breath and let it out. "There was an incident in Hogsmeade this weekend involving your Flying Instructor, I'm not going to tell you what because I don't want certain members of this class to go poking around like I'm sure they want to," he said calmly although he sounded a bit like Professor McGonagall as he spoke and pinned Albus and Scorpius with a look. "To make it short, your Flying Lessons that were supposed to take place Thursday afternoon have been postponed indefinitely," he said calmly and paused.
The inevitable protests arose. Blake said loudly, "What?!" Scorpius groaned. Albus sighed, almost with relief and Halim seemed perfectly indifferent as he shrugged. Rose smirked. Amelia Berkeley and Connie Creevey looked rather disappointed and Breana said loudly, "Damnit."
"Miss Donnelly, please watch your language," Professor Longbottom said calmly and he held up his hands to stem the questions that erupted from a few of them. "Please, I can't answer most of your questions. For one thing, I only know that Ms. Jenkins was taken to St. Mungo's on Sunday morning when it was determined that it was the safest place for her for the time being. I do not know what happened exactly, either, only that she was found unconscious outside The Three Broomsticks," he said calmly as he looked at them.
"Why couldn't someone else give us Flying Lessons?" Breana Donnelly asked sounding disgruntled.
Professor Longbottom sighed. "I don't know. The Board of Governors decided to approach this with a wait and see attitude and the Headmistress, although she disagrees with the delay, can't hire another Flying Instructor without approval from the Board… So, it's a vicious circle," he said calmly as he looked at them.
"A circle of ineptitude," Scorpius muttered.
"Mr. Malfoy, please," Professor Longbottom said pointedly.
"Sorry, sir," Scorpius said and looked moderately apologetic.
"I can't believe that someone else didn't offer to teach us, sir," Albus said as he looked at Professor Longbottom.
Longbottom smiled. "Nothing gets past you, Al. Yes, your father offered to conduct the lessons himself, but again the Board voted against that measure… No, I do not know why. No, I can't tell you when they will be rescheduled, only that they will be," he said calmly although he sounded a little bit amused. "Now, I'm afraid we have to get to our lesson despite the enthralling topic of flying," he said with a smile.
A few of the students laughed, mainly the boys, although Amelia and Connie thought it was funny too.
"All right. This is Herbology, can any one tell me what Herbology is?" he asked calmly.
Scorpius and Rose raised their hands as one but Professor Longbottom saw Rose first. "Rose," he said calmly.
"Herbology is the study of flora and fauna, their magical properties and how they're used in various aspects of magic," Rose said rather primly.
"Yes. A very thorough explanation," he said calmly. "Now, I have a few rules about my class, one of them is that you are allowed to swear if the Venomous Tentacula tries to sneak up on you, but otherwise I'd rather you didn't because I generally take it as a sign you need help or have injured yourself," he said as he looked around at them and pointed at the plant that was sneaking down near Blake's shoulder. Blake shoved the plant away.
"Second, if you don't know what a plant is, DO NOT under any circumstances TOUCH IT. Last year a first year almost got throttled by some Devil's Snare I had set aside for a different lesson," he said and he pointed at a plant that looked like coiled and lazy tendrils about the size of ones thumb. "There are dangerous things in here, even if they look perfectly harmless, although the more dangerous plants are in greenhouse three which is locked at all times," he said firmly.
"Third, if you need help, please ask. I get a little absorbed when I'm teaching and may not notice if you simply raise your hand and wait for me to notice," he said with a small smile. "The exceptions to that rule are when I am giving a lecture," he said calmly when he saw Blake looking a little mischievous. "Which I am going to give now. Please take notes," he said with a smile and he launched into a lecture about the basics of Herbology as the students were scrambling for parchment and ink.
It didn't seem very long until the bell rang and the class headed back to the castle for lunch. "Professor Longbottom is cool," Blake said with a grin as they were walking through the grounds on the way back to the oak front doors. The thick gray clouds hung overhead threatening to pour rain down across the grounds.
"Yeah, he is," Albus agreed with a smile.
"I wonder if he'll stop calling Sam Mr. Malfoy," Halim asked with a bit of a grin.
Scorpius rolled his eyes. "I don't mind. It's only the first day of class anyway," he said calmly as he looked at Halim.
"I could talk to him, if you want," Albus said calmly.
Scorpius shook his head. "Nah. That's okay. To be honest, if he starts calling me Sam on his own it will tell me that he's stopped thinking I'm a Malfoy," he said calmly.
"You are a Malfoy," a clipped voice said from behind them.
The four boys turned feeling startled and saw a man probably about Professor Longbottom's age. He was tall and pale, slightly on the thin side, with short dark blonde hair. His eyes were narrowed in Scorpius's direction. He looked sour.
"Who're you?" Blake asked with a little attitude.
The man's brow rose slightly. "Obviously you are not observant," he said coldly.
"Professor, I would appreciate it if you didn't insult my friends," Scorpius said calmly.
The man smiled, but it was sour and rather smug. "Perhaps you aren't as stupid as your father, Malfoy," he said coldly and he walked through their little group, almost pushing Halim over. He stalked across the grounds and up to the castle.
"Who was that git?" Blake asked sounding annoyed.
"Professor Nott," Scorpius said calmly. "His father is in Azkaban… I think. He might have died by now," he said awkwardly.
"You mean that bloke is our Transfiguration teacher?!" Blake asked sounding annoyed.
"Yes, and Head of Slytherin House," Scorpius said quietly and the four of them started to walk back up to the castle again. Thunder rolled through the clouds above them and lightning flashed but didn't strike the ground.
"Wait a minute," Blake said quickly. "That guy is a Slytherin, the son of a former Death Muncher and he's teaching? Here?"
"Yes. There was never any proof he even shared his father's beliefs let alone that he was a direct supporter of Voldemort," Albus said calmly.
"Was he one of them?" Halim asked quietly.
"No one knows," Albus said and glanced at Scorpius.
Scorpius held up his hands innocently. "My Father doesn't do a whole lot of talking about that period in his life, and no one else has mentioned anything about Theodore Nott within my hearing," he said quickly.
"I have a question," Halim said calmly as they continued walking.
"Yeah?" Scorpius said as he looked at Halim.
"What was Professor Nott doing coming out of the Forbidden Forest?" Halim asked quietly and they stopped and looked back to where the Slytherin Head of House had come upon them it was only a few yards from the trees that swayed ominously at the edge of the grounds.
Scorpius and Albus exchanged a significant look but said nothing as they walked back up to the castle. They were unaware that the girls had heard part of their conversation about Professor Nott as they sat down to lunch at the Gryffindor table. They felt as if they were being watched by someone at the teachers table, but when they looked they could pinpoint no obvious suspect; even Professor Nott appeared to be in conversation with Professor Flitwick.
Scorpius, Albus, Halim and Blake took seats in the Transfiguration classroom after lunch and devoutly hoped that their confrontation with Professor Nott wouldn't affect his attitude toward them during class. But given that he was the Slytherin Head of House and they were Gryffindors… they weren't likely to be treated fairly and they knew it. They spoke to each other calmly and watched as the class filed in; four Hufflepuff boys entered the classroom talking happily about their previous class, Potions. The Gryffindor girls filed in talking amicably to each other about what they expected from Professor Nott. The Hufflepuff girls came in last looking highly amused, the Sinclair twins identically so and they sat down near the Gryffindor girls.
In a few moments Professor Nott stalked into the classroom wearing black robes and his sour expression. He took roll call. He pointedly ignored the looks that the Hufflepuffs sent toward Albus and Scorpius when they realized they were sitting next to one another. And when he was finished he put the class list aside and simply looked at them all with his sour expression, his nose twitched as if he smelled something he greatly disliked and then he began to speak.
"I am Professor Nott and this is Transfiguration. This subject is difficult. I will not lie to you about that. If you do not have a perfect understanding of the principles involved you're either going to hurt yourself or someone else, or nothing at all will come out the end of your wand," he said coolly as he looked around at them all.
"For your sake, I hope the latter is true," he said and he smiled sourly. "Any one who fools around in this classroom will leave and they will not return. This is your only warning," he said blandly.
Scorpius and Albus exchanged a slightly relieved look.
"Mr. Potter, give me the definition of what Transfiguration is," Professor Nott said sharply.
Albus jolted in his seat and looked at Nott, his cheeks slightly pink as the Hufflepuff girls giggled. "Er… it's how you turn something into something else," Albus replied.
Nott smirked. "Something into something else, that's amazing. It really sums up the subject don't you think?" he said coolly. "Did you even read your textbook?"
Albus blushed furiously. He had read his textbook, but it was rather hard to come up with a coherent thought when you're practically jumped at by the teacher.
Nott rolled his eyes and looked at Scorpius. "Do you have an explanation of Transfiguration, Mr. Malfoy?" he asked coldly.
"Transfiguration is the process of turning one thing into another thing. You have to understand what you're trying to do mentally or you may as well not wave your wand in the first place. You can turn an inanimate object into another inanimate object-"
"I don't need a recitation of the textbook, Mr. Malfoy," Nott snapped coldly.
"I'm sorry, sir, I was simply quoting the introduction to the Beginners Guide to Transfiguration in the hope that it would help the class, sir," Scorpius said calmly and sounded mildly apologetic. Blake snorted and then covered his mouth and nose quickly.
"I know what you were doing, Malfoy," Nott snapped angrily. "A point from Gryffindor for your attitude," he said and then he stalked to the front of the classroom.
Scorpius was internally furious but he didn't dare protest. He knew that it was likely he'd get more than just a point taken from Gryffindor if he tried to say anything else that might annoy Professor Nott.
No one said a thing as Professor Nott rounded on them, glowering in the direction of the Gryffindor boys. "Write this down," he snapped and launched into a lecture as everyone scrambled for parchment and ink. A series of complicated charts covered in squiggles and strange symbols appeared on the blackboard and Professor Nott spent a good deal of time explaining each symbol and squiggle, whether their placement on the chart influenced the effects that a certain spell would produce and essentially confused the whole class senseless. Even Scorpius who had read his Transfiguration text twice was more than a little confused.
Ten minutes before the end of class and after Professor Nott had finished his lecture; he handed out a match to each student and told them the spell they were to use to attempt to turn it into a needle. It was quite clear that Professor Nott did not expect anyone to get anywhere close to turning the match into a needle.
Scorpius was quietly concentrating on his match, the wand movement, and the effect he wanted to have happen to it. The match thinned and took on a vaguely glossy look but the match was still distinctly a match. Albus turned his match into a toothpick rather than a needle which prompted a snort of derision from Professor Nott. Blake stared at his match with narrowed eyes as he muttered the spell and waved his wand; nothing much happened… at least until the head of the match flared and caught on fire.
"Ack!" Blake said loudly and beat at the lit match with his hand.
"Idiot!" Nott snapped and with a wave of his wand the match simply disappeared.
Blake looked at the place where the match had been and then at Professor Nott. He looked sheepish.
"Are you injured?" Nott snapped irritably.
"I'm fine, sir," Blake said calmly.
"Then do not do that again," Nott said and glowered at him and then looked at Halim. "Well?" he snapped.
Halim held out his hand and settled in the middle of his palm was a perfectly formed, shiny silver needle with a hole in one end and a point on the other. He simply looked at Professor Nott while the teacher scowled down at the match in his hand. Grudgingly it seemed, Professor Nott said, "Five points to Gryffindor for completing the task before the end of class."
Halim smiled. "Thank you, Professor," he said calmly.
Professor Nott scowled even more and turned away to harass someone else.
Scorpius, Albus and Blake stared at Halim. "How did you do that?" Blake asked sounding miserable.
Halim shrugged. "It just… made sense, I guess, when he told us the spell," Halim said calmly and without any particularly proud or smug inflections in his voice.
"Good job, Halim," Scorpius said with a smile.
"Thanks Sam," Halim replied with a smile and a nod of his head.
The bell rang signaling the end of class. "Homework! Give me a foot on this spell and then explain why your attempt did or did not work! Due Thursday!" Nott snapped before anyone could flee the room.
Blake grumbled miserably as he put his notes into his bag. They already looked like meaningless scribbles to him. "I am a rubbish wizard," Blake muttered.
"Blake, you are not a rubbish wizard," Albus insisted as he packed his things away.
"I can't brew a potion. I can't turn a match into a needle. What nutter put me on the list for Hogwarts?" Blake said laconically.
"You don't get put on the list. You get born and your name goes down if you're a witch or wizard, if you aren't your name isn't on the list," Scorpius said calmly. "Besides, maybe Charms or Defense Against the Dark Arts will be your forte," he said with a slight smile.
"He's right Blake. We all have particular areas where we excel and those that we may or may not get immediately," Albus said with an encouraging smile.
"I guess we're going to find out, aren't we?" Blake said sounding rather depressed as the four of them left the Transfiguration classroom and headed for the stairs.
Halim sighed a bit as they walked up the stairs. "Blake, I'll help you out with the Transfiguration work. Besides, I get the impression we're all going to be relying on one another to get through this stuff," he said calmly as they headed up another flight of stairs and reached the third floor.
"Where are we going?" Blake asked.
"Charms… I think it's that way," Albus said calmly and he pointed along the corridor that led toward the Hospital Wing.
"Are you sure?" Scorpius asked.
"No. But it's only our second day of classes. I think most of the teachers are going to be a little lenient. Come on," Albus said and the four of them headed down the corridor toward the Hospital Wing.
As it turned out, Albus was right and they reached the classroom just as the first year Ravenclaw boys did. One of them had dark red hair, two had different shades of brown, one dark the other light and the fourth boy was blonde. Albus hung back slightly and Scorpius did as well, Blake and Halim pausing.
"Is something wrong?" Scorpius asked.
Albus shrugged. "No. Not really," Albus said.
Scorpius frowned. "You sure?"
"Brian Corner," Albus said quietly.
"What's wrong with him?" Blake asked, frowning.
"Nothing is wrong with him. I just… heard something about his Dad at home once," Albus said and he sounded awkward.
"What sort of something?" Halim asked.
"It had to do with my Mum. She was having some kind of argument with my Uncle. I have no idea what about, but my Uncle implied something that had my Mum positively furious. My Dad had to break it up… my Uncle wasn't around for like two months," Albus said quietly.
Scorpius frowned.
"Your Uncle sounds like an ass," Blake said bluntly.
Albus stared at Blake as Scorpius and Halim started to laugh and then he started to smile. He ruffled his hair. "He is, a bit, yeah," Albus said.
"Don't you dare insult my Dad, Albus Potter!" Rose Weasley erupted loudly from right behind them.
Albus jumped. "Rose-"
"I knew it! You're turning into him!"
"You leave Sam out of this, Rose," Albus snapped angrily.
"Al-"
"No! She's been eavesdropping on us. She doesn't even know what I'm talking about and she assumes that it's your fault!"
"Blake, Halim, take him inside," Scorpius said calmly and the two boys practically dragged Albus into the Charms classroom. He eyed Amelia, Breana and Connie pointedly and they scampered into the classroom leaving him with Rose.
"What are you going to do, Malfoy?!" Rose snapped.
"I have tried to be nice. I have tried to keep Al out of this… bollocks between you and me. Clearly it isn't working, so just say all the things you want to say and have it out. Then leave Al alone," Scorpius said coolly.
"He's my cousin!"
"And you say that like he belongs to you! For Merlin's sake he's got the right to make friends with whoever he wants and he shouldn't have to defend himself from his own damn family! I don't really care what you think I'm going to do to corrupt Al, but you don't know me, Weasley," Scorpius said in a cold voice. "You know nothing about me except the possibly exaggerated stories that your father tells about my father," he said quietly. "I think it should be quite obvious by now that I am not Draco Malfoy, Weasley," he said in a pointed tone and then he turned and walked toward the classroom door.
"Prat!"
Scorpius rolled his eyes. "That's real mature," he muttered and he went into the classroom where the tiny Professor Flitwick was headed toward the door.
"Mr. Malfoy, is something the matter?" Flitwick asked his voice a little high but also a little hoarse.
"I suppose that depends, Professor," Scorpius said calmly.
"On what?"
"On something entirely outside my control," Scorpius said and he looked at the doorway. Rose had just entered the room, cheeks pink and her blue eyes burning with cold fire.
Professor Flitwick almost looked resigned. "Very well, please take a seat," Flitwick said and he headed back to his desk.
Scorpius made his way to the table where Albus was and calmly sat down. He noticed that the Ravenclaw girls appeared to have entered when he was arguing with Rose and they were eyeing him with inexplicable looks on their faces.
"What happened?" Albus asked. He was irritable. His cheeks were pink and he wanted to tell his cousin to leave him the hell alone.
"I tried to get her to leave you out of this. I don't think it worked," Scorpius said quietly and then he silenced Albus with a gesture when Professor Flitwick began to take roll. He calmly got out parchment and ink since he was sure there would be a need for it and he listened to the tiny old man calling and checking off names.
There wouldn't be more time to talk during this lesson since Professor Flitwick launched into a highly interesting lecture that he augmented by demonstrating some of the Charms they would eventually be learning. He made Ravenclaw Holly Prescott's textbook tap dance along the table to the amusement of the class. Then he began to talk about the theory behind magic, all the elements needed to make a spell work including wand movement and intentions and a given witch or wizards concentration and pronunciation. He emphasized how important each one of the elements was in a cheerful, almost excited sort of way, all the while the students took notes. But the note taking was actually interesting rather than boring and Blake was smiling by the time they were halfway through the class.
But the end of class came and soon the boys were on their way back to their common room to read the section that Professor Flitwick had asked them to read by their next class tomorrow. Scorpius and Albus were a bit quiet as they walked back to Gryffindor Tower and Blake did his best to cheer them up since he felt he was more responsible for Rose Weasley's explosion before Charms since he had been the one to call her father an ass.
The four boys settled in some chairs near the fire and Halim tried to help them with their Transfiguration homework. They were at it for a while and it was close to dinner time when Blake said, "Stop, I can't take it any more. This is going to make my head explode."
They were all laughing a little and trying to decompress when James Potter walked up to them. "Hi James," Albus said calmly.
"Al… did you call Uncle Ron an ass?" James asked calmly.
Albus blinked.
"Actually, I called your Uncle Ron an ass, Al just kind of agreed with me," Blake said calmly as he sat up in his seat and looked at Albus's older brother.
James looked at Blake and then focused on Scorpius. "Did you have an argument with Rose?" he asked quietly.
Scorpius sighed and dragged a hand through his hair. "I was trying to get her to stop attacking Al because she hates me for no other reason than I am a Malfoy," Scorpius said in a slightly cool tone of voice.
James winced slightly. "Al… Rose has gone to Vicky."
"What?! Why?" Albus asked sounding rather miserable.
"She's desperate, I guess. And she thinks that Sam is turning you against the family. It's the dumbest thing I've heard in ages, but…"
"But I'm a Malfoy and Al's a Potter," Scorpius said calmly.
"That's not what I meant… exactly," James said a little awkwardly.
Scorpius sighed and waved it off. "Pretty much everyone is thinking it or has thought it since Friday. They all think I belong down in the dungeons with the other miscreant Death Eater children," he muttered coolly. "I suppose it doesn't matter that I'm not Draco Malfoy, that the first friend I made on the train was a Muggleborn because no one who knew anything about wizardry was going to go near me," he said calmly although their was a hint of annoyance in his tone.
James sighed loudly. "Listen, I didn't come over to stir things up. Just to warn Al that Victoire and Dominique are probably going to try to intervene and they might get Molly and Lucy in on it too," James said quietly.
"Great, I get to be ganged up on by all the girls in my family," Albus said irritably. "I don't get why they're making a big deal of this when Dad has said he doesn't care that I'm friends with Sam," he muttered.
James shrugged but he looked uncomfortable. "Dad is like that. So is Mum, although maybe not quite as much. Vic and Dom… have their mother's temper, that whole veela thing… Just… they're probably going to try something, and I wanted to make sure you weren't railroaded," James said calmly and then someone called his name from near the portrait hole. "Coming! I got to go, Al, but I hope this gets sorted out soon," he said quickly and he gave a nod to his brother's friends before he hurried off to join his.
Albus scowled deeply. "I am not in the mood for this bollocks," he said irritably and he got to his feet after he gathered his things and headed upstairs to the dormitory.
Scorpius, Blake and Halim shortly joined Albus upstairs where they found Albus lying on his bed staring up at the ceiling. Scorpius threw his bag on his bed. "This is my fault. If I hadn't tried to confront her she wouldn't have gone off to the Head Girl," he said calmly.
"She shouldn't be doing this in the first place. It's no ones bloody business who I decide to be friends with and as far as I'm concerned they can all piss off," Albus said angrily.
"Al, I get that you just want Rose to leave you alone, but if she's gone after older family, perhaps you should too… You said your Dad has said he doesn't care that you and Sam are friends. Write him and ask him to tell everyone in the family to leave you alone about it," Halim said quietly in a sympathetic tone.
"I don't want to go to my Dad. I should be able to handle this myself," Albus said sounding furious.
"You should, yes… but obviously Rose has some sort of stubborn streak wider than the Nile and I think the only thing that is going to get to her is something from your Dad or maybe her Mum," Halim said trying to sound reasonable.
"It feels like tattling," Albus muttered.
"She's already gone and done that, hasn't she, by going to your cousin Victoire," Blake said coolly.
"It isn't like she can ban me from talking to Sam," Albus muttered. He really did not want to write to his Dad having to tell him that he couldn't deal with his cousins.
Scorpius sighed loudly. "Okay, we don't know what your cousin is going to do, really, until she does it or tries to at least… maybe… maybe you would be better off. I mean, you're going to keep getting flack from everyone, not just your family-"
"Hell no!" Albus said angrily and he looked at Sam as he sat up. "You aren't going to try to martyr yourself, Sam. I'm not going to let them do this even if I have to tell Victoire to piss off to her face," he said irritably.
"I would honestly love to see that, Albus," a calm, slightly amused female voice said from the doorway.
Albus jumped slightly.
"So would I," a very similar although less amused voice said from behind the first girl.
Standing in the doorway were a pair of twins who looked like fourth years, both with Weasley red hair, freckles and blue eyes hidden behind wire frame glasses; it had always been really hard to tell Molly and Lucy Weasley apart.
Scorpius turned and looked at the girls and realized they were watching him as if sizing him up. He looked back at them calmly and waited for someone to do something.
"Molly, Lucy… can't you just go away?" Albus asked sounding miserable.
"No, sorry," Lucy, the amused sounding one, said with a slight smile as she stepped further into the room.
"Little Rose is quite angry with you, Albus," Molly said calmly and she looked at Albus pointedly.
"She's hacked off at me because of Sam, because I'm friends with Draco Malfoy's kid! She's being immature and annoying and she blames Sam for everything she thinks isn't good for me," Albus said sounding angry.
"Sam? I thought your name was Scorpius," Molly said as she looked at the blonde boy who was watching her silently.
"It's a nickname," Blake spoke up. "I gave it to him on the train… Scorpius is a bit much, don't you think?" he said quickly as he looked at Molly and then at Lucy who seemed the more forgiving of the two.
"It does seem more than a little pretentious to keep saying Scorpius all the time," Lucy said and she seemed like she was going to grin.
"What do you think of the nickname, Scorpius?" Molly asked.
"I prefer it to my given name, if that tells you anything important," Scorpius said calmly after a moment. He didn't know much about Molly and Lucy Weasley other than they were Percy Weasley's daughters.
Lucy smirked slightly. "Don't like your Dad?" she asked.
"I don't believe my feelings toward my father are really any of your concern," Scorpius said calmly and he tried to sound polite.
Lucy grinned. "Too right, too right; they are absolutely none of my concern. What is of my concern is your friendship with my cousin," Lucy said and the grin on her face turned serious.
"Lucy-"
"Al, shut it for a moment," Lucy said calmly.
"What do you think this is some sort of plot hatched by my father? Do you think I'm here to spy on a Potter and see… what exactly? Do you think this is any easier for me than for Al? You lot are on the good side of things, you can always choose whether to forgive someone or not. I have to fight to get people to trust me because I'm a Malfoy. Do you think I like it any more than Al's Dad liked being hounded and called The Boy Who Lived or The Chosen One?" Scorpius said irritably, his eyes narrowed.
Molly glanced from Scorpius to Lucy. Lucy looked from Scorpius to Molly. Silence fell that stretched for one minute and then two…
And Molly and Lucy smiled at nearly the same time.
"What just happened?" Blake asked frowning.
"Your dear Sam passed. Al, I know Rose can be a bit like her Dad, but… ignore her or something, would you? I don't want to hear any more whining from her. It hurts my ears," Lucy said rather bluntly.
Molly hit Lucy in the shoulder. "Quiet you," she said and then looked at Scorpius carefully. "Sam does fit you better," she said calmly and she turned and walked out of the room.
Lucy started to laugh and followed Molly to the stunned surprise of all four boys in the dormitory.
"What just happened?" Scorpius asked as he looked at Albus.
"Hell if I know," Albus muttered and he ran a hand through his hair.
"Does anyone else think this day took ten years to go by?" Blake asked as he looked around at the other three.
"Yes," Albus, Halim and Scorpius intoned together and then snickered.
Author's Note: I hope it isn't too boring, or anything. I know it's still mostly filler but it gets more interesting, I swear. Please, Please review! The more reviews I get the more chapters get posted! You, the reader, control the fate of this story! Suggestions are welcome! - Frankie