Chapter 4: The Room

Albus waited until he heard his roommates snoring before he slipped out of bed and silently opened his trunk, pulling out a very old and worn piece of parchment. He pointed his wand and whispered. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." Ink started to appear all over the parchment, creating a map. A little excited, this being his first time to actually open the gift has dad had given him, he unfolded the map and sat it into his lap, examining every hall of Hogwarts. Filch was off near the Ravenclaw dormitories and he could see Professor Longbottom on his way to the restroom. A few more second of browsing the map and he found the Slytherin Dormitories, a pair of moving feet labeled "Sierra Barker". He frowned and studied the map closer. Something moved in the other corner of the map. Lucy was sneaking out. Albus stood up and silently padded out of the dormitories, following Sierra's far off footsteps.

He kept his eyes on the map, his heart racing with anxiety of being caught. Every noise seemed to be amplified through the dark and empty hallways making Albus jump and twitch as he followed. Albus tripped over a suit of armor and cringed at the loud noise. Quickly he looked at the map. Filch was still on the other side of the building, but he was now moving this way.

"Tut, tut." He heard someone chuckle. Looking up he found Peeves floating about him. "Ickle first year out of bed."

"Shhh," He pleaded.

"Aw, afraid of big mean Filch are we?" Peeves did a cart-wheel. "Better get moving before he finds you." Albus scrambled to his feet and started to run for it right as Peeves started to yell. "AN ICKLE FIRST YEAR IS OUT OF BED~!"

Albus cursed and looked around for somewhere to hide. Finally he spotted a door and slipped into it. With a sigh of relief he turned around to look at the room he had stumbled upon.

"Aah!" He shrieked in surprise as he spotted Lucy and Sierra sitting on two couches and chatting away, both in their pjs and both with a mug of hot chocolate. "What the hell!?"

Both girls looked at him, shocked. "Al? What're you doing here?" Lucy's face went red as a beat as she tried to hide behind a throw pillow.

"What am I doing here?" He asked. "What're you doing here?"

"We always come here. It's sorta…" Sierra cut herself off, trying to think of a good explanation. "It's sort of our hiding spot."

Albus looked around the room. "This is the Room of Requirement isn't it?" He asked in awe. "Dad's told me about this place. He said it's where they used to hold the Dumbledore's Army meetings. How did you two find it?"

Sierra shrugged. "Well, one day, last year, Lucy and I were wandering the halls, looking for a place where we could just hang out. We can't really hang out in the Main Hall because the tables are segregated. Anywhere else and we'd get ridiculed for hanging out with our rival house." She explained.

"That's fantastic!" He exclaimed. "Who else knows about it?"

"Just us," Lucy said in her small voice. "And Freddie but he hasn't come here in a while."

"You haven't told anyone else about it?"

"No, why would we?" Sierra furrowed her brow in confusion. "This is our place. We use it to get away from people."

"Why not? Because it's brilliant! I mean, you and Lucy can't be the only people in need of a place like this. We coul-"

"No," Sierra cut him off. "You're not telling anyone else about this!" She snapped.

"Bu-"

"No, this is mine and Lucy's place." She said sternly.

Morning fog lingered over the quidditch pitch. It had been a good month since the first day of school and Sierra had somehow made it onto the house team, much to Scorpius' disappointment. Scorpius had moped for a whole week and even now he was sulking as they sat in the stands.

"Why does Sierra being on the team bother you so much?" Albus asked, finally getting sick of his friend's shit.

"What if they like her? What if they keep her as seeker next year?"

"And that would be a problem because?"

"I would be such a better seeker!" Scorpius exclaimed. "I was BORN to be a seeker."

Albus shrugged. "Then try out next year. I'm sure the captain will choose whoever is best for the job."

This suggestion didn't seem to help Scorpius' mood as he went straight back to sulking. Albus turned his attention back to the game as Hufflepuff scored another goal.

"And ten points to Hufflepuff!" Amy Jordan exclaimed into the mic. "They're still down by fifty points but-Oh wait! Is that the snitch!" Albus's gaze jumped to Sierra who was now a blur of green as she raced through the pitch. The Hufflepuff seeker tried to keep up but Sierra took a sharp turn, sending the other seeker crashing into the stands. Sierra was picking up speed now, out reaching her hand. Albus couldn't see the snitch from where he was sitting but he knew Sierra was just inches away from catching it. She reached out just a bit further and toppled off her broom. "Ow," Amy grimaced. "Nasty fall that was. But she's getting up!" The entire audience watched with bated breath as Sierra picked herself off the ground.

Scorpius and Albus were on the edge of their seats, trying to get a better look. "Does she have it?" Albus muttered. A second later Sierra lifted her hand into the air, a small golden ball with wings was there.

"She's got it! She's caught the snitch! Slytherin wins!"

The Slytherins all broke into a loud cheer of victory as their team landed on the ground and swarmed Sierra. Albus was hugging Scorpius and even Scorpius was cheering the victory. Albus' eyes caught a glimpse of his brother who was sitting not too far away. He and Dominique were right next to each other, glaring at the Slytherin team. Albus had almost forgotten how competitive those two were. James was the Seeker for Gryffindor and Dominique was the best Chaser their house had seen since Albus' mom. This quidditch season was going to prove to be interesting.

Michael Adams, a fifth year with ashy blond hair and brown eyes, stood up on a table in the Slytherin common room. The room went silent as they all listened to their quidditch captain. He raised his glass of butterbeer, "A toast! To Sierra! The smallest, weakest girl I have ever seen try out for Quidditch. Some how, she made the team and won us the first game!"

Albus looked over to Sierra, who's face was now beet red, as the entire house raised their own glass to her. The celebration party carried on and Sierra scampered over to Albus and Scorpius who were sitting on one of the couches. "Hey, I'm gonna scram now. Lucy wanted me to hang out with her tonight."

"Oh yeah, Al told me about your little hide away." Scorpius said.

"Albus!" Sierra snapped. "I told you not to tell anyone!"

"I just told Scorpius! It's not like I blurted it to the entire school!"

Sierra gave a frustrated groan. "Fine, but you two can't tell anyone!"

"We won't." The two boys said together. Sierra was about to walk away when Albus added. "Although, you know, it would be a good place to hold a party. You know, one that all the houses can go to."

"No!" Sierra barked. "This is just mine and Lucy's place. I told you that!"

"Fine," Albus surrendered and watched Sierra's retreating back as she left the common room.

I'll be uploading chapter 5 on Wednesday and chapter 6 will be just in time for Christmas :)

Thank you for reading this far and sticking with this. I swear it will start getting better with more regular updates.