"Hey," Albus greeted Malfoy as Malfoy walked into the library and sat down at Albus's desk by the window, overlooking the Black Lake.

"Hi," Scorpius replied.

"So I've gotten a head start on our project-"

"Me, too. I'm thinking we should use a frog's brain instead of a pickled slug."

"That's a good idea," Albus said appreciatively. Huh, Albus thought. Maybe working with Malfoy won't be so bad after all. "There's a book I saw over there earlier that might help us. It's about Divination potions."

"Okay, let's go take a look," Scorpius said. The two boys got up and walked the short distance to the Divination section. Albus skimmed the titles, while Malfoy stood near him. Scorpius's hand bumped into Albus's and Albus retracted his hand quickly, and reached up to grab the book he had been searching for.

"Here it is," Albus announced. He flipped through the pages, looking for the Mopsus Potion. He paused when he saw it. "Okay, this is the bit on the Mopsus Potion."

"Let me take a look," Malfoy said, leaning over Albus's shoulder to get a better view. Albus could feel Malfoy's breath on the back of his neck. It made the hair there stand up. "Yeah, that looks helpful. Let's bring it back with us."

Scorpius and Albus made their way back to their seats to look through the book. They took notes on the potion for an hour or so before deciding that they had gotten enough done for one day and made plans to meet up at the same time the next day.

Albus strolled into the common room, pleasantly surprised that his study session with Malfoy hadn't been completely dreadful.

"Hey Albus," Albus's cousin Louis said. "How was that thing with Malfoy?"

"It was okay. We just studied," Albus said, thinking about how it felt when Malfoy was breathing down his neck. He certainly wasn't telling his first-year cousin about that.

"Oh, okay," Louis replied, obviously not too interested in the subject. "Can we go play Quidditch?"

"Sure," Albus agreed. "Why don't you go ask your sister if she wants to join us?"

Louis scurried off to Dominique, who was on the far end of the common room, studying with some friends of hers. The three of them grabbed their broomsticks and went outside to enjoy the last few hours of daylight. They were soon joined by Michelle Meyer, a fourth-year Ravenclaw. After a while, Louis had to turn in, and Dominique went in with him. Michelle and Albus played around for a few minutes when Scorpius emerged from the castle with his broomstick.

Before Albus could stop her, Michelle cried out, "Hey, Scorpius, why don't you come up here and toss around the quaffle with us?" Albus and Malfoy both cringed, but they were too far away to see the other one's face.

"Um, yeah, okay, I guess," Malfoy yelled back and flew up to join them. Michelle threw the quaffle to him and Scorpius dove down to catch it.

"Nice one!" Albus said.

"Thanks," Malfoy muttered. Is he blushing? Albus wondered. The three fourth-years continued to play around until it got dark. They made their way into the school, chatting about Quidditch and school. Michelle parted with them to go to the Ravenclaw common room. Albus and Scorpius strolled around for a bit.

"So how annoying are those two Hufflepuffs in Potions? What are their names? Michael and Cindy?" Scorpius said.

"Oh my God, they're the worst! They flirt all class, it's so hard to hear Slughorn's lectures over them."

"It's been like that since first year, too. I had Charms with them our first term of first year."

"I feel so bad for the Hufflepuffs who have to live with them."

The two boys made fun of their classmates until they arrived in front of the Gryffindor common room.

"Well, I guess it's time I turn in for the night," Albus said.

"Yeah, I guess so," Malfoy replied. He lingered there for a moment, not speaking, his lips only inches away from Albus's. "See you in class," he breathed. Then he was gone. Albus breathed out a sigh he hadn't realized he'd been keeping in, woke up the Fat Lady to tell her the password, and entered the common room.

"Al, over here!" James called from a comfy-looking sofa in the room in front of a fireplace, surrounded by books. Albus went to go sit with him, wondering what that moment with Malfoy had been about, and why it gave him butterflies. "Where have you been?" James asked.

"I was out playing Quidditch with Louis, Dom, and Michelle," Albus answered, purposely leaving out the part about Scorpius. He hoped Michelle hadn't told anyone and he wouldn't get caught and have to explain to James why he was hanging out with Malfoy.

"Are you thinking of trying out for the team next year?" James asked hopefully. James, like his father, was the captain of the Quidditch team. James was always trying to convince Albus to join the team. He had already gotten to Lily. She'd be on the team next year for sure, with all the time James had devoted to helping her improve her Quidditch skills.

Albus shook his head. "I don't think so."

"C'mon," James begged. "If you join, the whole family will be on the team! It'll be so much fun! Mum and Dad would love it if all of their kids were on the Gryffindor Quidditch team at the same time. Plus, it's my last year."

"I just won't have enough time. I'll have my OWLs next year."

"I was just fine my fifth year, and I'll be doing Quidditch next year with my NEWTs."

"Yeah, well, you're you," Albus said, and got up to retire to his dormitory.

"What's that supposed to mean?" James playfully yelled at his brother's back.

Albus went upstairs to his dormitory and got ready for bed. All of the Quidditch he played had really tired him out. Playing around with Scorpius and talking to him afterward hadn't just been decent, like their study session. Albus actually had fun, and he thought Scorpius did, too.