Oh Hai there :D

Chapter 23

XxX Albus & Lorcan XxX

"Figured it out yet?" Albus asked waking up and watching Lorcan wave his wand quickly and mumble the enchantment.

"I suppose you could say I have something," Lorcan replied, waving his wand again and showing Albus a half-formed shell of an animal.

"Well are you thinking of your happiest thought ever?" Albus asked.

Lorcan gave him an angry look, "you didn't think to say that yesterday?" he replied, grimacing.

Albus shrugged defensively, "I thought you were supposed to be smarter than me! As far as I was concerned, you knew that. You were doing well without knowing that."

"I give up anyway, I've had enough." Lorcan replied with a humph, putting his wand in his pocket and holding his aching stomach.

"You can't give up Lorcan, how are we supposed to get out of here?" Albus asked, rubbing at his heavy eyes.

Lorcan groaned, "why don't you try it for a change?"

"Fine," Albus replied, getting up and moving towards the stacks of shelves and out of the eyesight of Lorcan.

The situation was really getting to them. They both felt ill and were slowly starting to lose hope.

Albus regretted not listening to Lorcan from the beginning and not going through a door that had just appeared out of nowhere.

10 minutes later – 8:50

Scorpius and Rose were looking forlorn as they sat on the steps of the Entrance Hall waiting for Rose and Albus' parents.

"You sure you should be here?" Rose mumbled to Scorpius, her chin on her hand.

He smirked weakly, "might as well face the bull head on as they say," he replied.

Rose chuckled before leaning back onto the stairs and moving slightly more towards Scorpius to let some students pass them.

"I suppose we have our solution now don't we," Rose said.

Scorpius nodded, "unless Lorcan and Albus aren't actually in the Room of Requirement."

"Don't say that," Rose replied combing her fingers through her hair and sighing.

"Sorry," he said and was silent. Watching students move into the Great Hall and craning his neck whenever the doors of the Entrance Hall opened.

"Nervous aren't you? My dad can't smell fear you know," Rose said with a smile towards him.

Scorpius rolled his eyes and leaned back casually, "I'm not scared," he paused and then looked at the doors, "what if we can't get them out?"

"We will get them out Scorpius, no doubt about that." She grinned and Rose put her hand comfortingly on his wrist.

"Rose, what exactly are you doing?" said an angry voice from across the hall.

Both Scorpius and Rose's heads snapped in its direction and Rose's eyes grew, quickly removing her hand from Scorpius' wrist.

"Hi Dad," she said with a smile. Rose stood up and raced over to her Dad, and hugged him quickly. She turned to her Mum, Uncle, Auntie and Lorcan's parents who had come in after her dad, and they all looked anxious.

"Any luck Rose?" her mum asked lightly after Rose had hugged her tightly.

"Well Scorpius and I," she began and ushered him over. Her dad made a strange face, a likely reaction to the deep purple bruise around his left eye. The rest of her family didn't seem to care and smiled at him.

"Good Morning Mr and Mrs Weasley, Mr and Mrs Potter, and Mr and Mrs Scamander" he said politely.

"Hello Scorpius," Harry said with a smile.

"Well Rose?" Hermione asked slightly impatient.

"Oh, well we have come to the conclusion that Albus and Lorcan are in the Room of Requirement," Rose paused and looked at the faces around her. They all had faces of confusion and disbelief etched on their features.

"That Room couldn't have survived that fire," Ron said shaking his head, but the others stayed silent.

"What does Professor McGonagall think?" Hermione asked, a frown still on her face.

"We haven't exactly spoken to her," Scorpius spoke up, putting a hand through his hair.

"Your doing I s'pose," Ron replied and Scorpius held back a grimace.

Rose however, did not, "it was both our ideas, and she'll know right now anyway."

Not very soon after Rose had said that, McGonagall exited the Great Hall and neared them all.

"Good Morning," she said sharply, a serious look on her face, "it's quite unfortunate that we couldn't meet together under less stressed conditions."

The adults all nodded and then Ginny spoke up, "Rose and Scorpius think that the boys are in the Room of Requirement, that can't be possible, can it?"

McGonagall paused in thought and straightened her glasses, "well there is a chance that it could have survived the cursed fire, however in that case, I would have thought the room would have allowed anyone who entered it, out."

"That's what we thought, and we came up of a hypothesis of our own for that," Rose said with a smile. She motioned to Scorpius to start.

All seven of the older witches and wizards looked at them, waiting for Scorpius to speak. He cleared his throat, avoiding the grimace that was on Ron's face and started.

"We think that there is still some of the fiendfyre from 20 years ago left, and that it is lying dormant for something to ignite it again. But as the Room of Requirement is a source of protection, it has over the years, pushed the remaining fiendfyre from the room and we think that the cursed fire has somewhat surrounded the room in its suspended animation, waiting for an entrance." Scorpius looked to Rose who continued.

"We believe that it was luck that Lorcan and Albus managed to get in, like a gap in the fiendfyres scope, but also a gap in the Rooms protection. This would therefore mean that –,"

Rose was cut off by Hermione, "we need to use a counter-curse before we can enter the room again," she said with a smile at both Scorpius and Rose. "I knew you could do it, well both of you."

"That is very smart of you both," McGonagall said, nodding them both in a sort of congratulation, "such deduction skills deserve 10 points to Ravenclaw and Gryffindor."

The students both smiled and nodded.

"You are sure that Lorcan and Albus are in there?" Luna asked, a twinge in her usually whimsical voice. "And are safe?"

Rose nodded, "I'm sure of it, they have to be in there."

"This room wouldn't have the ability to make food, would it?" Rolf asked, unknown to the magic of the Hogwarts grounds, having never been a student there.

Scorpius shook his head, "but they probably managed to find some way to get some food. That's Albus' forte," he said with a smile. Which would have looked more sincere if it weren't for the temporary facial disfiguration.

Harry and Ginny both laughed as they followed McGonagall up the stairs, followed by Ron and Hermione and then by Rolf and Luna.

Scorpius turned to Rose whispering to her, "you're not going to tell them how they both ended up in there are you?"

Rose frowned, "I just want them to understand why it happened, not how it happened."

He nodded, "but what if he hasn't changed, what if he is the same old Albus."

She paused in thought, "I'd hope so."

"What do you mean?" Scorpius asked slightly confused as he held onto the banister of the staircase.

"The old Albus who used to play Wizards Chess with me, and who used to be my best friend." She replied with a weak smile. "It would be nice to get that Albus back."

Scorpius frowned, "then who's supposed to be my best friend?"

Rose started to laugh, followed by Scorpius, but they both stopped abruptly at a look administered by Ron Weasley.

"Still not in the good books," Rose said with a giggle and Scorpius sighed.

"I told you I wouldn't be," he replied knowingly as they climbed another staircase.

McGonagall turned off on the third floor, reaching the Hospital Wing and swiftly going inside for Madam Minstra. They returned with a basket full of oranges and various potions.

Rose looked at the basket worriedly, wondering how badly Lorcan and Albus would have been living.

XxX Albus & Lorcan XxX

"I think we'll die in here, you know?" Albus stated as he lay on the floor by his sofa, staring at the ceiling and counting his fingers over and over again. He had given up casting the Patronus Charm after 5 minutes.

"Don't be so dramatic, we'll get out of here at some point, just have some faith in our parents. Your dad is the famous Harry Potter." Lorcan replied, breaking a piece of chocolate and chewing it miserably.

"I doubt 'love' is gonna get us out of this mess to be honest," he said sarcastically.

Lorcan looked over at Albus with a frown, "don't say that Al, you don't mean it."

Albus didn't reply, he just sighed.

"I can tell you one good thing that has come out of this experience though," he started, now a smile evident on his face.

"What exactly?"

"I think your mum and dad are going to be glad that you've gone off chocolate," he continued with a grin.

Albus turned his head in Lorcan's direction and picking up the closest thing to him – a broken lamp, threw it at Lorcan, narrowly missing hitting him in the face.

Lorcan just laughed, though the laugh was quite peculiar.

"I'm quite worried about you Lorcan, you sure you haven't caught anything?" Albus asked, sitting up and leaning his back against the sofa.

"I'm sure I've contracted something. We've been alone in a dirty room for 4 days, with only chocolate and water to eat and drink. I'm sure I've got some sort of illness." He said with a shrug, "I doubt it's lethal though."

Albus groaned and rested his head on his knees, moaning.

"At least now you know what it would be like to be stuck with Lorcan in a room without proper nourishment for 4 days," Lorcan continued with a grin, making Albus groan louder.

XxX Rose, Scorpius & Co XxX

When they reached the Seventh Floor all the students were already in their classes and the Castle was slightly quieter.

"Would you like to do the honours?" McGonagall asked Harry as they stood across from the painting of the dancing trolls.

Harry nodded and stepped back, taking his wand out and pointing it at the space where the door had appeared to him so many times before.

He spoke a counter-curse neither Scorpius or Rose had found in the books, when Harry had put his wand away, Rose couldn't help asking.

"What was that counter-curse?"

"Not yet Ministry approved," he said with a laugh, "strongest one you'll ever encounter though."

"Are you sure you should be using non-ministry approved counter-curses, Harry?" Hermione asked with a frown.

"I doubt it's going to kill anyone Hermione," Ron answered, receiving a look from his wife.

"Can we just try now?" Scorpius asked eagerly. They all looked at him, Ron giving him an especially horrible look.

They hadn't noticed that Luna had already began to walk up and down the hall, Rolf watching her with a confused look as her blonde hair covered her face as she looked at her feet as she walked. She made sure her feet kept in a perfectly straight line, and thought as hard as she could.

There was a crank and dust and smoke seemed to seep out of the surrounding walls. After a few seconds there was the sound of a key clicking into a lock and a door appeared next to them. It looked quite charred and the door knob was rusty and used.

Ginny was the first to the door, wrenching it open and rushing inside.

"Albus?" she shouted.

She was followed by the rest of the adults all shouting, "Albus" and "Lorcan."

"This place looks a mess," Ron stated, glancing at the charred remains of the Room of Requirement.

"Well it is how we left it," Hermione replied, stepping further into the room and looking at the many shelving units that still remained, going off into the distance.

"Lorcan would have found a better place to set up camp," Rose said, projecting her voice so that everybody could hear.

"I have to agree with Miss Weasley," McGonagall replied and they all moved off into different groups, searching through the room for any sign of Albus or Lorcan.

Scorpius and Rose were with her parents, starting off through the middle of the shelves.

"They can't hear us?" Scorpius asked Rose, and considering that her parents were right behind her, quite close to her.

Ron decided to speak up at that moment, "how did this mess even happen Rose?"

Rose sighed and cleared her throat, "it's a long story dad, can we talk about it later."

"Why later? Why not now? Or are you trying to cover up for someone?" he continued. Hermione rolled her eyes and Rose turned around, halting the group from continuing to move.

"No dad, it's just not important at this moment, it will be later on, okay?" she replied, trying to hold back her anger.

Ron frowned but nodded anyway.

Rose turned back around, "Lorcan!" she shouted.

XxX Albus & Lorcan XxX

Albus stood up quickly, his ear quirked in the direction of the book shelves coming from the left.

"Did you hear that?" he asked Lorcan who was drawing on the floor with a charred piece of wood.

He looked up at him lazily and shook his head, "it's probably a shelf falling over or something. They do, do that often."

"No, it sounded like a voice," he said, trying to force his ears to hear better.

"Probably just your echo," he replied absentmindedly.

Seeing that Albus didn't relax, Lorcan stood up and looked into the distance.

"I'd suggest we take a look, but then I'm too tired to do that."

Albus frowned, "I know, you're too tired to do anything. Why couldn't you have had an apple in your pocket?"

"Like a normal person?" Lorcan answered with a glare, "first off, Apples go mouldy, secondly I was advised to carry a chocolate bar thank you very much."

"You've been in here for far too long, it's like you've gone stir crazy or something. Stop acting strange Lorcan," he said angrily.

Lorcan gave him another angry look, "I'm completely sane, it's you."

Albus shook his head, a smirk on his face, "I don't believe that. Look at you, you're drawing runes on the floor."

"I'm bored, merlin, aren't I allowed to be bored?"Lorcan replied, picking up a pillow and hitting Albus with it.

He rolled his eyes in reply and shook his head, "yep, you're crazy, and I'll bet I'll catch it. Great, just great." Albus said to himself sitting on the sofa again.

"You can't catch mental disorders, Albus." Lorcan replied, sitting on his sofa and keeping silent.

They didn't speak for a couple seconds before Lorcan looked over towards the book cases.

"I heard it that time," he said and Albus groaned.

XxX Rose, Scorpius, Ron & Hermione XxX

"I think I can hear them," Scorpius said, quickening his pace down the row of shelves.

"Really?" Rose said, speeding up with him and hearing the quickening pace of her parents.

The book cases started to open up in front of them, into a circular area. There were two sofas in the middle of it, with pillows, blankets and all matter of junk around them.

And there was Albus and Lorcan, sitting on the two different sofas, looking rather unhappy.

"Lorcan," Rose shouted, breaking into a run and jumping onto him, hugging him with all her might. "Oh Lorcan, you idiot."

"Rose?" he said, blinking and looking at the other approaching figures. "Wait, how did you get in here?"

"Long story," she replied still squeezing him, "it took forever to find you."

Albus was looking at them both with a nervous look. He turned his eyes to his Uncle and Auntie who had begun to contact the other groups with a wave of their wands.

He saw Scorpius approach him and then sit next to him.

"You're an idiot, you are aware of that, aren't you?" Scorpius said in a casual voice.

Albus nodded solemnly, "I see that now."

Scorpius turned his head to look at his best friend before putting an arm around him, "it's good to see you mate. Gryffindor life is very hard without you."

Albus grinned and pushed Scorpius' arm away. "So now you're grateful."

He rolled his eyes and laughed, "you gave us a scare Albus, and you look a state."

"I'm starving, that's why. Lorcan had me eating chocolate 24/7," he replied with a sigh.

Lorcan turned from Rose and gave Albus a look, "you could have starved if you really wanted to."

That's when Rose and Albus looked at each other for the first time since Sunday. She had a shrewd and worried look on her face, while he looked dejected.

"I'm so sorry Rose, I didn't think, I didn't mean for it to get that far," he started before noticing his Uncle Ron giving him a look and he quietened down.

"What happened?" he asked sternly.

Rose rubbed her face before she answered but Ron's face changed yet again.

"What happened to your knuckles young lady?" he asked angrily, taking her hand in his and roughly turning it over, looking at her bruised hand.

He looked at Scorpius again, seeing the purple black eye.

"Did you hit him?" he asked, not hiding the smirk on his face.

Rose rolled her eyes and pursed her lips, "it was a misunderstanding."

"I highly doubt that, no one ever misunderstands you," Ron replied with a laugh, receiving a very angry look from his daughter.

"Stop laughing Ron," Hermione said with a sigh.

"Oh come on Hermione, you make it out like you haven't given a Malfoy a black eye before."

Rose looked at Scorpius who groaned and looked to the floor, while Hermione looked embarrassed as her husband continued to laugh.

Wow I nearly preformed an act no writer should ever do. I nearly forgot what I wrote! :O

This will get far more serious next time, so be prepared ;)