Towards McGonagall's Quarters

"Are you sure we're ready?" Al said doubtfully, his eyebrows knitting together. Somehow, Rose's ability to succumb to recklessness paralleled James' – and that was saying something. "I don't think that-"

He cast a glance towards Scorpius, who didn't seem to want to contest Rose – for some reason, the mental git actually thought that breaking into a kidnapped person's quarters when the kidnapper could be lurking round was a good idea! No chance with him backing me up, Al thought sullenly, sulking.

Well, his stomach certainly churned with the possibility of everything that could go wrong. Rose called him pessimistic; he called himself intelligent. Seriously, what intelligent person broke into a teacher's quarters? Stupid, stupid, stupid friends of his, always dragging him into danger.

Rose drew herself up at that moment, scowling at him. She brushed a stray curl from her face and stated, "Well, Al, if you want to back out now, it's your choice. Me, I'm going to look for Teddy outside the common room. See you."

And she ran off, disappearing into the portrait hole.

"Mate, think of it this way: if we get caught, I'm expelled. Longbottom will surely forgive you, you being Harry Potter's son and all, Al," Scorpius told him.

Al sighed. "Don't you even care if you're expelled?"

He shrugged. "I'm trying to bring some optimism into your life."

They were silent for a good moment. Scorpius tilted his head back and thought. It wasn't true, what he said about not caring; he did care about what his family thought. In fact, he probably cared too much, even. But he had disappointed his family his entire life; would an expelling from Hogwarts prove to his father that he wasn't fit to be an heir, especially to what had once been the throne of Malfoy?

Perhaps he would be disowned. Perhaps, Scorpius thought, he would have to move in with Great-Aunt Andromeda and Teddy. Perhaps Alcmene and Uncle Theodore and Aunt Daphne would take him in. Perhaps he'd have to become a commoner – no, strike that, he would be one.

No, Scorpius didn't enjoy being prejudiced against just because he was from a family of Death Eaters. No, he didn't particularly enjoy being picked on by stray Slytherins, being called a blood traitor. No, he didn't agree with any of the blood supremacy concepts his family had tried to implant in him.

But he would miss living a manor, if he were disowned. He would miss feeding the peacocks, walking in the gardens, exploring the attic. He would miss talking with the portraits and looking up books in Malfoy Manor's vast library. He would miss some of the house elves; he would miss his family, period.

Malfoys weren't taught to show love and care towards their children; Malfoys were taught to be warriors, essentially. They were taught to be strong and proud. Malfoy children were loved, yes, but Malfoy parents did not exactly tuck in their children and tell them that they loved them. It was something they expected you to know instinctively.

Rose and Al, they had been raised in a family where each child was loved warmly, told so. They couldn't understand how it was to be a Malfoy, a last vestige in the crumbling Rome that was the pureblood way; even Alcmene couldn't understand, because she had been raised in a totally different way than her parents.

The only option for ears was confiding in his sister; and Scorpius would rather die than confess his fears to Megara.

And so, Scorpius Malfoy stood alone; Malfoys were also loners, after all.

A tall, skinny boy walked lazily towards the portrait hole and Rose, his hair dishevelled and his small piggy eyes bloodshot. "D'you know the password, Rose?"

"Who are you?" was the girl's reply. "I've never seen you round before." Her eyes narrowed. "Wait, have you been sent by the Slytherins?"

There was a chuckle. "You haven't lost your touch, I see." The figure advanced, seeming to get skinnier and skinnier as he approached Rose. Up close, there was no denying his identity with his trademark turquoise hair and sweet smile.

"Teddy!" Rose cried, throwing her arms around him. "I thought you'd have asked Victoire before coming here!"

He grinned at her, ruffling her curls. "Nah. That'd be too Slytherin-like for my taste." Teddy looked at her, winking, "Say, you seem to have gotten taller since I last saw you."

She rolled her eyes. "That was barely three weeks ago, Teddy."

"Well, you kids grow like beanstalks, I'll say." He scratched his chin, cocking his head. "You know, that Muggle tale – 'Jack and the Beanstalk'?"

"I preferred 'The Warlock's Hairy Heart'," Rose told him, "but I rather think we should be getting back inside."

"That violent one with the man who ripped out his heart? Er, right," Teddy nodded, and waved to the Fat Lady, who stared down at him. "Hello, ma'am. I'm here to visit my little cousins, see."

"Hmph." The portrait seemed to blush. "Fine for this time, Teddy Lupin."

The two of them climbed into the portrait hole. "I think the Fat Lady fancies you, Teddy," Rose said smugly. "Victoire's going to have some competition."

He stifled a laugh, shoving her playfully. "Sadly for the Fat Lady, I think that portrait-live people relationships are frowned upon, Rosie."

Rose hopped down from the portrait hole and walked over to Al and Scorpius, who had begun a game of wizard chess. "Clean it up," she demanded, as she watched Scorpius' knight get brutally pushed off the chessboard. "Look who's here."

Al jumped once he realised his elder brother-of-sorts was here. "Oh! Hullo, Teddy – thought you'd arrive with Victoire and Alcmene."

"Victoire has a Charms Club meeting tonight," Rose reminded her cousin. "She'll be back in about half an hour with Alcmene."

Teddy turned to Scorpius and smiled slightly. "Hey, Scorp," he said warmly, nodding to him, "Megara told me about you being here."

The blond boy's head bobbed up and down, though he seemed quite sullen. "She would have," Scorpius said darkly. "She never seems to know how to stop gossiping, does she?"

"Well, she doesn't seem too angry about your Sorting," Teddy pointed out gently. While he and Scorpius' sister were often at odds, Teddy and Scorpius had always gotten along quite well. The boy reminded him of himself sometimes; lost, with so many expectations piled upon his back. There was only so much strain a human being could take without crumbling; and again, Scorpius was stronger than most boys his age Teddy knew. Perhaps it was being raised by a pack of Slytherins; perhaps it was being raised with the old ways that hardly any purebloods abided by anymore. Don't show weakness, Gran had told Teddy some of them when he was younger, do everything and anything to survive. A good pureblood girl always obeys her father; her responsibility is to bear her husband an heir. A good pureblood boy always obeys his father; his responsibility is to keep the line going, no matter what it takes. "Don't be too hard on yourself."

Scorpius gave a non-committal grunt and turned back to Al, who had stood watching their interaction with wide eyes. "Your turn," the blond boy muttered, his eyes on the chessboard.

"So, Rosie?" Teddy asked his younger cousin, causing her to start. "What'd we do while we wait for Vic?"

She didn't hesitate; Rose always had good ideas, that one. Opening a drawer from one of the coffee tables of the Gryffindor common room, she took out a much-abused game of Gobstones. "Want to play?"

"Sure." Teddy was used to waiting, after all. He hadn't passed 'Patience' in his Auror training with flying colours for nothing, you know.

Alcmene stared at the map again, and then at her cousin. "Are you sure you copied this right, Scorp? We aren't supposed to be in front of Longbottom's office!"

He flushed, though the other couldn't tell in the darkness of the night – being out past curfew was definitely unsettling, Alcmene thought. The castle wasn't supposed to be this quiet; it was supposed to be bustling with sounds and sights. "I did," Scorpius shot back defensively. He crossed his arms. "Maybe you read it wrong."

Teddy stepped in. "Calm down, Ally," he said soothingly. It wouldn't do good to have the girl go at Scorpius; he had seen Alcmene Nott yelling at Scorpius silly once, when they were both seven, during a routine Christmas visit. It had been, in other words, messy. The Slytherin didn't get angry very often, but when she did, you'd better watch out for yourself. "I'm sure Scorp copied it right. Look, why don't I lead?"

Alcmene shot him a look, but obeyed.

In the Gryffindor common room, Teddy and Victoire had decided to each lead an 'unit'; Victoire would lead Rose and Al with the help of the Marauders' Map, and Teddy would lead Scorpius and Alcmene with the hand-drawn map, because he had spent quite a bit of his school years exploring the castle. The first unit to arrive would discreetly wait at the entrance of McGonagall's quarters for the other unit, and they would enter and investigate together.

And, most probably, assume the consequences, Teddy thought, something that obviously remained unsaid. Every one of them knew that; and every one of them had reasons to break into McGonagall's quarters, besides the standard recklessness.

Presently, though, Teddy scoured the map, illuminating it with his wandlight. "We go left," he said to none of the first years in particular. "And no more rows. Rowing in the hallways isn't the best option after curfew – trust me, I know."

The two cousins looked at each other with distaste and nodded, scurrying in his wake. Somehow, it was definitely easier to just submit to the oldest tonight.

"You're finally here," Al said to the approaching unit in a whisper. If this kept going on, his voice was going to be permanently hoarse from constant whispering. "What took you so long?"

Teddy grinned sheepishly, lunging (or so it seemed) for Victoire. "Hey, Vic," he murmured huskily, taking her hand and snogging her face so hard Al felt nauseous. Did they really have to do that in front of them? "Missed you, baby."

"We were separated for hardly an hour, my horny little wolf pup," Victoire teased him, digging her fingers into his dishevelled hair and blushing. "Mm-"

The rest of her sentence was muffled by smooching noises.

Rose cleared her throat. Clearly, she was as uncomfortable as the rest of them; in fact, from the look on Teddy's face, it was quite plain that he wanted to rip off Victoire's clothes there and then, Al thought with a barely repressed shudder. Knowing that his quasi-brother and oldest cousin did it at their flat was one thing... But watching them – Merlin, was that gross!

"Er, I think we should get going," Rose said, shaking Al from his horrible visions. "You know, to open the door and investigate inside?"

Teddy jerked away from Victoire's grasp and blushed. "Oh. Yeah."

Victoire didn't look any less embarrassed. "Aye." Stepping forward, she pointed her wand at the wall. "Specialis Revelio," she murmured.

And like that, the wall began diverging to form a door.

Favourite lines? Favourite characters?

Since I have a little time today, I decided to post two chapters.

Now, after the end of this break-in adventure, I think I'll be alternating between Trio POV and Others POV... Next up is breaking into McGonagall's quarters (you: finally!), with a surprising revelation about Rose. Then, we'll have the conclusion of sorts of to this little adventure.

By the time, thanks to miria for reviewing!