AlbusScorpius

On Your Side

Chapter Four: Accidents Happen

A/N: I do not think I've ever been into a tea shop that's so…pretty and pink. And posh. Can't forget that.

Albus Potter was ecstatic when he woke up that morning bright eyed and bushy tailed. He was practically bouncing about as he got ready to head down to breakfast, passing his slightly grumpy roommate and friend Liam, who was used to the Potter clan sleeping in on a Saturday morning. The chirpy 'good morning, Finnigan!' was enough to throw anyone off their bearings at nine o'clock in the morning. Especially when you weren't exactly out of bed yet, while your friend was heading downstairs, dressed and washed.

Unfortunately for Albus, being awake that early just meant he had more time to waste before his first class, and less people to waste time with. When he got down to The Great Hall he found a rather large amount of students awake, though apparently being an early riser was not a quality half of Gryffindor possessed. His eyes locked with stormy ones that sat on the other side of the room to him, at the Professor's table at the front of the hall, on the end next to the Slytherin table. He grinned bashfully, and the Professor smiled slightly, nodding his head in greeting. It was enough to make Albus' heart dance.

He sat next to his cousin, who was looking rather entertained at his attitude, and started to pile food on his plate. Breakfast was the most important meal of the day, after all.

"You're up early," Lucy pointed out from his left, a knowing twinkle in her eyes. "And a lot more pleasant than you usually are on a Saturday morning."

"I'm excited," Albus said simply, taking a spoonful of the cereal in front of him. "Am I not allowed to be pleasant?"

The girl scoffed, grabbing another pastry. "You're allowed to be pleasant, yes. I'm certainly not complaining. I'm just making an observation, wondering why exactly you seem so…perky all of a sudden."

A pink tinge spread across freckled cheeks. "I'm eager to get my marks up in Transfiguration; you know how much I need a good grade."

"Yes, I'm surethat's all it is," Lucy drawled teasingly. "Good grades, that's what you're looking forward to, not spending an entire afternoon with our beloved new Professor, oh no, why would you be excited about that?" she turned to look at the man in question. "I certainly know what I would be looking forward to."

"Lucy, not so loudly," Albus hissed, glancing about, pleased not many people were close to them or paying attention. He couldn't help the smile that was on his face from her words however.

"Please, no one's listening in, no one smart enough anyway."

He relaxed slightly, glancing back at Professor Malfoy. "I suppose I am looking forward to an afternoon with our 'beloved new Professor', yes."

The brunette girl giggled childishly and whispered: "Can I start calling you my gay-bestie?" she asked quietly. "I've always wanted one of them!"

"In private, I guess," Albus replied while rolling his eyes. The girl giggled some more, bumping her shoulder against her cousins' before getting distracted by something else in the vast room, the scowl on her face giving it away slightly.

"Albus," forced a slightly sinister voice from behind him. The two sixth years spun to see a smaller, younger girl behind them, green and silver tie glinting ominously, brown eyes narrowed dangerously. "How has your first week been?"

"You're so nice to me, Lils. You'd think I'd done something to upset you with that look on your face."

The girl fumed silently, jaw clenching. "Don't tell me you've forgotten about your little white lie on the train now, brother."

She really wasn't very happy. "Maybe someone stole him before you got there in time," he offered.

"Maybe you lied to me so that you could get acquainted with the new teacher?" Lily snapped back, a small smile lingering on her face as she continued. "Don't think I haven't heard the rumours."

He paled slightly. "What rumours?"

Lily placed her hands on her hips, pleased to have the upper hand. "The rumours about your sexual preference, Alby. Or have you not heard them?"

Albus glanced at Lucy, whose brow was creased in a way that made him think she didn't know what his little sister was talking about either. "What are you talking about, Lils?"

The girl softened slightly. "Someone came up to me the other day and asked if you were really gay," she explained. "So I did some digging and discovered there's a couple of rumours going around about you and some guy."

"Which guy?"

She shrugged. "Didn't say, just that there was one," she crinkled her nose in disgust. "Or two, in some renditions of the rumour."

"What did you say?" Albus probed nervously. He did not want the whole school going round saying he was gay, true or not. He wasn't ready.

"I said that I'd heard nothing about any boy," Lily said haughtily, clearly upset at the idea people were spreading rumours about her family; ones she didn't start. "Told them if they wanted to go gossiping about my family's sex lives they could bloody well go bother someone who had one."

"I suppose prudish-virgin is better than gay-whore," he muttered, running a hand through his hair. "Thanks Lils."

"Whatever," she began to glare once again. "Just know I haven't forgiven you- or forgotten about it. You'll pay for tricking me like that."

"Even if I had been telling the truth, you would've made me pay," he pointed out. "There's no winning with you."

Brown eyes flashed with anger. "There is: you leave me the fuck alone in the first place!"

"Lily Potter, what a dirty mouth!" Lucy said in mock-horror. "You're a Potter not a potty!"

The Slytherin made a sarcastic noise before storming off, heading toward her table and friends. Albus couldn't help the sinking in his stomach as he watched her leave and allowed her words to fully sink in, feeling his good mood slowly evaporate.

"Hey, chin up cow-boy," the girl to his left said comfortingly, patting his back. "Rumours are just rumours. Remember that one that went round about Rosie being a vampire once?"

"Because she never saw the light of day and she always seemed super awake during astronomy?"

"And it turned out she just spent too much time hurled in a ball reading in her room and was awake because of muggle energy-drinks she'd smuggled into the school?"

The boy gave a dry smile. "And they didn't stop until her dorm mates dragged her into the sun because they were scared she was going to eat them?"

"Yeah, well, what can they do to prove you're gay, huh?" Lucy questioned. "Sit you in a room full of naked men? Please, it'll blow over once everyone's had they fun speculating over it. You'll just have to be careful for a little while," she grinned, nudging him slightly. "Which means no hanky-panky with the Professor during class."

He laughed despite himself. "Only you would translate lessons to improve my grades as hanky-panky."

"Let a girl dream," she said, before she pulled a slightly horrified face. "Though that particular dream isn't pleasant, seeing as you're my cousin."

"I can't imagine it's the best one you've had, no."

After a short while the third member of their usual breakfast party arrived, looking groggy and still half asleep as usual, giving a half-hearted attempt at questioning Albus before deciding he really was too tired for that shit, deciding a better use of his time would be to shovel food into his face while Lucy gossiped away. It was going to be a long morning.

After lunch Albus found himself being escorted down to the dungeons by Rose claiming to be heading in the direction of the library, though the closer they got the less likely that seemed to be true. They walked in silence for the entire journey, the girl tense and looking like she wanted to say something while Al ignored her, skipping along happily by her side. He found her reaction relatively amusing to an extent, knowing exactly why she was following him with such an annoyed look.

"Are you not going to tell me what a bad idea this is?" he eventually teased, tired of waiting for her to say the first word.

Rose gave him a calculating look before sighing in defeat, shrugging her shoulders and turning her gaze to the room they were fast approaching. "I suppose I can't really talk you out of it if it was at the headmistress' decision," she muttered reluctantly. She had a deep respect for the woman and would admit if Professor McGonagall thought it was a good idea, then she would stop complaining as much. "But I still think you should be careful. Whether my mother agreed or not, everyone else seems to agree the Malfoy's are rotten, not just my dad."

"Maybe they're all wrong," Albus suggested, half irritated half amused by his cousins' persistence. "It's great that you're looking out for me and all, but really; I'm fine. I'm sure there's nothing to be worried about, and you're just being paranoid, as usual."

"Perhaps."

They stopped outside of the classroom, Rose still not happy. Albus patted her on the shoulder lightly. "Wish me luck," he sang. "I'll be careful, I promise."

"Thanks," she smiled softly. "Good luck. I expect you'll need it."

He grinned at her last teasing comment, pleased that she seemed satisfied for the moment and knocked on the classroom door, opening it slowly and stepping inside as he heard his cousins' footsteps disappear down the hall. His grin didn't leave his face as he saw a blond man sat at his desk, scribbling away before his eyes flickered up to check who was at the door, beckoning the boy forward. Albus obliged, heading further into the classroom and coming to a halt in front of the Professors desk just as he snapped his book shut, placing his hands on the desk and threading his fingers in a way that made him look eerily similar to their headmistress.

"Albus," the man greeted, puzzling the boy in question for a moment as to why he wasn't being referred to as 'Mr Potter' anymore. "Glad to see you're on time."

"Of course!" a toothy smile spread across Albus' face. "I have nothing else to wait for on a Saturday, it'd be hard to be late."

The smirk that spread across the Professors' face made him think that was a bad thing to say. "I suppose you won't have any excuse for ever being late then, will you?" Scorpius moved the papers and books around on his desk, cursing lightly. "So, you failed spectacularly at Vanishing yesterday, so today will be a practical lesson, until you get this spell right successfully."

He ignored the compliment. "Okay, I can do that," he paused. "What happens if I don't do it successfully?"

"Then you'll be here a very long while, Mr Potter."

"Aha."

The man stood, moving round his desk with a shiny object in his hand, placing it on one of the desks behind him and stepping back, gesturing to the item. Albus took in the appearance of a silver spoon, raising a brow and glancing to the Professor.

"It's not hard," the man said, raising his brows. "It's easier than what I had you doing yesterday."

"Yesterday you had us Vanishing our desks."

"And today you will be gradually working your way up to a desk," the man said with a small smile. "Assuming you manage to successfully Vanish a spoon," he produced another object out of seemingly nowhere and put it on the desk next to the spoon. "And a goblet," Albus' brow creased slightly. "And a large bowl," Scorpius turned his attention back to his student. "Out of all four, which will be the hardest?"

The boy licked his lips, glancing at the objects in front of him and the desks. "The desks have metal legs."

"They do, hollow metal legs."

"But the other objects are all made from a single material, so the desk would be harder because it's technically more than one object," he sucked in a breath. "And it's bigger."

"Yes, bigger objects are harder to Vanish, but the fact that it's made out of more than one material will take precedence over being bigger. Why not start with the spoon then?" Scorpius' face faltered slightly and he placed a hand on Albus' back, pushing the boy to stand on the other side of the desks. "And not face the door."

"Why?" Albus choked out, far too busy on the fact that the long, pale fingers felt so nice against his back. He felt his face heating up slightly and glanced to the door, seeing two familiar faces in the window, one looking incredibly curious and one looking mildly bored. "Oh, my cousins."

"Are very nosy, yes," the blond man finished, turning his student to face the task at hand. "And might distract you. Please, begin."

After what seemed like forever of 'less flick, more swish' and 'enunciate, Albus, clearly' the spoon disappeared, a bit slowly, but Vanished nonetheless. Albus smiled a bright grin, turning to the Professor who nodded in approval, gesturing towards the goblet on the next table, watching carefully as the dark haired male continued to try the spell again.

"Don't expect it to be difficult," the man said. "If you think it, it will be so. It's just a bigger spoon; the same thing, but in need of a little bit more power. I know you're not a weak wizard."

"Little bit more power," Albus nodded. "I can do that."

Vanishing the goblet was much more successful and quicker than the spoon, boosting the boy's confidence slightly. The bowl followed, and Albus was finally faced with the desk, shifting from foot to foot nervously. Scorpius patted him on the back, making him fluster once again as the Professor lowered to talk quieter, despite them being the only two in the room.

"You need to focus on the whole object," he said. "Picture it in your mind, more force again. It's vital that you pronounce the spell flawlessly," the grey eyes hardened. "Flawlessly."

"Flawlessly," Albus repeated. "Got it."

"Flawlessly."

"Have I not been doing it right?" the dark haired boy asked, suddenly worried about the emphasis on the word.

The man shook his head. "You've been doing it well; I'm just making sure you know. Nothing bad will happen if you get it wrong."

He poised his wand, training his green eyes on the desk, imagining its every detail, opening his mouth and repeating the spell over and over in his head. As he spoke he saw something glinting out the corner of his eye and glanced up, frowning as he saw a light dancing on Professor Malfoy's desk, trying to figure out what it was. It looked like it had been coming from the door and-!

"Albus, concentrate!"

"What?"

He snapped his head to face his teacher's just in time to see the stormy grey eyes widen in horror, the mouth falling open in shock pulling a look that would be almost comical on the man's usually schooled face if it wasn't for the fact that when he followed Scorpius' gaze to see what he was looking at he was met with the sight of an empty space where there used to be a desk. Unfortunately it was not the desk he was supposed to be Vanishing. It was the desk at the very front of the classroom, an assortment of papers and parchment flittering down to the floor, creating a rather large and frightening mess.

"You just Vanished my desk," the blond man stated, finally finding his voice.

"Oops?"

The man moved closer, shuffling through the papers and paling slightly. "You just vanished my desk and everything in it."

"I-I didn't mean to," Albus stuttered. "I-I was aiming for the desk, but-but there was something on your desk and I had to look up and see what it was and-!"

"At least you managed to cast the charm successfully."

Albus covered his mouth, feeling his heart beating in the back of his head. "I'm so, so, so sorry!"

"I think we might have to find a different room," the man said with a frown. "Without my things in it."

"You can get it back, can't you? It wasn't too important?"

Scorpius turned to scowl at his student. "I can't, no. Only the person who Vanished an object would be able to successfully conjure it back," he gave the boy a pointed look. "And I highly doubt you're at that stage yet."

"This isn't," Albus swallowed a lump in his throat. "We're still going to have extra classes, right?"

"That depends if I can find a suitable place to relocate them," the blond haired man said. "Class dismissed, return to your usual routine, I have to decide what's gone and what's still here."

Sensing in the man's words that he was not wanting explanation or apologies, Albus nodded slowly and left the room in a hurry, shooting down the corridor to find his cousins, who usually occupied the library. He frowned as he saw another movement out the corner of his eyes, seeing a small light flickering against the wall, coming to an abrupt halt and looking round to try find where the light was coming from, eyes widening at what he saw behind him.

"Lily?"

She smirked; pocketing the small mirror her Aunt Fleur had given her for her birthday and standing straight, placing her hands on her hips and tossing her auburn hair over her shoulder. "Albus."

He pointed down the hall where he'd just come from. "Did you do that?"

"Do what?" Lily questioned, smirk playing on her lips. "I didn't stay around to see what happened."

"You did!" he glared fiercely, stepping forward with his fist clenched.

She merely laughed and danced out of his reach. "Now, now, what is it with you Gryffindor boys and always reacting with your fists?" she mocked. "I was merely trying to help you understand what goes on when you mess with me."

"Slytherin Angel my arse," he muttered, referring to the popular nickname that had come into being when Lily was still an innocent little first year. "You've gotten me into trouble! You have to go tell him it was your fault."

"Concentration is key to Transfiguration," Lily sang happily. "That's why they rhyme!"

"I'm totally writing to mum about this."

A devilish grin spread across the spotted cheeks. "I'm totally telling mum you're gay for the Transfigurations Professor."

"I am not!"

"Doesn't mean I can't say it!"

Albus growled as he watched his sister dance off happily, clearly incredibly pleased with her days work. He stormed off in the other direction, mind back set on finding his cousins and having a good whine. Therefore he was incredibly pleased to find both of his cousins sitting at a table working on their Herbology homework, cursing their family friend and head of house for starting on the homework already. Then again, the seventh years were already swamped.

Lucy brightened up considerably to see her gay-bestie however. "Hey! How did your date go?"

He was far too tired to argue with her about that again and simply said: "I Vanished his desk."

She burst into giggles and Rose raised a brow. "I would've thought you'd be happy about successfully Vanishing his desk," she said. "Or was that not in the lesson plan."

"It was Lily," he started. "She came and shined a light in the room to distract me while I was trying to Vanish the small desk and then I cast the spell on his desk by accident, and now he has to figure out what I Vanished with the desk and ugh!" he let his forehead crash on the table. "I'm useless!"

"Casting a successful Vanishment spell on a large desk and its contents is no easy feat," Rose said with admiration in her voice. "I'm impressed that you managed it."

Lucy managed to calm herself down for a few moments to have her say. "At least you're learning something!"

"Honestly Lucy, it's not that funny," Rose scolded, placing a hand on Albus' arm, smiling sympathetically. "I'm sure he's very impressed with you."

"I thought you weren't encouraging Alby's little crush?"

"I'm not," she glared slightly. "I'm trying to make him feel better. And I'm sure he is impressed, as Al's teacher."

Albus looked up at the lone Ravenclaw. "How do I get it back?"

She raised a brow, no longer in her comforting-zone. "That's a joke, right?"

"Try to make him feel better, Rosie, not worse," Lucy teased, fanning her face with a large grin on her face, finally having stopped the giggles that could easily be mistaken for cackles. "You just undo the spell, right?"

"You have to do a complicated conjuring spell; it's not that simple," Rose explained. "It would take a lot more practice than a few tries at Vanishing a spoon, you're talking about bringing back a desk and all its contents, and you don't even know what's in it."

"I could ask him," Albus suggested. "Maybe if I knew what was in it I could un-Vanish it."

"It wouldn't matter if you didn't have the image of them," she scrunched her nose up in thought, pouting slightly. It was a face they had dubbed her homework-face, as she always seemed to wear it while working. "It couldn't hurt though. And while I can't imagine you'll successfully perform the spell we can always try I suppose."

Lucy grinned and winked. "There's hope for you yet, lover boy."

"I should've never told you I was gay."

She giggled again and put a finger to her lips. "Careful, who knows who could overhear, what with those rumours going around?"

Rose scoffed, turning back to her parchment. "From what Jenny tells me Lily has successfully scared off any rumours about her brother's sexuality."

"Lily what?"

The girl raised a brow at Albus. "Lily's been threatening people about spreading rumours about you. She recruited Goyle and Nott too I believe, had them flanking her while she went around locating the source of the horrible rumours," a pleased smirk threatened to spread across Rose's lips. "Have you not seen Jeremy's face?"

"I've been kind of avoiding him, for obvious reasons," Albus muttered with a frown. "And how do you know all this?"

"I have my informants," the girl said mysteriously. "And I asked Jenny why her poor housemate had a black eye."

Lucy did cackle this time, though it was mockingly. "It's the most beautiful shiner I've ever seen!"

"You knew too?"

"I found out today, he was lingering around the library earlier. You should've seen the look Rose shot him, had him running half a mile," she sighed wistfully. "Oh, if only you could have seen it."

Albus seemed slightly reluctant to admit he owed his little sister one, especially after her latest stunt. "She's still a bitch."

"I'd like to point out she probably takes pride in this fact," Rose said, head still down as she scribbled. "Now, you best go see what was in that desk so that I can help you with the spell before bed."

The Gryffindor boy was out his seat in a matter of seconds.

The ground was a mess. There were a couple of chairs close to where the desk used to be knocked over, and Albus swore that was broken glass on the floor by Professor Malfoy's foot. Whatever had been in that desk, it had been important. He knocked on the door hesitantly after a few moments of not having his presence acknowledged and cringed as he saw the man's shoulders tense, his head down as he rested her hands on a table at the front of the classroom by the window. He didn't look around. He didn't even speak.

"Pro-Professor Malfoy," Albus stammered, stepping into the room slightly. "May I," he swallowed a lump in his throat. "May I come in?"

There was a moment where Albus thought his teacher was going to turn around and throw something at him. There was only stillness, no noise, no sign of anything. After what seemed like forever the shoulders slumped and Scorpius turned around, looking tired and upset. He nodded silently, and Albus walked slightly further into the classroom. Not too far, close enough that if the man changed his mind and decided to lunge for him he could escape before his eyes were ripped out.

"What was in the desk?" he asked timidly, not wanting to upset the man further. He had a feeling if he started with his plan Professor Malfoy would shoot it down. "I mean, it was clearly-?"

"My grandmother's locket," was the monotone reply. It took a moment for Albus to realise that the man had told him. "I put it in my desk for safekeeping."

It certainly wasn't the answer he was expecting. "A locket?"

"It was some sort of family heirloom," he said with a shrug of his shoulders. A pale hand ran through his hair. "My grandfather gave it to me when I decided to come work here, for sentimental purposes."

"Your grandmother," Albus started. "She's not around anymore, is she?"

The response was a meek shake of his head.

"I'll get it back," the green eyed boy swore, filled with a new determination. "I promise."

"Albus, the spell for conjuring something you Vanish is very complicated, it took me a while to get right, you have more important things to focus on right now," the man folded his arms across his chest. "Like how you got so distracted you vanished an entire desk."

"Not that it isn't impressive?"

Grey eyes rolled. "Don't get off topic, Mr Potter."

He thought back to what Rose had told him about his sister, and imagined Jeremy being punched in the face by Nott, because he didn't like Goyle much. If it had been when he first found out it was his sisters fault, he wouldn't have needed to hesitate about his answer. "I'm easily distracted. My cousin thinks that's why I fail at Transiguration so much. I thought I saw something, but there wasn't anything there."

Scorpius seemed satisfied with this answer however and nodded in understanding. "I was the same in my early years," he admitted. "I struggled a lot with Transfiguration, and Potions. They both seemed to need attention that I wasn't willing to give," he explained. "But Professor McGonagall taught me to clear my mind of distractions, and ignore the things that were taking my focus away from my task at hand," he turned back to look out the window before shutting his eyes. "They're very simple calming exercises."

"Can you teach them to me?"

Grey eyes locked with green in a moment that had Albus' breath catch in his throat.

"Of course," Scorpius said, moving towards Albus and gesturing the boy to come closer. He did. "Give me your hand."

Albus put his hand forward hesitantly.

"Now," a pale hand took his, facing the palm up as he took something from his pocket, placing it in Albus' hand and wrapping the boy's fingers round it. "Focus on the ball in your hand. It's a simple red marble, nothing fancy."

He was too busy focusing on how soft Scorpius' hands were however. How they felt against his own hand, wrapped round it and keeping it safe. The warmth of the man's hands were a stark contrast to the cold marble now sat in the centre of his fist.

"Ignore everything else about your day. Forget about the incident earlier, forget about wake up early on a Saturday, forget about however you may have felt about the first week back, just focus solely on the marble."

Albus let out a deep breath, his eyes fluttering shut as he listened to the soft voice of his Professor. It was a voice he never heard from the man in class, his teaching voice was much more fierce and sharp. He felt like he could get lost in this voice.

"Relax your shoulders, yes, like that, and your neck and back. Let all the tension flow into the marble and out of you. Focus on the marble."

And Albus found himself getting lost in focusing on warm hands as he dispelled the tension into the now warm marble, not noticing as his entire body began to relax, smiling softly and breathing steadily. He didn't notice as an entire minute passed, jumping out of his skin as the man opposite him spoke again.

"Albus, you can open your eyes now."

Green eyes snapped open, followed by colour flooding his cheeks. "I'm sorry; I got kind of lost there."

"Its fine," Scorpius smiled. "You seemed to be concentrating pretty hard."

"I was."

"That's the idea," the blond man withdrew his hands, nodding in approval. "Practice it with the marble a few times; try to train your concentration a little bit."

Albus nodded with a thankful smile, drawing back his own hands, trying to ignore the mild disappointment he felt. "I will. Thank you, Professor Malfoy."

"Not a problem, Mr Potter. Please, if you don't mind, I have to clean up this mess."

The boy flustered, nodding and gesturing towards the door. "I'll leave you to it then," and as the blond man nodded his thanks Albus left, renewed determination to complete his task at hand.

He raced back down the halls, leaping up the staircases two steps at a time, almost running over a couple of first years and knocking into a few people on his way, large grin on his face as he burst through the library doors, earning a few hushes which he ignored. Rose and Lucy looked up from the table he'd left them at, both amused for once.

"A locket!" he gasped as he reached the table, not sitting down. "He said there was a locket in the desk."

"How manly," Lucy said dryly.

Rose sighed. "Well, I suppose that's the best I can hope for, though I was hoping you would come back with more than just 'a locket'."

"It's his grandma's locket."

She raised a brow. "Wonderful, we know who it used to belong to. Pray tell, do you know what it looks like?"

"Like an old lady's locket?"

The Ravenclaw girl sighed but stood, packing her things away and gesturing for Lucy to do the same. "Alright, let's go find an empty classroom. I don't think this is the best place to practice conjuring charms," she muttered. With a cheer of excitement from Albus and a roar of laughter from Lucy, Rose practically shoved them out of the library before the librarian had a chance to kick them out.

He toyed with the marble in his left hand, staring up at the ceiling as he thought of his failure earlier that day with Rose. It was no surprise that he was unsuccessful, but that didn't mean he still wasn't disappointed. He sighed, shutting his eyes and enjoying the feeling of the cool marble in his hand. He had left it in his robes while practicing with Rose; he didn't want to lose it nor did he want Lucy's questions and teasing. It would only disrupt his concentration. But as he twiddled it in his fingers and started to breathe calmly, he began to repeat the spell, attempting to perfect the pronunciation, eventually pulling his wand out his pocket and raising it in the air, mimicking the action Rose had gone through with him.

As he felt a familiar release of magic, his eyes slowly opened, looking up at the top of his drapes. His eyes widened and he felt a smile flicker across his face for a moment in pride as he saw a large object hovering above him. The smile soon vanished as he realised the object wasn't hovering and was falling rather quickly towards him.

"Merlin fuck!"

"Al? What's going- the hell is a desk doing here?"

Liam looked down at his friend, who was groaning in pain underneath a large professor's desk, his hands pushing against it and his green eyes screwed up in pain. As the other boys in the dorm came to see what the large crash and shouts of pain were, Liam managed to gather enough of his sleep addled brain together to try encourage the others to help him move the desk, one of the weaker boys running to fetch their head of house as they tried to decide whether or not they should take Albus to the medical wing, looking up as Professor Longbottom entered with a red face, wrapped in his dressing gown.

"What happened?" he demanded as Liam and another boy began to lift him off the bed.

"I dunno," Liam said, nodding towards the desk. "I woke up to the sound of that crashing down."

"Professor…Malfoy," Albus managed to choke out.

Professor Longbottom raised his brows in surprise, glancing between Albus and the desk. He had heard of the little accident during the private lesson that the new teacher had given his friend's son, and soon put the pieces together. "Mr Finnigan, Mr Corner, if you could escort Mr Potter to the infirmary please, I must send a message Professor Malfoy," he muttered, turning to the portrait at the end of the room.

Scorpius ran down the halls, entirely confused about the message he was given. He was to believe that his worst student who had great difficulty performing a simple Vanishment spell had conjured back his desk in the middle of the night. It was a ludicrous idea, and when he got to the Gryffindor dorms and saw Neville he was going to make sure the man knew he thought it was a ludicrous idea. There was no way the boy could have done such a thing.

But he slowed down as he saw three boys approach him, two supporting the one in the middle, who looked to be in immense pain. Green eyes looked up and sparkled with pride, a small smile adorning his face.

"Professor-Malfoy," he stuttered. "I-I did it. Your desk."

The man whipped out his wand and flicked it with a mutter, levitating the younger male up and out of the grasp of his friends, willing him onto his back. "If you boys could return to your dorms and tell Mr Longbottom I will be late to see him please, thank you."

He spun on his heel, leaving no room for arguments.

Albus seemed to have passed out in front of him as he made the journey to the medical wing, feeling nerves rise as he tried to imagine what had happened. He assumed the boy had cast the spell and the desk had fallen onto him, but surely he wasn't so stupid as to cast the spell while he was lying down in such a manner. Then again, if Professor Malfoy thought he was unable to perform the spell, perhaps the boy agreed.

He pushed the doors of the medical wing open and guided the boy in, placing him on the bed and looking around. The old nurse or her apprentice should be about somewhere, surely. Checking the boy was still breathing properly he moved to leave, stopping short as something gripped his robes.

"Professor," the dark haired boy on the bed choked. Grey eyes turned to face green, a fine brow rising curiously. "I-I got it."

"What are you talking about Albus?" Scorpius questioned, brows coming together in a frown.

He gasped as he caught a flash of silver in the boy's hand, which was slowly lifting as if to offer him what was in the middle of the clenched fist.

"Your locket."

Pale hands outstretched, shaking slightly as a circular object fell into his palm, followed by a delicate chain.

"I did it," the boy said with a happy smile. "I got your desk back."

"So I heard," Scorpius muttered, moving to stand beside the boy, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Albus coughed sharply. "I've been worse."

"I'll go get Madam Pomfrey to make sure you didn't injure yourself too much," he clicked his tongue, scowling lightly. "Honestly Mr Potter, what was going through your head?"

"I wanted to get your locket back."

The blond man couldn't help the pink that touched his face, slightly lost for words. He patted the boy's shoulder, nodding and turning away, heading for the room that joint onto the infirmary, knowing that was where the old mediwitch slept. He held the locket up to examine it, putting the tip of his wand to the clasp and muttering the password. It snapped open in his palm.

Sat inside was a dark seed, innocently covering the picture of his grandmother, safe and sound where he kept it.

His grandfather would no longer have reason to doubt him.

OH MY GOD that took so long D: srsly I think I might die from the amount of effort I put into this chapter. If you don't like it I hope you curl into a ball and DIE. I joke I don't really that would totally suck I'm sorry.

Hope you enjoyed it, thanks for all the alerts and faves as always!

Thanks,

Kivea R.

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"I trust things are well?"

"Of course, Grandfather."

"Good. The workload will not impede on your progress?"

"No it will not, Grandfather."