Chapter Two

A few days later, Albus and Scorpius were outside enjoying one of the final summery evenings of the year, down by the Black Lake. They'd chosen a spot where they were hidden from the rest of the school that was ranged across the lawns, beneath a large willow tree, and were passing a spliff between them as they watched the sunset over the water.

'This isn't too bad,' said Scorpus, breathing out a long stream of smoke. 'It was definitely a good idea to do this, and not that composition that Professor Glotten set.'

'Yeah,' said Albus, his eyes half-closed as he watched the sun hang lower and lower in the sky. 'Do you think we're getting higher or the sun's getting lower?

'What?'

He waved a hand vaguely at the sky. 'The sunset.'

'Oh.' Scorpius laughed huskily. 'I'm definitely getting higher, though.' Albus laughed with him, taking the spliff.

A sudden commotion from behind made them both look around, and they saw Rose Weasley shoving the long hanging branches aside to step under the shelter of the tree. She did not look happy at all; in fact, she was glaring at them both. It didn't help her expression just made them both giggle more.

'Are you two smoking weed?' she asked incredulously.

Albus flicked the butt of the spliff into the lake. 'Us? No! Why'd you think that?'

She rolled her eyes. 'I knew it. You can hide it from our parents, Albus, but not from me.'

He sighed and threw an arm over his eyes. 'Whatever, Rose. What do you want?'

'I don't want anything with you. I want him,' she said, indicating to Scorpius, who was still lounging in the grass. He looked around at her, his eyebrows raised.

'I always suspected you wanted this hot body, Rose, but surely you could've waited until we had some privacy,' he said, smiling crookedly at her. 'Unless, of course, that excites you…'

'Oh shut up,' she groaned. 'We're meant to be doing Prefect duties together. Mentoring the Third Years, remember?'

'Fuck.'

'Indeed. Patet capitis!'

'Fucking hell, Weasley! That hurt!' yelled Scorpius, grabbing his skull. She smirked.

'You shouldn't be taking drugs on the school lawn, then. Come on, let's go talk to some kids about their feelings. Oh, and Albus, Professor Flint wants to speak to you, so I guess you'd better stop being high as well. Patet capitis!'

Scorpius swore under his breath again, but got up and followed her out, leaving Albus on the ground threatening to curse Rose. The spell had cleared his head, and he was already missing how relaxed and content he'd felt two minutes ago. Rose didn't notice him glare at her, however, as she set off into a spiel about what their duties as mentors were.

'So, according to Professor Longbottom, we just have to chat with them, check they're feeling alright, and monitor how they're doing in their schoolwork. Anyone who's struggling will get assigned more regular sessions with us, and if there's anything we can't sort ourselves we have to pass them on to teachers.'

'How often do we have to do this?' sighed Scorpius.

'Twice a week, but we can do tutoring outside of that, if we want to.'

'Joy. And how many snotty little kids do we get?'

She gave him a disapproving look. 'Calling them that isn't a good start, Scorpius.'

'Oh, whoops! How many?'

'I don't know how many, just that it's a mixture from all four Houses.'

Scorpius quickly found that mentoring the Third Years was almost as fun as he'd imagined it to be. Most of the kids wanted to be there even less than him, and gave monosyllabic answers until he'd finished the list of questions he was meant to ask before legging it out the door. Rose, across the room, seemed to be getting much chattier with her group of kids. Scorpius figured that just meant he'd finish much before her, which was a silver lining.

Only a few of the kids really stuck in his mind. One was a Ravenclaw girl called Harriet who didn't have any academic or social issues but insisted on telling him all about her father's research on potions that fixed hair loss. A Hufflepuff boy sat down and immediately sneezed all over the desk. And then there was a Slytherin boy called Benedict Kirkby, who'd been referred for mentoring because, according to the notes Flint had passed on to Scorpius, he had not handed in any homework for ten weeks in a row the year before, and was not looking to improve. In red beside the boy's name, Flint had scrawled in red ink: "Possible Durmstrang transfer".

He expected a stroppy, overgrown boy with too many spots and too little vocabulary, the usual thuggish sort that still plagued Slytherin House. Instead he found a fairly small, skinny boy with glasses and a mop of brown hair, who grinned at Scorpius when he sat down. He recognised the boy - he could usually be found regaling a group in the Common Room with some tall story.

'Hullo, Kirkby,' he said in a resigned voice. It had been a long two hours, and Kirkby was about as pliable as an iron poker when it came to making him do things he didn't want to do. Scorpius had spent what felt like most of his Prefect duties the year before chasing the boy back into the Common Room when he was out in the castle after curfew.

'You look rubbish, Malfoy,' said Kirkby, casually picking at a gap between his crooked front teeth.

'And you're no cherub.'

'Never said I was. So, give me the lecture, then. Let's get it over with.'

Scorpius raised his eyebrows. 'You're not meant to want to be lectured.'

'I don't want to be lectured. I want to finish the session and get back outside, a bunch of us are playing catch with a Quodpot ball.'

'A Quodpot ball? So it…'

'Explodes, yes.'

Scorpius sighed again. He'd sighed so much in the last two hours that he worried his lungs were becoming chronically deprived of oxygen. 'You should've been sorted into Gryffindor, not Slytherin.'

'It is mostly Gryffindors that I'm playing with. But I see it as ambition, not stupidity, that I think I can win the game without it exploding on me. So what do you want to say to me.'

'Well, your academic record is abysmal. Very little homework completed, none of it handed in on time, and what you do do is shoddy at best. Any reason for it?'

Kirkby shrugged. 'I'm an idiot?'

'Yeah, but you're not. Flint says your classwork is stellar, you just don't do anything outside of class.'

'So? Why do you care?'

Scorpius stared at him. 'To be honest, I don't. But Flint's written here that you'll be lined up for a transfer to Durmstrang if you don't improve. And if that happens when I'm meant to be mentoring you, it'll look bad on me, so Flint will think less of me, and I need a good reference from him, as much as I try not to care about that stuff. So here's what's going to happen. You're going to come to every one of these mentoring sessions, I'm going to go through your schoolwork and make sure you've done it and that it's up to standard.'

'I won't turn up,' said Kirkby immediately. 'Sorry.'

'You've forgotten I'm a Prefect. I'll just put you in detention, and we can do it then.'

'You seem to be putting a lot of effort into my well-being,' said Kirkby, raising his eyebrows and giving him a calculating look from behind the large frames of his glasses. 'Do you actually care?'

'No,' repeated Scorpius, leaning across the desk. 'But if Flint agrees to let me just tutor you, I don't have to bother with any of your boring, vapid classmates. Comprende, mi amigo?'

There was a pause, and then Kirkby grinned. 'Alright. Deal. I'm going to go, now.' And before Scorpius could answer, he'd jumped up and skipped out the room. As his robes whipped out of sight, Scorpius leant back in his chair and yawned, stretching.

'Can we call it a day?' he called across the room to Rose. She'd just finished talking to a small girl in plaits who seemed to have walked in, sat down, and instantly burst into tears. The girl shuffled out, still looking rather red. Scorpius was surprised to see how tired Rose was as well. She nodded. 'Great. See you, Ginger. Oh by the way, before I go, I've seen the team your cousin is putting together. Pretty weak, I must say. Except you - you're still dynamite, and seeing that arse on a broomstick is an added positive.'

She glared at him, which only made him smirk wider. 'Of course you'd say that, Malfoy, seeing as you're a complete arse yourself!'

'Not great banter, Weasley. Fitting, as you're in the Gryffindor Team. You must feel right at home amongst them. Especially that Goodwin.'

She stood up and swung her schoolbag onto her shoulder, with such force that it swung round and would've smacked him in the middle if he hadn't jumped out the way. Instead, it caught on a desk and the seam split open. Books and parchment flew out in all directions. An ink bottle rolled across the desktop and fell, Scorpius catching it with a spell an inch from the floor.

Swearing under her breath, Rose waved her wand so that the school things flew back into her arms, and then repaired the schoolbag. Scorpius couldn't help his smile.

'Better keep a hold on that temper, Weasley. It won't lead to anything good,' he said.

'Oh fuck off, Malfoy!' she snapped.

'Gladly.' He slung his own schoolbag over his shoulder and with a quick bow, strolled out the room. He was still chuckling at the look on her face when he reached the Common Room.

He retrieved Albus from his usual spot in the Slytherin Library - a particularly well-cushioned alcove - and dragged him to a small sitting room that the Sixth Year had commandeered for their own. There was usually a good crowd of classmates hanging out in the evenings, and Scorpius insisted that Albus had to spend time there as part of his effort to be sociable.

'I don't like big groups,' muttered Albus mulishly.

'Tough, you're going to have to. I don't see why you're complaining so much, the Parlour Room's great, especially since Langwith installed a whisky cabinet disguised as a bookcase. Even you can't want books over whisky.'

'Guess not,' said Albus, shrugging.

When they arrived, there was a lively debate going on about goblin rights, which was a heated issue for the Ministry of Magic at that time. Ever since House Elves had been awarded a series of civil rights, mostly due to the Minister for Magic and Albus' aunt, Hermione Granger, the goblin community had been demanding the end to a series of restrictions placed on them.

'They can't have wands,' Langwith was saying. 'That is unequivocal. Wands are for wizards.'

'But we'll never have good relations with them if we don't allow them to. Most goblins see it as an insult, as if they can't be trusted,' retorted Vittoria Zabini, Leo Zabini's twin sister.

'Well they can't be trusted.'

'What do you think, Albus?' said one of the girls, quite suddenly. It was Zelda St John, the girl who'd been with Adelaide outside the Charms classroom. She was sat with Adelaide again, the two of them lounging across a sofa together. Adelaide's long legs were on Zelda's lap, and Albus was momentarily distracted, until he realised everyone was staring at him. He reddened, and hoped that they all just thought he'd been thinking quite hard.

'Me?'

'Yes. You're quite clever about these things, and your family is so involved,' said Zelda, smiling at him.

'Oh. Right. I … I've always thought we restrict them too much. It's a bit unfair. But giving them wands would be too much, too fast.'

Everyone nodded, and Albus focussed very hard on his whisky tumbler. He didn't like the fact that, of everyone, Adelaide hadn't been looking his way. She didn't even seem to be listening to the conversation; her eyes seemed to be miles away, staring off into the distance at the flickering shadows on the opposite wall.

The group started to thin out soon after, as the clock chimed eleven, and Albus used this an excuse to leave himself. He'd done enough socialising for one day, he decided. He expected Scorpius to protest when he stood up, but to his surprise he found that it was Zelda who spoke:

'You're leaving?' she called, her eyes widening at him. He nodded. 'Don't you want to sit with us for a bit longer?'

'No. I'm going to bed,' he said, shrugging. He wondered why her face fell at his words.

'Oh. I guess we'll see you tomorrow then, Albus.'

'Right.'

He left the room, and found that Scorpius was following him. He caught up to Albus at the spiral staircase up to their dormitory, and slapped him on the back of the head. 'Clot!'

'What was that for?' protested Albus, spinning round. He rubbed the back of his head, frowning at Scorpius.

'You oblivious idiot. Zelda was totally coming onto you. And no offence, you're a great guy, but she's fit enough to do better,' said Scorpius, entirely blunt. Albus stared at him, his hand still on the back of his head.

'She was?'

'Yes! And you're so wound up over Adelaide bloody Gray that you didn't notice. For Merlin's sake, Albus, Gray is in a relationship and will not be coming your way anytime soon. Sure, you like her a lot, but for the moment just try and enjoy yourself, instead of wasting your time pining after her. Play the field a bit.'

'You really think so?' asked Albus, starting up the spiral staircase.

'Of course I do.'

'So you think Zelda likes me?'

'No. Sorry, but she was just flirting to see how you'd react. And as you reacted with all the social skills of a silverback gorilla, and she has some self-respect, she's probably already moved on. But I have heard a rumour that Katie Blossom of Gryffindor is into you.'

'Katie Blossom? As in Rose's best friend?'

'The very same.'

He thought for a while. It was true that he was going nowhere with Adelaide. And Katie was quite pretty, in the way that a pin-up girl is, with her curvy figure and head of blonde curls. 'Alright, I'll give it a go. I think my side of the bet is taking more effort, you know.'

'Are you kidding? You have to party and hang out with pretty girls, I have to do Transfiguration and Herbology. Sound fair?'

'I'm not hitting you, though. That slap hurt.'

'Oh, grow up.'

The next day was a Saturday, the first one of the term. Quidditch trials were scheduled over the weekend, and Gryffindor had theirs on Saturday afternoon. This was quite a spectator sport, as the Gryffindors were so famed for being daring and determined that their tryouts were always packed with absolutely talentless no-hopers. Scorpius and Albus decided to take their homework to the stands, where it was quickly forgotten in favour of jeering and yelling at the hopefuls. They joined a fairly large group of classmates.

'Choose him! We want him on the team!' the crowd of Slytherins yelled at one particularly abysmal boy who missed every single time he threw the Quaffle at the goal and rounded it off by crashing into the ground.

Albus didn't join much of the shouting, preferring to just sit and enjoy the sight of his older brother getting increasingly angry and frustrated by them. Rose and Lily, his sister, weren't much better. By the time the tryouts finished, Rose and Lily were so red in the face, it clashed with their fiery hair. The two of them were helping James with tryouts; Rose was a Chaser on the team, and Lily, to everyone's surprise, was a star Beater. James had always taken the position of Seeker, of course.

'Gryffindors always need to be brought down a peg or two,' he said airily to Scorpius, when his friend voiced a worry that they'd gone too far. One Second Year Gryffindor had left the pitch in angry tears. 'It's good for them.'

'I'd have thought you'd feel bad about winding up your siblings like that,' replied Scorpius, as they left the stands.

'And there speaks someone who does not have siblings,' said Albus.

Their conversation was interrupted just then by a loud commotion below them. They hurried down the last flight of stairs and found several students in the midst of a fierce duel. In unison, they both pulled out their wands and cast Shield Charms between the students, sending them all flying backwards onto the grass. To his right, Albus saw three Slytherin Fourth Years, sprawled on the ground looking much the worse for wear. One seemed to have had his eyebrows replaced with long antennae. And to his left, he saw a small girl with bright hair, who he immediately recognised to be -

'Lily!' he exclaimed, releasing his Shield Charm and hurrying over to her. The three Slytherins picked themselves off the ground and hurried off at Scorpius' chivvying. His younger sister looked around, scowling at him. Her hair was slightly in disarray, and her face was still quite red, but other than that she was entirely unscathed. He couldn't help but feel proud of the fact she had fought off three other students without being touched herself.

'Oh, hello Albus,' she said in a rather sarcastic voice. 'How nice to see you. Was it your minions you just sent off? I think you were all in the stands together, trying to sabotage our tryouts.'

'I didn't send anyone to duel you, Lily. It was harmless banter, that's all,' he said.

'It's not banter if not everyone's laughing!' she protested.

'What are you, an anti-bullying poster? Anyway, whatever the issue is, you shouldn't be duelling like this! How many times do we have to tell you? You're going to get in serious trouble next time a teacher catches you at it, and Mum and Dad are running out of patience,' he said.

Lily tossed her hair back. 'You're a clever guy, Albus, but you're terrible at lectures. Alright, I'll try not to duel. Very sorry about hexing those boys, even though they started it. Happy?'

'Not really,' he said.

'Not my problem. Bye, brother.'

And there was nothing he could do but watch her disappear off, feeling incredibly exasperated. He looked around and saw Scorpius stood a few feet away. 'You're lucky to not have siblings, you know.'

That evening, after a few drinks to celebrate the new team members, Rose went up to Daniel's dormitory. She'd always found his bed more comfortable than hers, and slid immediately into it, pulling the covers up around her and watching him get ready for bed. He pulled off his robes, and was pulling off his t-shirt when he turned around and saw her watching. His boyish face broke into a grin. 'I see you staring, Weasley,' he said lightly, pulling the t-shirt over his head and exaggeratedly flexing his muscles.

'Stop stalling and jump in here,' she said, throwing a corner of the covers back. He laughed and stripped his jeans off, sliding in beside her.

'Well if you're so eager,' he said, mock-reluctant, before flicking the curtains closed and pulling her close for a kiss. She slid her body to press against his, her arms and legs wrapping around him. She loved how his broad, hard body felt against her own soft curves, how his hands gripped her with such strength. His lips kissed hers so fiercely it left her mouth bruised, and it wasn't long until she felt his cock stiffen against her thigh, and her own wetness was soaking through her thin underwear.

Over in Slytherin House, things had of course gone a little wilder than a few drinks and missionary sex in a bed. Langwith had decided that it was a night for Euphoria, and it hadn't taken much convincing for the others to join in. The dried leaf of the Euphoria Vine, when placed on someone's tongue, quickly dissolved, and it caused intense feelings of joy and exhilaration, giving it its name. That wasn't anything special, only if it particularly strong and taken with alcohol, it caused hallucinations as well.

Albus found himself lying spread-eagled on the floor, staring at the ceiling above him. The stone seemed to be dissolving, forming into an infinitely long tunnel, and floating down from the darkness above were multicoloured petals, that swirled and dissolved inches above his outstretched hands. He was oblivious to the commotion about him. Scorpius was on the windowsill, muttering about "the elephants, all the elephants", while Fitzroy lay on the floor, giggling uncontrollably.

'Absolute messes.' The girls had arrived. Adelaide and Vittoria exchanged a look, smirking, and then stepped neatly around the boys to the alcohol cabinet. It was specially charmed so that only the Sixth Years could access it, with special keys that they'd all made together. Only Zelda made the effort to care for the boys - she hurried over to Albus and put a cushion under his head as he tossed back and forth, placing her hand on his forehead.

'Come on, Zelda, come get a drink!' called Vittoria, waving a bottle of Firewhisky at her. Zelda smiled, and left Albus on the floor to join her friends.

'Looking good, girls,' said Leo Zabini, strolling in through the door. It was difficult to say who was the more attractive twin, as he joined Vittoria in front of the fireplace. As was the fashion, they were both in Muggle clothing, and being outrageously rich, their outfits probably cost as much as a normal student's yearly allowance. As was often their accidental habit, they'd managed to dress in almost matching outfits; Vittoria in a low-cut ivory dress, while Zabini looked like a classical rich youth in his black shirt and white chinos, a red tie loose around his neck.

'Hello, brother. I don't remember inviting you to join us,' said Vittoria, pouring him out a whisky anyway. Leo accepted the drink, shrugging. 'Then again, you've never waited for an invitation to go anywhere.'

'Never needed to,' he retorted, taking a mouthful of whisky. He glanced over at Adelaide and Zelda, sat side-by-side on a sofa. 'What's wrong, ladies? Not drinking?'

Zelda glanced at Adelaide, but her friend was already draining her tumbler. 'You must not know me, Zabini. I'm always drinking.'

Leo laughed deeply, and after a second Vittoria joined in, refilling Adelaide's glass. 'My bad. You have my respect, Gray.'

'You say that as if you think I care, Zabini.'

'What about you, Zelda?' said Vittoria, glancing over at her. Zelda made sure to smile, widening her eyes in a mock-innocent fashion.

'Me? Drink?' She necked the whisky, using all her self-control to not wince as it burned the back of her throat.

Leo was pouring them the third round, a few minutes later, when the door opened again and they all looked around to see Zachary Bowles, flanked by two other Seventh Years. He smiled as they all called out to him, and Leo conjured up three more tumblers. Zelda sighed as Zachary dropped in between her and Adelaide, and she slid onto the floor. Albus was still lying sprawled in the shadows across the room, his hands reaching up for something only he could see, his lips moving soundlessly. Scorpius had slumped, half-unconscious, against the wall.

The other two Seventh Years sat down, one on a vacant armchair and the other on the floor beside Zelda. She glanced at him through her lashes. Malcolm Lodowick - not the most handsome, but very talented in other ways, if the rumours were true. She took a sip of whisky, hoping no one noticed her considering him.

They drank for a while, the conversation flowing back and forth, until finally as the embers of the fire grew low they began to disperse, drifting off in separate directions. Leo and Malcolm grabbed Fitzroy and Scorpius, dragging them from the room. Albus, apparently now unconscious on the floor, wasn't noticed.

Zelda stood up to follow Vittoria as she made to leave. She glanced back at Adelaide, but her friend was deep in conversation with Zachary, and so they left the two of them to it.

As the door clicked shut behind Zelda, Adelaide suddenly noticed that the room had emptied, and she made to stand and follow, only Zachary grabbed her hand and pulled her back down onto the sofa. He pulled Adelaide against him and kissed her, his hands pressing tight against the small of her back, holding her close. Her arms encircled his neck, her fingers in his soft blonde hair, and she couldn't help herself from leaning against him.

Chuckling slightly, Zachary moved his hands lower, slipping under the folds of her short, pleated skirt. She'd always gone for the preppy style. She gasped as his hands slid over her soft buttocks, his fingers pulling at the thin material of her small, lacy underwear. She pulled her lips away from his slightly, whispering: 'Are you sure we should do this…'

He didn't reply, moving to kiss her neck instead, and she moaned uncontrollably as his fingers slid between her legs. 'Zachary … what if someone walks in?'

This time he did stop reply, although his fingers didn't move. 'Doesn't that excite you?'

She looked up at him, unable to deny it, and he smiled. 'Come on.' He grabbed her thighs, pulling her across his lap to straddle him, and she wrapped her legs around his body, making sure to rub against his crotch as she did. His lips found hers again, his hands feeling beneath her skirt and unbuttoning her blouse. She let him just kiss her for a while, let his hands do their work until she was wet, and then her own hands slid down his body to his trousers, fumbling slightly with the buttons. He groaned despite himself as she pulled his jeans down to his knees, her hands grasping his hardened cock. He slid her underwear aside and she lowered herself onto him, moaning as she felt him slide inside her.

'Oh Merlin … you're so fucking hot …' he gasped, as she moved and he bucked his hips to thrust himself deeper inside her. It wasn't long before she orgasmed, and he hardly managed to keep himself together until then, burying his face in her chest as he came with a groan.

There was a pause, and they sat against each other, breathing heavily. Then Adelaide slid off him, standing up, and he pulled his trousers up again. He took her hand, and they left together in silence.

Albus' eyes flickered open. He watched their dark figures leave in the flickering darkness, his body seeming paralysed against the floor. There were some things he knew he did not hallucinate.

The next weekend was the first Hogsmeade weekend of the year, and this time Albus didn't even wait for Scorpius to prompt him. A few days before, during a break they spent in the courtyard outside the Great Hall, he suddenly walked away from Scorpius and, summoning all the resolve he had, went over to Katie Blossom. He'd noticed her, stood with Rose and a couple of other Gryffindors, and they all looked around in surprise as he reached them.

'What do you want, Albus?' asked Rose immediately, raising her eyebrows at him. He ignored her, turning to Katie.

'Katie. I was thinking maybe we could get a drink together, this weekend. At Hogsmeade.'

Silence. He wasn't sure whether to keep looking at her, or if that would be seen as staring. She looked down at the ground, and shrugged. 'Okay. Meet me at eleven.'

'Right. See you then.'

He headed back over to Scorpius, who had watched the entire thing of course. 'Well, what do you think?'

'I think you're learning, young grasshopper,' said Scorpius. 'Although you're still an idiot. Is Katie your girlfriend now?'

'No,' said Albus.

'But you're dating her.'

'I'm going on a date.'

'Probably soon to be multiple. If you don't screw up, that is. And you're such a socially awkward idiot that you'll probably accidentally end up in a relationship with her,' said Scorpius, sighing and running a hand through his hair. 'Let's get going, Glotten's classroom is four flights up and you know how he is about lateness.'

'How long do you think Glotten's going to make us learn Troll?' asked Albus, as they headed into the castle again. 'I mean, they only have a vocabulary of about fifty words, how long can it take for us to learn it?'

'And to be honest, if anyone actually wants to use Troll, there are some serious questions to be asked,' said Scorpius, laughing. 'At least the translations are easy, because nothing else is at the moment.'

It was true that as much as Scorpius had claimed that Sixth Year would be easy, with no exams at the end, the reality was quite the opposite. The teachers were piling almost ludicrous amounts of homework on them, and on top of that they had to start using non-verbal spells, which were horribly tricky.

To Albus' intense frustration, he was finding it almost impossible to hack non-verbal spells. His heart sunk whenever a teacher announced them, and he was spending constant lessons in a fit of angry frustration. The worst was Charms. He was quickly sinking to among the worst in the class, and he hated it. He'd never struggled with anything like this in all his academic career.

'Struggling again, Mr Potter?' Professor Chang had stopped in front of his desk. He glanced up at her, and then down at his desk, where his goblet was still entirely empty of water. Beside him, Scorpius was examining his own goblet, full of bright clear liquid, and Albus felt a sense of shame rising inside him.

'Hmm,' continued Chang, tapping a fingernail on the desk. 'Non-verbal spells can't be learnt out of a book, Mr Potter. It's all about the mind.'

'Yes, Professor.'

'This requires extra work. You need tutoring, not just extra homework - and I'm sure you have enough of that already. Come to my study every Monday and Thursday, and we'll see if we can fix this. We start next week.'

She strode away, and Albus exchanged a look with Scorpius, who raised his eyebrows, and shrugged.

Saturday dawned with overcast and grey sky, a chill wind whistling about the castle. The summer felt well and truly gone, as students slowly dragged themselves from their beds, nursing hangovers or just laziness, and began their day. Albus found himself dressing oddly carefully, pulling on his softest cashmere sweater and a pair of blue chinos, attempting to pull a comb through his hair. It was pointless, of course - his hair stayed just the same as always, a tangled mess.

He met Zelda after breakfast, in the Entrance Hall. She did look very pretty, in an unseasonably summery dress and little cream-coloured jacket. Her neatly curled hair was held back by a thin pink ribbon. 'Hi,' she said, smiling brightly at him as he walked over.

'Hey, Zelda,' said Albus. 'Do you … want to go?'

As they set off down the path towards Hogwarts, Albus passed Scorpius and caught his eye. Scorpius grinned, and gave him an exaggerated wink, waving at them. He fingered his wand in his pocket, resisting the urge to jinx his friend, and attempted to strike up a conversation with Katie.

It turned out to be a better day than Albus was expecting. Although he'd seen Katie a lot over the past few years, as she and Rose were always together, he realised that he'd never had a proper conversation with her. He didn't want to admit it, but he'd always thought of Katie as a pretty airhead. But they actually had quite a fun time - window shopping, having a drink of Butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks, sharing a packet of sweets from Honeydukes. And despite himself, he found he was agreeing to meet up with her again as soon as they were both free.

He left her in the Entrance Hall, and started towards the Common Room to try and find Scorpius, as he knew his friend would be waiting to hear all about it with a fresh batch of jokes. He'd barely made it down to the dungeons, however, when he found himself being accosted by Rose. She pinned him against the wall with some non-verbal spell, glaring at him.

'You okay, Rose?' he gasped - the spell was rather tight on his chest. 'Do you not think we could talk … without using spells on me?'

'No,' she said, stepping closer. She looked really very menacing. 'I want you to know, if you're going to start dating my best friend, you've got me on your back. I will be watching your every move, Albus, and if you put a toe wrong, if you hurt her one tiny bit, I will be after you. She's too nice to do anything, but I'm not.'

'Rose - relax - I don't want to hurt Katie!' he said. 'Now can you please let me go?'

She narrowed her eyes to slits, and then after a pause flicked her wand up and released the spell. He stumbled forwards, breathing deeply and massaging his chest. 'Don't forget it, Albus,' she said, as she turned and disappeared up the stairs.

'My ribs certainly won't,' he muttered, shaking his head at the melodrama of his cousin and continuing on his way.