Chapter Six

It was a while since Scorpius had spent time with Kirkby, but the boy did not seem to have changed much since the last time. He was still a mouthy, impudent, and undeniably funny brat who refused to sit straight in his chair and virtually had to be tied down in order to focus on his work. Scorpius hadn't realised how much he missed him, until they sat down opposite each other again.

'Alright, what did you do this time?'

Kirkby shrugged, picking at his teeth with a grubby thumbnail. 'Told Professor Boyle that she looked like her name.'

As he suppressed his smile with considerable difficult, Scorpius looked down at the note Professor Flint had passed on to him. 'It says here you committed "gross misconduct".'

'That's an overreaction. I was just making an observation, and she insulted me first,' said Kirkby.

'Whatever. Write out a hundred times "I must not insult my professors". And you have to spell professor right every time or I'll make you do it again.'

'I have behavioural problems, I'm not an idiot.'

Scorpius did smile that time, and passed Kirkby a sheet of parchment. There was silence for about a minute, just enough time for Scorpius to pull his own work out of his bag, and then Kirkby looked up. 'So what's the Department of Mysteries like?'

'What?'

'You went there, for your dad's trial. What's it like?'

'I didn't go to the Department of Mysteries, I went to the Wizengamot Chambers. It's different.'

'Same place, I imagine the decor isn't much different.'

'It's big and dark and cold. Get back to your lines!'

'Fine.'

This time, Scorpius managed to write out the title of his essay before he noticed that Kirkby was doodling a spiral on the corner of his parchment. 'Kirkby!'

The boy looked up and opened his mouth, the retort clearly on his tongue, but at that moment the door slammed open and they both looked around as Albus strode in. Scorpius had seen his best friend in a lot of bad states, but he'd never seen him like that. His face was worst than white, it was greenish-grey, and the look in his eyes was positively wild. There was a long moment of silence, and Scorpius began to rise from his chair, but then without a word Albus turned on his heel and left the room. His footsteps echoed quieter and quieter down the corridor, and then silence again. It was Kirkby who spoke.

'There is definitely something up with your friend.'

Scorpius turned away from the door, glancing over at the boy. 'Get back to your lines.' And for some reason, it was that which made Kirkby pick up the pen, and begin to write.

That evening, when Scorpius had finished up with Kirkby and had walked him back to his own Common Room, he spent a long time stood at the top of the staircase that led back towards the dungeons. Then he turned away, and began to walk through the castle. He knew that Albus wasn't in Slytherin House, that he wouldn't be anywhere near people they knew in the state he was in. The search didn't take long.

The full moon was hanging directly over the Astronomy Tower when he climbed through the trapdoor. It was so bright that it illuminated the figure of Albus almost as brightly as daylight, as he lay stretched out on the ground staring up at the night sky. Without a word, Scorpius climbed out and lay down beside him. It was bitterly cold, and he could feel Albus shivering uncontrollably beside him, so he wordlessly cast bluebell flames that hovered in the air between them.

'There's Orion,' he murmured, pointing at the constellation that hung at a slight angle above them. 'And the Plough, and the Dog Star.'

'Yeah.'

'Albus, are you ever going to tell me what's going on?'

The silence stretched out in the space between them for a while, as they both stared up at the clear night. 'I've been sleeping with Professor Chang. We got caught today.'

Scorpius sucked in a deep breath. 'Well that certainly explains the half-mad thing you've got going. But why the fuck didn't you tell me this was happening? How long has this been going on?'

'Few weeks. Maybe two months.'

'Two months! For fuck's sake, Albus, I'm your best friend. If you don't tell me this stuff, what's even the point?'

'I'm sorry,' said Albus, and there was a note of genuine pain in his voice. 'I really am. I know I should have said something before now. I … I made excuses.'

Scorpius sighed, and looked over at Albus. 'You made excuses that I was already dealing with too much, that you didn't want to heap extra on me when there was already so much going on. But come on, Albus, you have to tell me these things. Otherwise I might as well mean about as much to you as Fitzroy and Langwith do.'

'I know. But I thought it was safer if I just didn't tell anyone at all, that I could keep it totally separate.'

'It's hard to keep your school life separate to the private stuff, when the private stuff is that you're fucking your schoolteacher.'

Albus glanced at him, and even in the darkness Scorpius could see the hurt in his expression. 'Thanks, Scorpius.'

'Maybe that was uncalled for. But as your best friend, I'm saying you've been an idiot. Are you in trouble? Like, real trouble?'

He shook his head. 'No, nothing's happening to me. And that's the worst of it. She's got to leave her job, she's leaving everything behind and moving to the States, and I just get to carry on as normal. It's fucked up.'

Scorpius didn't reply, and after a while Albus spoke again:

'Scorpius, you have to know. I told the teachers, and my father, that I didn't have sex with Cho. I had to lie, they would've arrested her otherwise, or made it impossible for her to work again. You're angry that I didn't tell you things - well now I have told you, and you have to keep the secret.'

'Of course I won't tell, Albus. You can't think that I would! But maybe it's better this way - it's easier for her to move on. And I'm guessing you're punishing yourself enough. But what I'm curious about is who caught you?'

'Rose. She caught us and handed us in without a second thought. And then she acted as if it was going to be perfectly fine. I hate her, Scorpius. I really hate her.'

They didn't speak for a long time after that. In fact, they didn't speak until they'd left the tower and made it back to the dungeons. They'd spent so long lying in the dark that he almost thought they'd fall asleep there, but then they were seemingly walking through the silent castle and the dungeons, and then into the dormitory where the other boys lay sleeping.

Albus turned away and made to go straight to bed, but Scorpius caught him before he could and put his arms around him. 'It'll be alright, mate.' He felt a shudder go through Albus' body and wondered if he'd start crying, but then Albus was stepping away and climbing into bed, sliding so far beneath the covers that only his untidy hair could be seen.

The mysterious disappearance of Professor Chang was an immediate topic of speculation and gossip, with countless rumours spreading amongst the student body. As for their friends, they talked about it as much as anyone else, and they also noticed that something was wrong with Albus, but none of them seemed to make the connection between the two. It was something Scorpius was eternally grateful for.

As for Rose, she hadn't said anything either. She hardly came in contact with the Slytherins in the last few weeks of term, and Scorpius figured she'd got the message that Albus did not want to see her.

For Albus himself, it was a confused, extremely painful few weeks that he knew would only be followed by an even worse situation: being stuck at home with his family, many of whom likely would know what had happened and would be a lot less sympathetic than Scorpius. He took to speaking very little, and avoided large groups, preferring to sit alone and bury himself in books.

There were a few small moments of light amidst all the grief. In the final week of term, he was sat alone as usual in one of the sitting rooms that led off from the Slytherin library. He was reading up on Human Transfiguration, which they were starting the next term, and was quite unaware that anyone else was around. That is, until he felt someone sit down beside him, and looked around to see Adelaide Gray had sat down beside him.

It was a long time since he'd thought much about Adelaide. Professor Chang - he'd forced himself to not refer to her by her first name anymore - had distracted him from her. But now she was gone, and he looked at Adelaide properly again, all the confused feelings from before came rushing back. He felt them with a fair amount of consternation; he rather wanted a break from emotions.

'Hello, Albus,' she said, smiling at him. 'Are you alright?'

He shrugged, and she took his hand, squeezing it gently. This companionable action surprised him, and he was struggling to find words to say when the door opened, and they both looked around to see her boyfriend Zachary Bowles stroll in, a bottle in his hand.

'Adie! I've been looking all over for you - come with me, a bunch of us are playing poker in the other room and I'm going to absolutely strip them. No pun intended.'

She immediately let go of Albus' hand and jumped to her feet. 'I guess I'll see you around, Albus,' she said quietly, and then she let her boyfriend kiss her and left the room.

It hadn't snowed by the time the term ended, but it was bitterly cold, and many of the students looked so wrapped up in cloaks as they left the castle that they resembled a herd of waddling penguins more than teenagers. Albus and Scorpius strode along in the general rush, their fine woollen cloaks billowing about them and their emerald-and-silver scarves loose about their necks. Their trunks were floating along behind them, like a pair of obedient hounds. Neither of them spoke much; each was far too caught up in their own thoughts, and their thoughts mainly consisted of what it would be like to see their parents again.

The usual gang of Slytherin Sixth Years filled up one of the larger compartments - having turfed a couple of undersized First Years out - and they all settled into a few hours of alcohol and general rowdiness, to celebrate the end of term. Even Albus found himself getting caught up in it, after Fitzroy and Adelaide forced a couple of gin and tonics down him, and allowed himself to laugh at the jokes the others told and join in the odd bit of conversation. His smile only began to slip again when he noticed that the countryside outside had become very tame and ordered. They'd reached the Home Counties, and sure enough, hardly an hour later the Hogwarts Express was threading through terraced houses and office blocks, and pulling up with a great burst of steam on Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters.

Albus couldn't help dawdling as he pulled his schoolbag and trunk off the rack above his head, checking and double-checking the clasps and fiddling with the straps, until finally Scorpius tapped him on the arm.

'You can't stay in here forever, mate.'

The others were already hurrying off the train, and with a nod he picked up his trunk and followed his best friend out of the compartment and along the carriage. There was a bottleneck in the doorway, a moment of confusion in the dim light, and then he burst through a gap in the bodies and was on the step down to the platform. He paused for a moment, unable to stop himself from scanning the crowd of parents and grandparents, but before he could catch sight of either his mother or his father, someone had given him a shove in the small of his back and he stumbled down onto the platform. His trunk hit the concrete and he almost fell, catching his shins as he did.

Straightening up, he pushed back his hair and looked around. He was in the middle of the crowd now, and he wasn't tall enough to see over them. Scorpius had disappeared, and Albus wished he was still there so that he could use that extra few inches of height. Before he could spot him, however, he heard someone call his name.

'Albus! Over here!'

Teddy Lupin, resplendent in bright turquoise hair and a smart dragonleather jacket, was striding towards him through the crowd. He'd already been found by Lily, who was dancing along at his side, and Albus couldn't help grinning at the sight of him. It was always good to see Teddy.

The two of them embraced, and then Teddy looked around over the heads of the crowd, frowning slightly. 'Where's James?'

'He's over there, with his girlfriend,' groaned Lily, indicating to a spot further along the platform. Albus and Teddy craned their necks in unison. About twenty metres away, by a large stack of lost luggage, a figure that was clearly James was kissing a smaller girl with strawberry-blonde hair.

'Ah, I remember when he found such things disgusting,' said Teddy reminiscently. 'Nearly had a seizure the first time he found Victoire and I, you know.'

'James has a girlfriend?' murmured Albus, but the other two didn't seem to hear him. He hadn't realised how oblivious he'd been to the events happening around him.

'How is Victoire?' asked Lily, breaking away from watching James make out with his mystery girlfriend.

'Oh, she's fine,' said Teddy, 'she just had to work today, like your parents. It seems that the last day of term at Hogwarts is when just about everyone in the Ministry and St Mungo's does not want to be working. They ought to make it a holiday, really. Anyway, we'd better get James, or we'll be late.'

Lily frowned up at Teddy. 'But can't we go get burgers and ice-cream on the way?'

He smiled back at her. 'Of course! We'll be late for burgers and ice-cream. Go get him!'

'I won't! I'm not jumping in there. Make Albus do it, he's prudish and knows how to get in the way of couples.'

Albus glared at his little sister. The jibe felt rather close to the bone at that time. 'I'm not going! Lily should have experience on these matters…'

'Doesn't matter,' said Teddy hastily, as the two of them began to face off for an argument. 'They're coming over.'

James was strolling through the crowd towards them, holding his girlfriend by the crowd. She was a nice-looking girl with pretty features, who Albus vaguely recognised. He'd never spoken to her, as she was a Gryffindor and the year above him, but he knew her face from the corridors and hallways. She had a name like Flossie or Izzy or…

'Lizzie!' exclaimed Lily, positively beaming at her.

'Right, yeah, Teddy this is my girlfriend Lizzie Parker. Lizzie, this is Teddy, he's my dad's godson and is a bit of an adoptive brother, I guess,' said James. 'Lily, Albus, you know Lizzie.'

'Yes!' exclaimed Lily. Albus shrugged and attempted to look friendly.

'Hi guys,' said Lizzie, smiling nervously. 'Um … I'd better get going. Mum and Dad are waiting.'

'Oh, yeah, alright,' said James, hugging her again and kissing her briefly. 'Let's meet up soon, okay? I'll take you out in London or something.'

Lizzie nodded and hurried off through the crowd. As they all set off with Teddy leading, Albus turned to James and stared at him. 'You have a girlfriend?'

'Where have you been for the past six weeks?' retorted James. 'In the Shrieking Shack? Yeah, I have a girlfriend.'

'You? Mr Commitment-is-for-losers?'

'I'm not fifteen anymore, Albus. You should give this girlfriend thing a go, you know. It's pretty fun once you get into it.' He winked, and then sped up to walk with Lily, leaving Albus to tail the group alone.

Outside of King's Cross station, they walked a little way around the corner to where Teddy had parked. A smart-looking sportscar was parked right beside the station, between two double-decker buses. As they loaded the luggage into the boot - which was magically extended, of course - Lily frowned and looked around them.

'Teddy, isn't this only for buses?'

'Yeah, but Muggles don't seem to notice this car,' said Teddy airily. Albus noticed a Muggle traffic warden walking past on the other side of the street, apparently oblivious to the bright red soft top sportscar that was flagrantly flouting the rules just a few feet away. Giggling like naughty children, the four of them hurried into the car and Teddy set off, speeding through the busy streets of London at a much faster pace than the traffic around them was managing.

They stopped off at an American-style diner just outside of the city, and while Lily and James happily tucked into their gigantic burgers, Albus found he'd suddenly lost his appetite. He'd momentarily forgotten about the approaching reunion with his parents in the excitement of seeing Teddy, but now that was fading and he was once again less than an hour away from having to see them.

His mood did not go unnoticed. As James and Lily finished their meals they both disappeared off to the bathroom, and Teddy seized the opportunity and leant across the table. 'Albus, what's up?' When Albus didn't reply and merely twirled a cold chip in his fingers, he sighed. 'Look, i know something went down with you and your dad. He wouldn't say what, but he came back from a visit to Hogwarts looking as though he'd just fought a Dementor, and now you're acting as if you've got to face that same beast. Whatever it is, just face up to it. You'll be alright.'

Albus nodded and Teddy seemed to want to say more, but before he could the waitress appeared with the bill, and the moment dissipated in the scramble to find Muggle cash.

It was always a strange feeling for Albus, coming home again from each school term. Despite the fact that he felt a little different at each homecoming, the old house was reliably unchanged. Slightly untidy, with a lawn in need of a mow and a rose climbing unchecked across the face of the house, it was just as he'd left it a few months before but for the change in the season. He couldn't remember if he'd ever walked across the front lawn with such a feeling of trepidation, however. His stomach was in a Gordian's knot, and his hand felt so sweaty he could hardly keep hold of his trunk. This certainly beat the time he came home having received a T in his Transfiguration exam (he'd gone to an all-night party the evening before, and had lost concentration while transfiguring his molerat into a salamander, causing it to grow ten times in size and rampage through the classroom). This definitely beat the first ever end-of-term, when he walked in wearing a Slytherin tie, to find his entire extended family in the sitting room.

Teddy went first, throwing open the front door with some gusto and heading straight into the kitchen without a pause. Their parents were cooking, and the room was instantly full of exclamations and greetings, and he found his mother hugging him. A record was spinning on the old player in the corner, and he recognised Bryan Adams' voice. Lily was already chattering loudly and rushing over to hug their father, and then Albus was looking across the room at his father, still stood by the oven with a spatula in one hand, the other arm around Lily. Their eyes met, and Albus felt something clench in his stomach. His father's face was a stony mask.

Spinning around on his heel, Albus rushed from the room, ignoring the shocked voices of Lily and his mother. He walked straight into James, who'd paused in the hallway, but he just kept running, straight up the stairs to his bedroom where he slammed the door and threw himself on the bed. Below him, he could hear a muffled commotion and the clear sounds of a heated debate. Then footsteps came up the stairs and someone came to the door.

'Albus, come downstairs,' said Teddy. He tried the door, but it didn't open. Albus had fitted a charmed handle that locked automatically whenever he shut it, as a precaution against prying parents or curious siblings. After a pause he heard a creak as Teddy crossed the landing, and then his footsteps getting steadily quieter as they went down the stairs.

He lay awake for a long time, staring up at the ceiling above his bed. A long time ago, when he was still a little kid, he'd stuck glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling. He'd made a whole night sky of constellations across it, Orion and the Plough and Ursas Minor and Major, and the zodiacs too. The stars had started to fade a little now, but his eyes traced their shapes all the same, remembering how it had felt to lie looking up at each one glowing as brightly as a real star.

He wasn't sure how long it was before he fell asleep, but the next thing he knew he was being woken up by someone banging loudly on the door and rattling the handle. He sat bolt upright, still in his clothes from the day before, and pushed his hair off his face as he looked around towards the door.

'Albus Severus Potter!' It was the unmistakeable sound of his mother's voice, and she was very angry. She sounded as if she'd never been anything but angry. 'Open this door right now, or I will blow it off its hinges and not reattach it for a year! I will count to three!'

Springing from his bed, he darted across the room and opened the door. His mother was stood on the other side, one hand holding her wand and the other raised in a fist to bang the door again, although for a second he wondered if she was about to hit him. She dropped the fist quickly, but advanced into the room with her wand still raised.

'You think that you can come into this house and go about acting like a spoilt child, slamming doors and refusing to come out! I haven't seen you for months, and you just lock yourself away! And don't get me started on how you've been acting at school, don't think that your father hasn't told me what's been happening.'

'Don't start on that!' said Albus. 'I don't want to talk about it.'

'Oh, you don't want to talk about it? Don't want to talk about it! Well I guess that's alright then, I guess we can just move on, because you don't want to think about what you did. Guess what, you're nearly an adult, you have to confront when you do something wrong. And believe me, Albus, you did something very, very wrong! You acted like a spoiled, immature, selfish child! I've never been so disappointed in my life. So don't you dare think you can get away with this attitude for a single second. Now get changed, I want you downstairs for breakfast with the rest of the family in ten minutes, so we can all eat with your father before he leaves for the Ministry. Go!'

She marched out of the room, leaving Albus feeling rather as if he'd just been stood near a minor explosion. There was a creak on the landing outside, and he looked around to see Lily stood in the doorway, staring in with wide eyes. She was still dressed in her pyjamas, and he wondered if the argument had woken her up.

'What happened? What did you do?'

He stared at her for a moment, and then shrugged, beginning to unbutton his shirt. 'I was in a secret relationship with Professor Chang last term. That's why she had to suddenly leave, and why Mum and Dad are so angry at me. But you can't tell anyone, it's a massive secret.'

To his great surprise, Lily just rolled her eyes and tossed her hair back. 'Merlin, Albus, what a hypocrite you are! Trying to stop me hanging out with boys, all while you're off banging a teacher old enough to be your mother.'

He ignored her, and a few seconds later he heard her footsteps on the stairs. Geared into action by his mother's wroth, he quickly went to his wardrobe and began to change. The only things that he had in there were old jeans and jumpers, items of clothing that he'd never be seen dead in while at Hogwarts, but there was something slightly comforting about the clothes. He found a comb on his dresser and pulled it through his hair to little effect, as his Sleekeazy gel was downstairs, and after a quick glance in the mirror to check he was presentable he headed downstairs.

His father was at the stove making crepes, and Albus glanced awkwardly at him for a moment before hurrying over to sit down beside James at the table. No one acknowledged the argument, although he knew that the entire family had heard it. You could hear when someone crossed the landing upstairs, there was no way they didn't notice his mother screaming at the top of her lungs.

But the crepes were undeniably delicious and the rest of breakfast went without mishap, if you don't count Lily knocking her mug of half-drunk tea onto the butter dish, and once the plates were cleared and their father headed for work, James, Lily and Albus all retreated back to their bedrooms. Albus stood in his doorway for a few seconds, trying to gage his mother's mood and whether she'd let him have the door shut, but Ginny seemed to have disappeared into her study to finish an article. Deciding it was safe, he shut the door and turned to his trunk.

There were several layers to his trunk. The top layer was perfectly ordinary - just some school clothes, a few textbooks, and a litter of quills and ink bottles. This layer was very thin, as he'd left most of his school things in his dormitory. Beneath that were his own clothes, the Muggle clothes and casual robes that he wore in his free time. This was much deeper, and he kept most of those clothes in his trunk during the holidays anyway. He'd found long ago that wearing cashmere sweaters and brogues to family gatherings made him a magnet for annoying and awkward questions, so he consigned himself to living in trainers and t-shirts for a few weeks. There were also some of his own books in there.

Beneath that layer was a third one, a hidden layer that only he could access. It was beneath a false bottom that disappeared when he ran the tip of his wand along the seams. It didn't work for any wand but his. As the dark brown material melted away, rows of boxes and brightly labelled bottles appeared instead. He ran his fingers over them, counting and calculating his stocks. it was running low - he needed to go shopping.

In one corner was a metal safe box, which had an extra charm on it. It burned the fingers of anyone who touched it, except for him. The inside looked quite boring, just a pile of small paper packets each marked with a number. In each packet were coins, Sickles and Galleons and occasionally Knuts, adding up to the number he'd written on the paper. He always had been careful with his accounting.

He took a packet of Sickles and one of Galleons, and stashed them in a black velvet purse he had in his messenger bag. He had a list in his head of what he needed, he'd just have to find some opportunity to sneak off by himself while his family was shopping. It wouldn't be easy, with his parents so angry and distrustful of him, but he had a few ideas.

And he didn't have to wait long. His father announced at dinner that night that, as the next day was a Saturday, he'd have time off work and so they could all go to Diagon Alley together for Christmas shopping. Lily rolled her eyes and stabbed moodily at her chicken - Albus knew she'd be mortified to be seen out in public with her family - and James suddenly had an uncharacteristically sly look on his face. Trying to keep his own expression impassive, Albus said nothing.

The weather was much more mild down in the south of England than at Hogwarts, but an unpleasantly damp wind gusted around them as they set off, and Albus couldn't help wishing he was back in his warm bed. He knew that this shopping trip would probably be very dull and entail lots of trailing around shops after his parents, who'd be indecisive about every single present for their numerous relatives.

'Can't I go to Flourish and Blotts?' he asked, as they stepped reluctantly out of the warm and steamy Leaky Cauldron, and set off down the street.

'Stay with us for a bit, Albus,' said his mother stiffly, and he wondered if she didn't trust him to be by himself. As if he'd run off to shag another older woman as soon as her back was turned.

'Oh, it's alright,' said his father. 'Albus, don't you need to go to Gringott's?'

He shook his head. 'I've got some allowance.'

'Alright. We're going to Madame Malkin's, and then Quality Quidditch Supplies. Don't be too long!'

'Yes, Dad. Thanks.'

As he walked away he heard his mother saying something in a slightly annoyed tone, but he just smirked and hurried off. He hadn't expected to get away quite so easily.

Knowing that it would raise suspicions if he didn't come back out of the shop with books in hand, he grabbed a few that he knew he wanted off the shelves and hurriedly bought them, unable to stop himself from clicking his tongue as the man on the till wrote out a receipt at an achingly slow pace. The old man gave him a disapproving look from under his unkempt white eyebrows, but Albus wasn't sure if that was because of his attitude or because one of the books was called Dark Wizard or Bright Boy Gone Wrong - A Controversial Biography of Gellert Grindelwald.

Hurrying back out of the shop, he immediately turned back up the street and started towards Knockturn Alley. He'd hardly gone three paces, however, before a familiar voice said: 'Albus.'

With a groan both inward and outward, he turned to look at his little sister. Lily was leaning against the window of Flourish and Blotts, an extremely satisfied smile on her face. He gave her his most malevolent glare, but she just grinned more. 'Where're you off to?'

'None of your business. Shouldn't you be with our parents?'

'I said I wanted to go to Flourish and Blotts, too. I know you're off to Knockturn Alley, you go every time we're here. Don't think I don't notice your little 'I'm-off-to-look-at-books" act, I know you're not that much of a swotty nerd.'

'I do read a lot of books,' he retorted.

She tossed her hair. 'Whatever. Inconsequential evidence. You're off to buy drugs and alcohol, and I'm coming with you.'

'No you're not!'

'I am. Or I'll tell Mum and Dad about your smuggling trade.'

'You wouldn't dare,' he snapped, narrowing his eyes at her.

'Care to risk it? Just imagine the trouble you'd be in. I don't think they'd let you out the house for the whole holiday - maybe not even for the start of term. You'd definitely have to forget about going to Val d'Isole.'

Val d'Isole was a small, entirely magical village on the Alps border between Switzerland and France. It had become a Wizarding hotspot as it was completely inaccessible without magic, which both kept pesky Muggles out and kept it preserved in its beautifully natural splendour. Many of the wealthiest Wizarding families had chalets there, and last year Albus had gone to stay in the Zabini Chalet. The twins had mentioned at the end of term that they should all spend the last week of the holidays there.

'Fine,' he said. 'Come with me then. But don't speak a single word, or I'll leave you in that dodgy old tavern, the Wicked Wench.'

'Ha! Like you'd dare.'

'Also,' he said, stopping again and pulling his cloak off. 'Put this on. And keep the hood up! I'm not having all those creeps staring at you.'

'Merlin,' she muttered, but she put the hood up all the same. They started off again up the street and soon came to the small, dingy entrance to the alley, marked with a crooked old sign that was half obscured by a thick growth of weeds. It was much darker down Knockturn Alley, with the shops leaning drunkenly over the dirty cobbled street, and the air almost seemed thicker, choked with dust and smoke and smells.

Keeping his clothes carefully on Lily's back, Albus walked swiftly down the street, looking neither left nor right and firmly ignoring the many street vendors who leant towards them and rattled trays as they passed. Halfway down the alley he stopped at a small shopfront with dingy, yellowish windowpanes and a peeling sign that simply said: "Wolsey".

'Come on,' he said, stepping towards the door, 'and keep your mouth shut.'

'This place is so dodgy,' whispered Lily.

'I said keep your mouth shut!'

A rusty bell chimed discordantly as they walked into the shop. The front room was hardly bigger than Albus' bedroom, and was furnished with nothing more than a plain wooden counter and a set of locked cabinets across the back wall. As the door creaked shut behind them, there was the sound of footsteps and a flaccid, red-faced man stepped out of the back room. He glanced at Albus and nodded, breathing heavily as he walked to the cabinets and pulled a set of keys from the pocket of his old, rather sweaty robes.

'What's it this time, boy? And who's the girl?'

'No concern of yours,' said Albus quickly, stepping forward so Lily was behind him. 'I need the usual supplies. And extra Billywig powder, it's popular this year.'

'Huh, is it now? Well that'll be forty-eight Galleons, eight Sickles, and fourteen Knuts, if you please,' said the man, Wolsey. Albus muffled a guffaw.

'Nice joke, Wolsey. It's a rip-off at forty Galleons, I'll offer you thirty-five for the lot.'

Wolsey had been midway through pulling packets and boxes from cabinets, and he turned around slowly, a dusty bottle of Firewhisky in each thick-fingered hand. 'Ah, wanting to play this game, eh boy? I'd've thought you'd be wanting to get your things and go, what with this little sweetheart in tow,' he sneered. 'Forty-eight. I'll knock of the Sickles and Knuts, as I'm such a fine gentleman.'

'Thirty-five.'

Wolsey put down the bottles and leant forward, his oversized belly pressing onto the counter. 'I could go to the press, you know. Tell 'em all about your little dealings. Wouldn't that be a story, eh? Harry Potter's precious son is no more than a dirty smuggler. I can see the headlines now.'

'And get yourself locked up for selling alcohol and powders to a child? Anyway, who do you think the Prophet and the Ministry would believe, Potter's precious son or a fat old man in Knockturn Alley?'

Wolsey heaved a sigh, stifled a burp, and then shrugged. 'Alright, Potter. Forty-five.'

'Thirty-seven.'

'Forty-two. Not a Knut less!'

'I'm walking out of here now if it's more than forty. And I'm quite sure I saw some Ministry wizards inspecting a shop a few doors up. Shall I go tell them to have a look in here?'

'Fine! Fine. Forty.'

'Thirty-eight.'

'You said-!'

'Thirty-eight.'

Wolsey was crimson now, his balding head beaded with sweat and the rolls of his belly and neck wobbling. Albus counted out thirty-eight Galleons on the countertop, and Wolsey sighed. 'Fine! You're a swotty little shit, boy. Take your things and go, you're making me bankrupt.'

Albus shoved all the things into his leather bag, which seemed to be able to fit much more than its narrow width should've allowed, and with his hand on Lily's shoulder he marched back out the shop. Lily grinned at him as they stepped back onto the narrow street.

'That was amazing! I can't believe you talked him down like that - can I come with you again? Can I?'

'No,' said Albus shortly.

'Well, can I have some Billywig powder instead? Buy my silence?'

He glared at her, and then reached into his bag and pulled out a paper packet the size of his palm, slapping it into her hand. She quickly shoved it into her own bag and giggled. They set off back up the street towards Diagon Alley. Lily seemed to have become more confident and was looking around much more, pushing her hood back off her face and peering into shop windows.

'Look at this, Albus!'

Reluctantly, he stopped to look at what she was pointing at. It was a small bottle of milky liquid resting on a purple cushion. It looked unremarkable, except that when one looked closely, the liquid had a strange, iridescent, almost gassy quality. 'It's memories, Albus! Someone's memories! And they're just being sold?'

He squinted at the gassy liquid. Something about it made his spine prickle - maybe it was the strange, malevolent quality that it seemed to have, or the fact it was swirling quite of its own accord in the ornate bottle. Straightening up, he looked at the shop sign, and realised that it was Borgin and Burkes. The name was familiar to him, and he remembered that his father and his aunt Hermione had talked about the shop over the summer:

'It's vile, that place! We've been trying to get it shut down for years, but it's like trying to hold Stinksap. Full of Dark Objects!'

Suddenly realising he was holding his wand, he grabbed Lily by the elbow and pulled her away. She protested but walked with him, and soon they were emerging onto the much brighter Diagon Alley.

'Now, remember what we've agreed - not a word to Mum or Dad!' he hissed as they hurried down the cobbled street.

'Yes, yes, I know!'

'Just don't draw attention to the fact that we've been so long-.'

'I don't think we're going to have a problem with that,' said Lily, stopping short and pointing to a scene a little ahead of them. Their parents were stood together outside of Madame Malkin's, and it only took Albus a second to follow the line of their shocked gaze and spot James a few metres away, entwined in an embrace with Lizzie Parker.

Without a word, Albus and Lily hurried forward to get a look in on the scene. James and Lizzie were just breaking apart as they arrived, and their mother took the opportunity to walk over to them. Albus felt slightly sorry for the poor girl - it wasn't the best way to meet one's in-laws - but James still had an arm around her and there was no escape route in sight. Her cheeks were flaming as she greeted their parents.

'Hello Mr and Mrs Potter-'

'Mum, Dad!' With his typical exuberance, James cut across her. Albus' elder brother had always been enthusiastic - about Quidditch, about pranks, and now about his girlfriend. 'This is Lizzie. She's my girlfriend.'

'Hello Lizzie, it's a pleasure to meet you,' said their mother. 'James, you should have told us! You don't need to sneak off like that. Would you like to come have some lunch with us, Lizzie?'

'Thank you, Mrs Potter, but I must get home, my parents are expecting me.'

'Please, call us Harry and Ginny,' said Albus' father, smiling and awkwardly patting her on the shoulder. Albus and Lily exchanged a look. 'So your parents didn't accompany you today?'

'No, sir - Harry - they're Muggles, see. They want to come with me but I think it would be a bit overwhelming, and anyway Mum's a lawyer so she's got lots of work to do, and Dad's looking after my brothers and sisters,' she said, still looking rather pink. 'Sorry, I'm talking too much, I should let you all go…'

'Not at all, Lizzie. Why don't you come over for dinner this week, if you're not too busy? How does tomorrow night sound?' said Harry.

'That sounds great!'

'Alright, nice to meet you, Lizzie,' said their mother. They left James to say his own goodbye and started up the street; Ginny waited until they were out of earshot before turning on their father. 'Tomorrow night? That's a Sunday! Why on earth would you ask that poor girl over for Sunday lunch?'

He stared at her, perplexed. 'What's wrong with that?'

'Harry, for the past seven years the first Sunday of every Christmas holidays has been set aside for a lunch with us and the Weasley-Grangers! How can you forget that? And it's been in the diary for weeks, there's no way we can change it around, it's hard enough getting you and Hermione to be off at the same time as it is!'

'So what's the big deal, she can just meet Hermione and Ron, too! She'll already know Rose and Hugo from Hogwarts…'

'You're expecting that poor girl to not only get through her first dinner with her in-laws, but to manage it with the Minister for Magic there as well? We all love Hermione, but you can't deny she's intimidating! And as for my brother, well my mother must've been drinking Firewhisky when he was developing his conversation filter!'

'Alright, alright! I get what you're saying, I'm sorry. Are you happy now?'

'Let's just not tell James about any of it, Merlin knows we don't want him stressed too-.'

'What's up?' James had run up to join them, and all four of them said in unison:

'Nothing!'

As it turned out, the day was even more of a disaster than any of them could have expected. Albus himself was dreading it from the start, as it would mean a solid few hours in a room with Rose, and as neither of them had told the adults about their current hate of each other, they'd probably have to act like friends. And that would mean conversation. And he was quite sure that even the slightest attempt at civil conversation would end up with the two of them screaming a combination of curses and insults at each other. At least, that's how it ended last time.

But as it turned out, his day hit near-disaster within the first few seconds of consciousness. He woke suddenly, and for a moment he was not sure why. And then, a second later, he heard his mother scream his name.

Springing from his bed at lightning-fast speed, he pulled on his dressing gown and ran out onto the landing. His mother was at the bottom of the stairs, and judging from the deep crimson of her cheeks, he was in very deep trouble.

'Albus Severus Potter! What is the meaning of this?'

His mother was waving something in her hand, and it took Albus a moment to realise it was a copy of The Daily Prophet. Walking tentatively down the stairs, he took it from her. The headline was some fluffy story about the winter wedding of the Seeker for the England Quidditch Team, and it took him a moment to find the smaller article in the corner of the page. The photo showed him and Lily, clearly in Knockturn Alley, hurrying away from Borgin and Burkes.

Dodgy Dealings?

Lily and Albus Potter, younger children of Wizarding heroes Harry and Ginny Potter, nee Weasley, were spotted yesterday in the infamously seedy Knockturn Alley. The pair were unaccompanied - despite being under seventeen - and took an interest in several establishments, including the well-known Borgin and Burkes. The shop has been the subject of near-constant lawsuits, searches, and investigations for nearly three decades, and apparently stocks the Darkest magical objects allowed.

The reasons for Lily and Albus' trip down the alley are unknown, although witnesses say they were seen leaving the shop of a man named 'Wolsey'. The shopkeeper refused to give an interview, or even to define exactly what he sold in his undeniably bad-smelling premises, but our reporters can say that it was likely not schoolbooks or regulation potions equipment.

Neither Harry nor Ginny Potter gave comment on this matter, but we can be quite sure that they will be looking into why their young children went off on this jaunt. Is it a little teenage rebellion - or something much darker? We'll leave them to find out - it's what any responsible parent would do!

'Mum,' he said, folding the newspaper up again and looking up at her. He tried to remain calm, at least outwardly. 'It's just a stupid article, the Prophet has been writing made-up trash about us our whole lives!'

'Yes, they have,' said his mother, clearly forcing herself to speak calmly. 'They've written silly little articles whenever you've thrown tantrums or fought each other in public, or some stupid teacher leaked that you'd been given detention. But never this! What were you thinking, sneaking off to Knockturn Alley without telling us? And how dare you take Lily along with you! She's fourteen, Albus, you had no right. Explain yourself!'

Albus felt his heart sink. The week in Val d'Isole was fading like dawn mist, to be replaced with another endless seven days at home. There was no way he would be allowed out after this little incident. As he thought of how depressing it would be to hear about his friends' time there when term started, his brain desperately scrambled for something to explain the situation.

'It was me.'

This time, both Ginny and Albus were surprised. Lily was stood at the top of the stairs, still in her pink pyjamas. They stared at her for a few seconds, then their mother spoke.

'L-Lily? What do you mean?'

'It was my idea to go to Knockturn Alley. You've never let me go there before, and I was curious. But I passed Albus on my way, and he wouldn't let me go by myself, he said it was too dangerous. He didn't want me to go at all, really, he was going to force me to go back, but I just said I'd run off another time, so he said he might as well make sure I was safe. He even took his cloak off and put it on me, and made me keep the hood up. So it wasn't his fault at all, he was only trying to look after me.'

Albus was so shocked that he couldn't think of anything to say, and merely shrugged when his mother looked at him.

'Well,' she said, frowning at them both. 'I - I guess that's that, then. We'll get this cleared up, they'll print a correction. And I suppose I should say sorry, Albus, for jumping to conclusions. Lily, you were very silly indeed and I'm extremely disappointed! Now, both of you go and get dressed, I want you back in the kitchen again to help your father and I with lunch.'

She marched off and as the kitchen door swung shut behind her, Albus turned to Lily. 'What did you do that for?'

Lily shrugged, chewing the inside of her cheek. 'I dunno. I guess that as you took me into Knockturn Alley, I should get you out of trouble for it. And if you couldn't go off to that mountain village with all your friends to get intoxicated for a week, I'd have to spend that extra time with you.'

He smiled, and punched her lightly on the shoulder. 'Thanks, Lil.'

'Don't mention it. Seriously though - don't.'

When Albus wandered into the kitchen a while later, dressed as casually as he could manage in a black t-shirt and cream chinos, he found a surprisingly calm scene. His father was checking on something in the oven, Lily was chopping carrots, and the crockery was all ready to be laid out on the clean kitchen table. It was only really his mother who was showing any sign of stress, as she hurried about moving random objects from one place to another, and badgering everyone else about whether things were ready. But Albus knew his parents well - his mother may have appeared more nervous, but his father would be just as stressed out. He was just containing it better.

The morning dawned with a thick layer of frost on the ground, and an icy wind was blowing by the time the Weasley-Grangers hurried up the front garden path, Aunt Hermione casting a protective spell over them all as they clutched cloaks around themselves. Albus, who watched them from the window on the upstairs landing, felt his brief good mood dissipate like smoke on the sea at the sight of Rose's red head bobbing across the grey grass. She was with her bland boyfriend, too. He couldn't help thinking that wearing the Gryffindor scarf was an obnoxious touch, but then he did live in a family of Gryffindors.

'Albus!'

'Coming, Dad.'

The door swung open and the family burst in, calling random greetings and hugging everyone within reach. Albus stayed near the top of the stairs for this, only heading down to the bottom when his Uncle Ron - being a head taller than everyone else - noticed him and hailed him down.

'Albus! How's your term been, then? You're looking taller!'

In his head, Albus scrolled through possible answers to how he'd spent his term. Getting blackout drunk? Selling illicit items? Sleeping with his Charms teacher? Getting caught sleeping with his Charms teacher by said uncle's daughter? But as he thought about it, his eyes met his father's and he remembered quite how suicidal it would be to say anything truthful.

'Fine, thanks! Just focussed on staying on top of schoolwork,' he said, smiling inanely. His father nodded, and turned away to speak to Rose and Daniel. Ignoring the odd, heavy feeling in his stomach, Albus made some excuse and wandered into the kitchen to escape. On his way he managed, somehow, to walk almost directly into Rose, who was looking in the opposite direction. Knowing it would look odd if they ignored each other - especially as their mothers were stood about three feet away - he nodded to her and Daniel.

'Hello Rose.'

'Hello Albus.'

'How're your holidays going?'

'Good, thanks. Daniel's staying for a few days at the moment.'

'That's nice. I'm going to get some water from the kitchen. See you in there!'

Despite expectations, the lunch seemed to be going fairly smoothly in the first hour. James arrived with Lizzie just as everyone was settling down, and the adults did a remarkably good job at not intimidating her - despite the fact that she was meeting the Minister for Magic, the former Captain of the Holyhead Harpies, and all four of them were war heroes. Albus was sat between Hugo and his Aunt Hermione, so he wasn't expected to speak to Rose, although deflecting Hermione's probing questions took about as much effort as being a Beater did. The cooking had been pulled off perfectly, and they'd made it through most of the main course before things took a turn downhill.

'It's so nice to meet the boyfriends and girlfriends of you kids,' said Hermione, smiling around at them all. 'You're all bringing home such nice people! Lily, Hugo, you've got high standards to live up to - when you're old enough for all that, of course.'

Albus ignored the unspoken jibe at him, and Rose's pointed glance from down the table. A small part of him - the meaner part - was tempted to mention catching Lily in hidden places with boys, but then he remembered how she'd covered for him earlier and decided to leave it be. She had the power to get him grounded, now that she knew so much about his smuggling trade. Before he could say anything, anyway, James spoke up from down the table.

'Ah, Lily and Hugo are old enough already, we all know that!'

Silence fell across the dinner table. Lily shot James a furious glance, which he clearly didn't notice, as he carried on obliviously, saying: 'Yeah, we all know that they're seeing people! Surely you've met Theo and Matty?'

If it had felt quiet, now it was positively funereal. Albus looked around, sensing drama that for once did not involve him. Lily's ears had gone as scarlet as her hair, and Hugo looked oddly like he might burst into tears. But why? Surely it wasn't that much of a problem that they had boyfriends, after all they were fourteen. As much as Albus protested over Lily seeing boys, she was getting to that age. So what could cause them to look quite so angry? Unless…

'Matty and Theo? Is that … short for something?' asked Aunt Hermione tentatively, looking at the two of them. It was Lily who spoke.

'Yes, Aunt Hermione. Matthew and Theodore.'

As she said those words, Albus couldn't help thinking how well the scene would do as a Renaissance painting, from the vast variety of expressions. His Uncle Ron was sat opposite him, his fork paused halfway to his mouth as the realisation of what Lily had just said seemed to hit him. His Aunt Hermione's face was a frozen mask, but her eyes were clearly desperately scrambling for the right reaction to give. His own parents were down the table looking incredibly awkward, as did poor Lizzie and Daniel, both of whom were looking at their respective partners. Albus supposed that James and Rose would seem like the only safe spots to look at during this dinner scene. James himself seemed to have realised what he'd done, and was grimacing apologetically. And finally there was Lily and Hugo, who both had the expressions of people who'd just been handed a lit grenade.

'So … who's seeing who?' asked Harry, breaking the silence.

'I'm seeing Matty,' said Hugo, and although his voice shook he looked steadily down the table at his parents. There was something defiant in his expression, as if he was daring them to protest. 'It's not … it's not serious, yet. But we're together. We're seeing each other.'

'Right,' said Hermione, and she managed a smile. 'It would be nice to meet him, Hugo, if you'd like to bring him round. Wouldn't it, Ron?'

Uncle Ron's jaw was clenched, and he was staring at the table as if he wanted to stab it with the fork he still held. Finally he cleared his throat and said in a slightly strangled voice: 'Right. Right. Yeah.'

Albus felt his own heart sink at this inadequate response, and he wasn't surprised when Hugo seemed to crumple beside him. His cousin kicked his chair back, muttered something about 'getting air', and marched out the room. As the door swung shut behind him, Lily turned to James, her expression vicious.

'Well done, James, absolutely Outstanding,' she snapped.

'Hey, don't attack me! It's not my fault I didn't know!'

'Oh, really? You're just so obtuse, aren't you, you've got about as much insight as Labrador!'

'You think so?' said James hotly. 'I've got enough insight to see you snogging boys in corridors!'

'James!' Lily screeched, her whole face crimson now as James gave her a smug smile. 'So suddenly you can be some judgemental arse, then, just because you've got a girlfriend!'

'Yeah, because I've got a girlfriend!'

'Oh fuck off!'

'Language, Lily,' said Ginny, apparently grasping at the chance to discipline over something. 'Is there anything else we should know about? Rose? Albus?'

'You already know about Albus' escapades,' said Rose flippantly, tossing her hair back. Albus felt any lingering remnants of regard he had for Rose disappear in that instant, as every head whipped around to look at Albus.

'Shut up Rose!' he said sharply. 'Why don't you talk about all the fun nighttime activities you and Daniel get up to? Didn't your roommates say you don't sleep in your dorm anymore?'

'Rose!' cried Hermione.

'Albus you bastard!' she cried. Daniel was staring determinedly at his plate. 'Fuck you!'

'Just call it my revenge!' said Albus, grinning venomously at her.

'Revenge for what?' asked Ron, clearly at a complete loss again.

'Oh don't you all realise? Albus and I hate each other! He hasn't spoken to me for weeks, he's acting like I'm a complete demon, and all I did was follow the rules! I caught Albus screwing about and I told the Headmistress, big deal! Albus was the one who had an affair with Professor Chang!' yelled Rose. Albus stood up so fast his chair fell back, pulling his wand from his pocket, but Hermione and Harry had jumped to their feet at the same moment.

'Rose, we need to talk,' said Hermione, grabbing her daughter by the wrist and dragging her to her feet.

'Ouch! Talk to me? Why?'

'Now!' roared Harry. For some reason, Harry's yell seemed to break the spell and they all fell silent. Rose allowed herself to be led from the room by Hermione, and Harry turned to them all. 'Stay here until we get back,' he said, before following them out.

'Fuck that,' muttered Albus. He couldn't stand to see them all staring at him, so despite his mother's protestation he kicked his fallen chair aside and marched over to the back door, wrenching it open and slamming it behind him.

It wasn't windy anymore, but the air was still damp and horribly chilly. Wishing he was wearing more than a cotton shirt, he stood shivering for a moment.

'Hi Albus.'

He jumped at the voice, which came from somewhere near his feet. Hugo was sat with his back against the wall of the house, pulling leaves from the wall ivy and shredding them in his fingers. He didn't look up as Albus stepped carefully over the straggling plants and sat down beside him on the frozen ground.

'Want to talk about it?'

'No.'

'Alright.'

A long pause stretched out between them, then Hugo glanced at him from under his fringe and said: 'So neither of our dating preferences make our parents happy, then.' There was a faint glimmer of a smile around his drawn mouth, and Albus grimaced.

'Ah, so you heard the aftermath of your departure.'

'Of course I did. I think Grandma and Grandpa probably heard it, all the way across the village. I think we do have to worry about it ending up in the Prophet, because they'll have heard the shouting in their office in London. I think-'

'Shut up, Hugo.'

'Why? I'm only just getting started.'

'I know you are. But really do shut up, because I can hear our parents talking to your sister in the sitting room.'

They fell silent, and as they did Hermione's voice floated out from one of the sitting room windows, which had been left ajar:

'- and that's why it was just so immature of you, Rose! If you and Albus are having issues since the … incident, that's a problem but you can't deal with it by shouting like that.' Rose's reply was unintelligible, but a moment later Hermione continued: 'We'll be talking to Albus too, but I'm going to be honest with you were the one who lost control. Albus was immature - and I won't talk about what he said, I just hope you're being safe-.'

'Mum! Urgh, Merlin, stop being disgusting!' cried Rose, fully audible now. Hugo sniggered quietly.

'Let's move on from that,' said Albus' father's voice, hurriedly cutting across them. 'The issue here is about the fact you took something that was supposed to be a secret between us - that you'd expressly agreed to never speak about - and blurted it out. And you did that in front of two people who aren't even in the family, who could use that information against us.'

'Daniel and Lizzie? They'd never!'

'Maybe not now. But situations change. You or James might break up with them, and then they might decide to go to the papers about what you said. I'll need to speak to them both, directly…'

'So we're a family of secrets now, are we?' said Rose. Albus thought she sounded rather petulant, and was pleased when Hermione said:

'Rose, grow up and stop being so melodramatic. Every family has skeletons in their closets, the only difference with us is that we are prominent in the Wizarding World. I'm the Minister for Magic, I can't afford to have a scandal like what this would cause! So you need to think things through very carefully, and promise us - truthfully this time - that you will never speak what happened with Albus last term. If you don't think you can do that, we have a very difficult problem.'

'Fine. I promise. Really, I do. Can I go now?'

'Yes, go. Tell Daniel and Lizzie that we want to talk things through with them, too,' said Harry. He didn't sound like their father, Albus thought, but like the public Harry Potter, Head of the Department of Law Enforcement, Chief Auror, etc. etc. He also sounded very tired.

There was a pause, in which Albus guessed Rose was leaving the room, and then Hermione spoke again. Her voice was much softer now, and he shifted slightly to try and hear better. 'Are you alright, Harry? This must all be a terrible strain on you…'

'I'm fine, Hermione.'

'You don't seem fine. Please, Harry, talk to me.'

'It seems like talking is the last thing we can do at the moment. I don't know … I never thought that it could be this difficult, Hermione. I thought that once they were sleeping through the night, things would ease up from then on out. And with Albus, I just worry about him so much. I'm trying to connect with him but I just don't know what to say, it's like we're speaking different languages. And then, last term…'

'Harry, he's sixteen. Granted, the incident with Chang was quite unusual, but he's just trying to work things out. His heart's in the right place. Give it time.'

'Thanks, Hermione.'

Albus felt Hugo's gaze on him, but he kept staring out across the greyish lawn. The emotions in his chest were so confused that he couldn't work out quite what he was feeling. Was he upset? Angry? Guilty? Or a whole mess of all of it?

What he did realise, however, is quite how cold he was. His shirt seemed to provide no protection at all, and he began to shiver uncontrollably.

'Come on, let's go to the Burrow,' he said to Hugo. 'Can't stand the idea of going back inside.'

'Won't they worry about where we've gone?' asked Hugo as they set off across the lawn.

Glancing over his shoulder, Albus checked that their footprints were clearly imprinted on the frosted lawn. 'I think we can trust that they'll work it out. Do you think Grandma will have baked anything today? I could murder one of her mince pies.'