Nothing belongs to me.

XXXIX: Fun and Games

It was that time of year again: Father was away. Mother was shopping in London, and the house elves remained in the kitchen unless summoned.

It was the one day, Scorpius and his sisters had the house to themselves. So naturally, it would be on this day they chose to hold their annual Dare Day.

"Okay, Scorpy!" Ara cried, after they all had gathered in the sitting room. "You're first!"

"Why me?"

"Because you're the oldest!" Lyra declared, smirking.

Scorpius sighed. "Fine…go on, then. Give me your best."

Ara and Lyra had a brief conference before deciding. "We dare you to break into Father's study."

Scorpius blanched. His sisters were evil (yeah, okay, he knew this already, but now he was positive of it).

No one entered Father's study, not even Mother or the house elves. Ever.

"Fine." Scorpius said calmly, although he was anything but calm.

Each step up the staircase and closer to the office felt like a step closer to his demise. Behind him, his sisters giggled; they knew perfectly well the impact of their dare.

"Good luck!" Ara called as Scorpius crept gingerly into the study.

The door snapped shut after him, and Scorpius waited for Death to swoop down upon him…

But nothing happened. This was a relief; Scorpius was sure the place had been booby trapped. He looked around.

It was a normal looking office, fancy, like the rest of the house.

There was a polished wooden desk in the back and several armchairs scattered in front of the fireplace. Three large windows behind the desk revealed a handsome view of the back garden.

Scorpius laughed at the thought of his sisters' intent.

This dare wasn't that bad, not bad at all. He proceeded to have a look around…

Almost half an hour later, Scorpius emerged, unscathed.

"Wow, I thought you were a goner!"

"So?" Ara demanded.

"So what?"

"What did you see?"

"Nothing." he replied, shrugging. Scorpius opened his mouth to say something else, but a feeling of unease stopped him.

He wouldn't let what he had witnessed in the study ruin his sisters' fun and games.