19/02/2017


Don't Think Twice, It's Alright

It aint no use in calling out my name, girl
Like you've never done before
And it aint no use in calling out my name, girl
I can't hear you anymore
I'm thinking and wondering walking down the road
I once loved a woman, a child I am told
I gave her my heart but she wanted my soul
But don't think twice, it's all right


'God, I hate fifth year.'

Chandra had been making a similar proclamation every day since they had returned to school. Rose had started to ignore her, but Albus hadn't yet given up. He looked across the table at Chandra, who had her face buried in her hands. Her breakfast and cup of tea were mainly untouched in front of her.

'Me too,' he sighed. 'I thought they would ease us into it, but I feel like I get assigned a new essay in every class I go to.'

'I know – and I bet Professor Blotts will give us something new in Potions.' Chandra pouted severely. 'We've only been back a week and it feels like years. I need to do something to get better at Potions. If I sit my exams in my current state, I'll probably blow up the school.'

'I'm sure Al will help you study,' said Rose briskly. 'Come on, let's go. We'll be late if we don't leave now.'

The three of them gathered up their book bags and left the Great Hall. They started towards the stairs that led down to the dungeons, but before they had gotten far a voice called them back.

'Weasley. Potter.'

The three Gryffindors looked around. There, dawdling by the doors to the Great Hall, was Scorpius Malfoy.

'What do you want?' asked Rose, immediately hostile.

Glancing around, he came a few strides towards them, his pale face set into a scowl. 'We need to talk.'

'Well, we have Potions,' said Rose sharply, 'so it will have to wait.'

Grabbing hold of Albus and Chandra's arms, she started to lead them away, but Scorpius broke into a march to follow them.

'Funnily enough, I have Potions too,' he bit back, 'so we'll walk and talk.'

Rose made to argue with him, but Albus spoke over her. 'What's happened?'

Scorpius glanced over his shoulder to ensure nobody was following them down the stairs, before he muttered, 'We have a problem. About what happened on the weekend.'

'Lots of things happened on the weekend,' said Rose snidely. 'You'll have to be more specific.'

'For fuck's sake, Weasley, I'm serious.'

'Well, go on and tell us then.'

Albus noticed now that Scorpius was looking anxious, his pointed face even more sallow than usual, bags under his eyes.

'Zaina's been asking about Saturday night,' muttered the Ravenclaw. 'She wants to know where I was.'

Rose gave a huff of laughter. 'That sounds more so like youhave a problem, rather than we have a problem.'

'Keep telling yourself that, because she says if I don't tell her where I was, she's going to the teachers.'

Rose raised her eyebrows. 'Is she your girlfriend or your mother?'

'Don't think she won't. She went on about it all of yesterday.'

Rose gave a dramatic sigh. 'God, Malfoy, do you really need us to solve this for you? Tell her you were in detention.'

'I did tell her that.' He was starting to sound desperate now. 'She doesn't believe me. She thinks I was out in the grounds with some girl.'

Chandra made a sympathetic noise. 'Oh, dear. Why does she think that?'

'There were leaves in my hair and mud all over my boots.'

'Well done. And what do you want us to do about it?' asked Rose scathingly. 'No offence, but I don't much fancy mediating your lovers' quarrel.'

'I need you to back me up – tell me I was with you,' insisted Scorpius. 'You're a prefect – just say we got asked to … to help fix those tree roots in the pipes or something.'

'Why can't you just tell her you snuck out of the castle and explain you came looking for James?' asked Albus.

'She won't believe that. Why would I want to find James Potter?'

'Very good question,' asked Rose sharply. 'Why did you?'

Scorpius looked slightly bashful now and plunged his hands into his pockets. 'That's not the point. Can you just talk to her please?'

'Why should I do any favours for you when you can't tell us why you followed us out of the castle?' asked Rose. 'Why did you want to know where James was?'

Scorpius hesitated, scrutinising her from across the room before he looked away. 'If you must know, I was hoping to turn him over and get him taken off the Quidditch team.'

Albus grimaced slightly. He felt like he probably should have suspected this.

Rose, however, seemed unconvinced. She folded her arms and cocked her head at him. 'I don't believe you.'

Scorpius gave a sigh of frustration. 'Why not? It's the truth.'

'Because if that was true you would have gone to the teachers already.'

'Well, I changed my mind, okay? I'd rather win the House Cup properly. I know you love being right, Weasley, but it's not that big of a mystery.'

'Like I said, I don't believe you, so I guess there's no point discussing it,' Rose informed him. 'Anyway, not that this isn't riveting, but we do have a class to get to, so …'

And without a backwards glance, she started down the stairs to the dungeon. Chandra hesitated slightly, giving Scorpius a somewhat apologetic smile, before she skipped off to join Rose, leaving Albus alone with Scorpius.

Unsure what to say, Albus gestured vaguely after the girls. 'Er … Should we go too?'

Scorpius rolled his eyes but nevertheless started forward down the stairs. There was a heavy silence as they went deeper into the castle's depths. Albus remembered the conversation they had had in the trophy room – he had agreed to try to behave normally around the Ravenclaw. Thinking of this, Albus forced himself to think of something to say.

'Er … Look. Sorry about Zaina.'

It seemed Scorpius didn't want to accept this apology because he continued to scowl. Albus felt compelled to keep talking.

'You know, if you told her you wanted to have him taken off the Quidditch team …'

'She'd think I was an arse,' Scorpius snapped back.

'Isn't that better than her thinking you were seeing somebody else?'

Scorpius seemed to consider this, scowling, before he shook his head. 'They're both bad.'

They at last reached the dungeon and it became immediately clear that they were late. Albus eased the door open to see that Professor Blotts was mid-lecture, standing at the front of the room and scribbling on the chalk board. She glanced around at them with her eyebrows raised.

'You're late, boys.'

'Sorry,' said Albus quickly. 'Lost track of time.'

Albus knew that Professor Blotts liked him – he was good at Potions. He hoped that this would be enough to get them out of losing house points, and it seemed it was, because Professor Blotts gave a nod. 'Alright, sit down. We'll be working on the Atwood Potion today. It's an incredibly useful healing draught used to cure illnesses of the blood. It can be a bit finicky if you've never done it before so I want you all to work in pairs – you two can partner up.'

Professor Blotts returned to her lecture as Scorpius and Albus dropped hurriedly into two free seats at the back. He could feel a few people – Zaina Faheem included – glancing around at them both as he took out his notebook. He wasn't usually late to Potions, and he certainly wasn't usually late with Scorpius Malfoy.

'Alright, everyone,' said Professor Blotts bracingly. 'You can go get your ingredients. And I really recommend taking your time with this – it will certainly be on your OWLs.'

There was a collective shuffling of feet and outbreak of chatter as students went to grab their ingredients. Albus looked around at Scorpius, who was looking sullen and sitting with his arms folded.

'So …' said Albus slowly, 'would you prefer to do the ingredients or the incantations?'

Scorpius gave a shrug. 'Which is easier?'

'Er, well … I'm happy to do the ingredients if you like. I think they're kind of tricky.'

'Fine, whatever,' grumbled Scorpius.

'Cool. Can you get it boiling?'

Scorpius gave a heavy sigh as if Albus had just asked him to gauge his own eyes out. Deciding not to dwell on this, Albus went to the supply cupboard to select his ingredients and returned to Scorpius.

'Alright, so first we need to add the calendula leaves …' And Albus did just that. 'And the frog liver …'

'Okay.

'You need to get the potion stirring anti-clockwise,' said Albus, and then added quickly, 'if … if that's okay.'

Scorpius took out his wand and gave it a half-hearted swirl.

'Right,' said Albus slowly, 'maybe if … you try it a bit slower…'

'Is it supposed to be bubbling like that?'

'Er… no. I – I think you might have – have put the heat up a bit too high.' Scorpius gave him a disparaging look, and Albus added quickly, 'But it's okay. If we add toad spawn it will fix it.'

Scorpius rose to fetch more toad spawn leaves from the cupboard, leaving Albus to adjust the flames beneath the cauldron. As Scorpius crossed back across the room, Albus saw Zaina lean towards him. He stopped briefly by her table and they exchanged a few muttered words that Albus couldn't hear. Scorpius returned to the table looking morose, slamming the jar of toad spawn down on the table with a huff.

'Thanks,' said Albus.

Scorpius ignored this as he slumped down in his seat.

'Er – are you alright?'

'Brilliant. Are you going to add them or what?'

Albus did as he was told. They sat in silence for a few minutes as the potion bubbled away. Albus cast a sideways glance at Zaina, who was working with Connor Davies. She seemed to be laughing loudly and very frequently. It seemed Scorpius had noticed this too, because he was paying the potion no mind and had his eyes set squarely on his house mates. Not wanting to interrupt, Albus raised his wand to stir the potion clockwise.

Scorpius, seeing what he was doing, said immediately, 'I could have done that. I'm supposed to be doing the incantations.'

'I … Yeah. You just looked busy.'

Scorpius seemed unsure if this was supposed to be insulting or not. 'If you told me what you want me to do, I'd do it.'

'Yeah, I know, it's just … Zaina.'

Scorpius ground his teeth. 'What about her?'

'Nothing, I just … You know, if you want me to talk to her … I could say I was with you, you know?'

Scorpius seemed to consider this, before he said slowly, 'She probably wouldn't believe that I would hang out with you – no offence. But, well, you know …'

'Yeah, I know,' said Albus quickly. 'But, you know, I could say we were like … studying?'

Scorpius shook his head. 'Forget it. What do you want me to do now?'

'Er, okay, well … Can you just make sure the heat stays low while I add the patchouli? It can make it simmer more.'

Scorpius did as he was told as Albus measure out three careful teaspoons of patchouli essence. The potion began hissing wildly, but Scorpius did as he was told and kept the flame flickering lightly.

'Why do you care, anyway?' asked Scorpius as he swirled his wand.

'Er… well, I mean … I guess I don't want to have caused any problems between you and Zaina …'

'Not about the Zaina,' snapped Scorpius. 'About potions. It's the most tedious subject I can think of.'

This was not the first time Albus had been told this, but it disappointed him none the less. He was yet to find anyone who appreciated potion-making: even Rose, who did well in most classes, seemed to view it with disdain . 'I don't know … OWLs are coming up and … and I suppose potions is the only thing I know I'll pass.'

'So, you like it just because you're good at it?'

Albus shrugged. 'Maybe. Will you give it up next year if you don't like it?'

'I'll try.'

'You'll … try?'

'Yeah, my dad might not let me.'

Albus wasn't quite sure what to say to this. 'Er … Does he care that much about what NEWTs you take?'

'He … made you?'

'Yeah. But it's alright – I think I'll probably get a T on my Potions OWL and then I won't be allowed to take it anymore anyway. Should I turn the heat up now?'

'Er … Yeah, I think so. Just do it slowly.'

A long silence ensued as the potion bubbled away. Albus was caught off guard by this admission from Scorpius. His own parents had never tried to intervene in what subjects he took at school. They even seemed careful not to praise James too much in front of Albus when he got on O on his OWLs for Defence – which was, unsurprisingly, Albus's worst subject.

When there was ten minutes left of the class, Professor Blotts began making her way to the back of the room, peering into cauldrons as she passed and offerings corrections. She reached Albus's and Scorpius's table last and gave a broad smile.

'Oh, boys, that's looking marvellous. Malfoy, I think you picked a good week to pair up with Potter,' she said. 'Alright, everyone, you can pack up now. Make sure you take a look at Malfoy and Potter's potion as you leave – when it's got that silver sheen on the surface you know it's ready to drink.'

From the next table over, Emory Vane gave an audible scoff. Albus chose to ignore him.

As they cleared up their station and left the dungeon with their classmates. Both the Ravenclaws and Gryffindors had Herbology, and Albus was unsure if he was obligated to walk with Scorpius. He looked around to try to catch Rose and Chandra, but it seemed they had hurried off; he suspected Rose had intentionally left before she had to interact with Scorpius.

With nobody else to walk with, the two boys left the room together and walked in silence. The entrance hall was bustling with students coming up and down the Marble Staircase, moving through the castle on their way to the next class. Some seventh years were dawdling at the bottom of the stairs, talking, and James was amongst them, talking to Tessa Mishra. Albus's eyes lingered on him; the cut across his face wasn't fully healed and his lip was still cracked.

It seemed Scorpius saw this too, because he asked in an undertone, 'Did he tell you where he went the other night?'

Albus was silent for a moment as they went outside and started down the pathway towards the greenhouses. He wondered if it was unwise to tell Scorpius what he knew, seeming he had admitted to wanting to get James taken off of the Quidditch team. It seemed Scorpius knew Albus was thinking this because he rolled his eyes.

'I'm not asking to get him in trouble,' snapped the Ravenclaw. 'I'm just asking.'

'Well, I couldn't tell you anyway. He didn't tell me. He – um – doesn't really tell me stuff like this.'

Scorpius shook his head in dismay. 'God. Good luck having him as a captain.'

'Yeah, well … That's only if I make the team.'

From behind them, Albus heard another audible scoff. He looked around to see Emory Vane hovering behind them, leering at them.

'You're trying out for the team, Potter?' asked Emory. 'DIdn't know you could fly.'

Albus gave a shrug. 'I've improved.'

'Right. Trying to win Cassie back, are you?'

This wasn't an unusual interaction between Emory and Albus: Emory liked ridiculing Albus, and Albus usually didn't have a response. It was somehow made worse by Scorpius's presence: the Gyffindors were used to Vane, but it seemed to take Malfoy by surprise. The Ravenclaw had stopped to look over his shoulder, giving Vane a disdainful look, before he turned back and continued up the stairs.

'Got a problem, Malfoy?' Vane demanded.

Malfoy didn't look around this time, but said coolly, 'Nothing severe, fortunately.'

Vane seemed unsure if Malfoy was insulting him or not, and he snarled, 'Don't think you'll be so sure of yourself when Daddy's in prison.'

Albus made to face Emory but Scorpius caught his arm, keeping him walking forward. 'We're going to be late for herbology,' he said.

Albus started to turn away and they continued out of the doors into the courtyard and along the path to greenhouses. It seemed, however, that Emory wasn't done yet.

'Hey, Potter,' said Vane gleefully, 'I wouldn't worry about getting dumped by Kettleburn, honestly. I've heard she's a bit frigid. Is that true?'

Scorpius wasn't quick enough to catch him this time. Albus spun in spot, coming face to face with Vane, forcing him to stop. 'Can you just shut up, Emory, okay?'

The students nearest to them stopped too, looking around with interest. A few paces forward Zaina and her friends were eyeing the exchange cautiously.

Emory looked briefly taken aback by Albus challenging him, before he begun to laugh. 'So it is true, then?'

Albus and Scorpius both moved at the same time: Albus to grab his wand, Scorpius to step between the pair of them. Scorpius took hold of Albus's shoulders, forcing him back, ensuring that Vane was out of his reach. Vane moved forward too, eager to meet Albus's anger, but Hamish Coote and Atticus MacDonald had doubled back, each seizing a hold of the bigger boy's arms.

'Fucking hell, Emory,' snapped Hamish. 'What is your problem?'

'Potter's finally stepped up,' said Vane harshly. 'Come on, Hamish, he wants a fight. Don't you, Potter?'

'I want you to fuck off,' snapped Albus.

Vane's eyes flickered with anger. He took a step towards the smaller boy, but Hamish seized hold of him, rooting him to the spot. 'Stop it. For fuck's sake, do you want another detention?'

Vane considered this, eyeing Albus venomously, before his eyes flickered towards the greenhouses. They were close enough that Neville was sure to overhear any fights. Reluctantly, he allowed Hamish to direct him away, trudging up the pathway towards the greenhouses.

Only now did Albus have any sense of embarrassment. He stayed in his spot, staring at the ground, waiting as the onlookers slowly started walking again, talking amongst themselves.

He raised his head to look at Scorpius. He knew he ought to thank him, but his humiliation seemed to have rendered him mute. He swallowed heavily and attempted to begin. 'I – that …'

'School will be so great once he fails his OWLs,' was all Scorpius said, and he started again towards the greenhouses.

And suddenly it occurred to him what to do. Albus moved forward, weaving past Scorpius, who gave a half-hearted call of warning, thinking that he was again going after Vane, but he didn't get that far. Instead, he reached the group of Ravenclaw girls a few paces ahead and said uncertainly, 'Hey, Zaina?'

Zaina looked around. She and her friends came to a halt, inspecting Albus suspiciously, waiting for him to speak. Albus had very little experience speaking to her. She was so pretty that it was slightly startling, and for a minute all he could do was look at her, before he remembered himself.

'We were trying to disarm each other,' he said breathlessly.

Zaina looked at him as if he was slightly deranged. She cocked her head, her black ringlets falling over her shoulder. 'I'm sorry?'

Feeling idiotic, he forced himself to continue. 'Scorpius and me. On Saturday, after detention. He said that it hadn't been a fair fight because I hit him and … and that if we had had wands he would have disarmed me. So we went out to the Quidditch pitch to try it.'

Zaina was silent, glaring down at him, her arms folded and her plump lips pursed. Albus was determined to meet her eye. She gave him a long, scrutinising look before her eyes passed over Albus's shoulder to where Scorpius was standing. 'Is that true?'

Albus met Scorpius's eye for a brief instant, before Scorpius looked back to Zaina. 'Yeah.'

Zaina considered this, her friends looking on, before she said to her boyfriend, 'You honestly care that much about who disarms who?'

Scorpius nodded. 'Yeah, I suppose I do.'

'That's really pathetic.'

'That's why I didn't tell you,' said Scorpius. 'But I did win.'

There was another instant in which Zaina eyed him, before Albus saw her begin to laugh. Rolling her eyes, she turned back around and started towards the greenhouses. Albus looked back at Scorpius, who was frowning after his girlfriend in disbelief, before he seemed to realise that he had been forgiven.

He hurried past Albus, looking back as he did so and muttering very quietly, 'Thank you.'

Albus saw him reach Zaina and fall into stride beside her, taking her hand as he did so.


'Very good, Mr Jiang! Keep at it now!' Professor Doge called as he made his way around the room. 'Very good indeed! Mr Corner, may I suggest keeping your wrist a little stiffer …'

James had known it was coming. Once the professor was safely preoccupied at the front of the room, Finlay had caught his arm, pulling him to the back of the room out of earshot of Linus Stebbins and Julian Jiang.

'What?'

Finlay did not appear to have heard him, but raised his arm once more to mime the charm, before he hissed at him, 'Doge's been looking at you all morning.'

'Yeah, but who can blame him? He's only human. Expecto Patronum!'

Finlay watched, glaring, as a large burst of silvery vapour streamed from the tip of James's wand, twisting through the air above them.

'Would you listen?' snarled Finlay, catching James's wrist as the latter made to raise his wand for another attempt. 'Doge might not say anything, but that doesn't mean the other teachers wouldn't. Smith loathes you – he'd love to turn you in …'

'Enough chatter at the back there, boys,' came Doge's wheezing voice from across the room.

'Sorry, Professor,' replied Finlay. He raised his wand and spared a few seconds to attempt the charm once more until he was satisfied that Doge was no longer looking; he then rounded on James once more. 'If you're going to keep turning up at school with cuts and bruises all over you somebody's going to say something. They'll figure out you've been leaving the castle.'

'You've never minded leaving the castle when it involves getting pissed in Hogsmeade.'

'I'm not having a go at you about leaving the castle,' Finlay snapped back. 'So, you get kicked out of school – whatever. That's not the problem. The problem is that this stuff – it's illegal, James.'

'If you just came along with me, you'd see it's not such a big deal. And it's good money.'

'Good enough to get yourself killed?'

'Merlin, lighten up, would you? You sound like my mother. You need money, I need money. Don't get shitty just because I'm actually getting somewhere with it.'

Finlay dropped his wand to his side and rounded on James, looking mutinous. 'For fuck's sake, James. You can be a real prat, you know?'

James, however, had apparently lost interest. He raised his wand, his mind on the pocketful of galleons he had returned to the castle with on Saturday evening and what he was going to do with them. 'Expecto Patronum!'

Something huge and silver burst from the tip of James's wand and Finlay lurched back in surprise. It lasted only a few seconds, leaping across the room, drawing gasps from all across the room, before it vanished into a few wispy clouds of vapour.

Doge appeared beside them in an instant, his lined face alight with excitement and his chest heaving for breath. 'Mr Potter, was that … I do believe … our first corporeal Patronus for the year! Twenty points to Gryffindor!'

There was a murmur of excitement from amongst the Gryffindors in the class and Julian gave James a heavy clap on the shoulder. Finlay, however, was not smiling.

'I knew you'd pick it up quickly, James,' said Doge eagerly, beaming up at the Quidditch captain. 'I don't believe I've seen a student conjure a corporeal Patronus this quickly in all my years of teaching.'

James gave a shrug, and he raised a hand to run it absently through his hair. 'You're making me blush, Professor. It only lasted a second.'

'Yes, but even so, far better than I was expecting for our first practical lesson! Forgive me, I didn't have time to get a good look at it – perhaps you will be the better judge. It took the form of a lion, no?'

James shrugged again, unable to suppress the wide smile across his face. 'Looked like it, yeah.'

'Ah, a true Gryffindor if ever I saw one! Well, I am truly thrilled at how you have all conducted yourselves in this lesson, and I do believe you have earned yourself an early lunch!'

There was a collective murmur of glee from around the classroom as students stowed away their wands and returned to their desks to gather up their school bags.

'Now your homework for the weekend will be simply to practise the Patronus Charm, as it will certainly appear in your NEWTs practical,' Doge called over the babble of students. 'And if you find the time, it would be beneficial to you all to read chapter ten – it gives some background on the theory behind the charm. James, a word before you go, if I may?'

James, in the process of stuffing his medley of books unceremoniously into his satchel, looked up at the professor to give a nod before turning to Finlay. 'Wait for me?'

Finlay gave no reply other than hoisting his satchel over his shoulder and marching towards the door to join their Linus and Julian, hurrying out of the room. Scowling, James strode across to meet Doge at his desk, watching as the Professor dusted off the blackboard with a wave of his wand.

'Now, James,' began Doge once the final stragglers had left the classroom, 'you know that I have always been very pleased with the level of skill you continuously display in my classroom …'

'Well, I've had a good teacher, Professor.'

A smile crept across Doge's weathered face. 'Oh, James, I think we both know that your dexterity at Defence Against the Dark Arts has much less to do with my teaching and much more to do with your natural ability.'

James waved away the compliment.'You're flattering me, Professor, but I have Charms now and you know how Professor Smith is …'

'That, James, is what I wanted to talk to you about,' said Doge, suddenly sounding grave. 'That looks like I nasty cut on your face, and while I am not interested in learning how you acquired it, I'm sure that Professor Smith will be. I would recommend that you make certain that whatever you found yourself doing over the weekend remain a one-off event. I don't want to see my best student expelled before he sits his NEWTs.'

James blinked down at the old professor before giving a stiff nod. 'Whatever you say, sir.'

'I'd suggest a visit to the hospital wing if I may to get it fixed. It may spare you some uncomfortable questions.'

'Right. Thanks, Professor.'

'Let's not mention it, James.'

And with that Doge crossed to the door and gestured for James to exit.


Being with Zaina was so easy when she wasn't mad at him. She was so likeable when she wanted to be – so teasing and charming. She waited patiently at the edge of the Quidditch pitch, stretched on the grass, a roll of parchment propped up on her thighs. He knew she was watching him, however, because every time he caught the snitch she would clap.

'I thought you said you were out of practice?' she called out to him after he made his fourth catch.

Grinning, he landed, and was conscious of pushing his sleeves back as to show his forearms as he came and dropped down onto the grass beside her. 'I am out of practice. I spent all of my summer at some girl's house.'

Zaina raised her eyebrows and trailed her hand over his shoulder. 'Gosh, all of your summer? She must be amazing.'

He stretched back on the grass beside her and lay a hand on her thigh. She put aside her parchment and rolled over to lie on her stomach, resting her chin on his chest. She blinked up at him with her long-lashed eyes.

'Well, even so, you'll definitely win in the first match,' she told him. 'Gryffindor are down a Seeker and a Chaser. They definitely won't be ready for the first match in November.'

Scorpius ran his hand through her curly hair. 'Careful. You're starting to make me think you only like me for my Quidditch skills.'

'Oh, no. Not at all.' Her hand shifted to touch his arm. 'Those Quidditch arms do help though.'

Smiling, he brushed her hair out of her face. 'My Quidditch arms are getting kind of sore, actually. We could go back to my dormitory if you want.'

'Nice try, love, but I do have a Potions essay to write.' And she gave his chest a pat and sat up to reach again for the roll of parchment she had been writing on.

He slumped back on the grass, watching as she unfurled her parchment, frowning. 'So you're just going to ignore me now?'

'Well, you know, dear, you could work on your Potions essay too. Or are you trying to fail intentionally to annoy your dad?'

He let out a low sigh. 'It's not intentional. I'm just not good at Potions.'

She raised her eyebrows at him. 'Do you think maybe you're not good at it because you don't really try?'

This was starting to annoy him. 'No, Zaina, I really am just shit at Potions.'

'Alright, if you say so, dear. But I really do need to work on this.'

'Alright, fine. I might do a few more laps of the pitch.'

'Alright, love. Enjoy.'

He got back to his feet as Zaina returned to her essay, but as he went to mount his broom, he saw five new figures coming down the sloping hill to the Quidditch pitch.

'Oh, good,' said Zaina brightly. 'They're here.'

As they drew nearer, Scorpius saw that it was his dorm-mates – Connor Davies, Kienan Cornfoot and Mori Akiyama – along with Zaina's dorm-mate Louisa Edgecombe. The boys each had their brooms slung over their shoulders.

Scorpius had been quite enjoying spending the afternoon without them. He looked at Zaina and asked, 'You told them we'd be down here?'

His annoyance evidently showed in his voice because Zaina made a tutting sound. 'Don't be sulky, Scorpius. I just told Louisa I was coming down to watch you fly.'

'Alright, you two?' said Connor as he reached them. 'Sorry to interrupt.'

'Oh, don't be sorry, Connor,' said Zaina. 'I'm knee-deep in Potions homework. You'll be much better company than I am.'

'Oh, grand,' said Kienan. 'We can play two against two.'

'How about it, Malfoy?' said Connor. 'You and me against Mori and Kienan?'

'Ooh, lucky us, Lou,' Zaina said to Louisa. 'We get to watch these boys try to outdo each other.'

But Scorpius wasn't in the mood to be polite to Connor; he hadn't really been in the mood to do so all year. 'I actually should probably be heading back to the castle. I do have that Potions essay to do, you know.'

The boys gave understanding nods – only Zaina looked unconvinced. She raised her eyebrows at Scorpius. 'Really, darling? You're going to give up an afternoon or Quidditch for your worst subject?'

'All the more reason to study, it being my worst subject and all,' he said quickly, and he propped his broom over his shoulder. 'Anyway, I'll be off. Good luck with the game.'

And without giving Zaina another chance to contradict him, he started the walk back to the castle up the sloping hill. As he reached the crest, he glanced back over the pitch; Kienan, Mori and Connor had apparently started their game, their figures swooping through the air around the hoops. Zaina had apparently abandoned her essay, as she and Louisa were both facing towards the pitch, looking fixated on the three boys.

He was half-tempted to walk back – to stride right up to Zaina and remind her that she had an essay to finish – but he was distracted from this by the sound of footsteps coming through the thicket of trees down from the castle. He looked around, just as the figure emerged from the thicket. Albus Potter came to a dead halt in the centre of the path at the sight of Scorpius.

The Gryffindor looked startled, as if he'd just happened upon a venomous snake in his path. He seemed to try to compose himself very quickly before he managed to say, 'Er … hi.'

'Hey.'

'Are you – er – going down to the pitch?'

'Just coming back.'

'Right.' And Albus's eyes flittered towards the pitch where the three-person game was going on. 'And … er … are those your housemates down there?'

'Yep, sure are.'

'Oh, cool.' But Albus didn't sound convincing when he saw this – he sounded thoroughly disappointed. 'You – er – didn't want to play?'

'Not really.' He wasn't that interested in explaining to Albus why he didn't want to play with his house mates, so he said instead, 'We've got that Potions essay, you know?'

Albus nodded. 'Right, yeah.'

'Were you planning to go down there?'

'Er … Yeah.' And he jerked his head back towards the castle. 'But, you know, if they're using the pitch …'

'They wanted a fourth person, if you want to join.'

At this suggestion, Albus looked just as enthused as Scorpius felt about playing with his dorm-mates. 'Er … No, it's fine. I might just head back to the castle.'

'Oh, right. Well, I will too.'

'Right. Cool.'

'Right. Shall we go then?'

Albus gave a quick nod. 'Yeah, sure.'

They started walking, keeping a significant distance between them. They walked in silence for a while, the castle looming in the distance. With nothing being said between them, Scorpius's mind started drifting back to the Quidditch pitch. He wondered if Zaina clapped the same way for Connor as she did for him. He wondered why it mattered, also. He had been having a good day with Zaina – an easy day with her. Couldn't he just be satisfied with that?

He decided it served no purpose to think of that, and so to distract himself he said to Albus, 'Were you going down there to practise for try-outs?'

Albus looked briefly startled at being addressed by Scorpius before he seemed to try to look normal. 'Er … Yeah. I guess so.'

'You don't have a broom?'

'No. I was going to use the school ones.'

Scorpius raised his eyebrows. 'You know they're shit, right?'

'Yeah, well, yeah …' Albus gave a shrug. 'Well, I don't really. I don't fly that much. I don't really know what makes a broom a good broom.'

'Your brother has a Nimbus 3000, right?' Scorpius knew this because it had been a source of great irritation amongst the Ravenclaw Quidditch team the previous year. 'Can't you ask him to help you pick one?'

Albus gave another shrug. 'Yeah, I don't know. I guess it depends if I make the team.'

Scorpius could tell as he said this that it was a source of contention, so he held out his own broom: a Firebolt 12. 'This is good too.'

Albus eyed it, looking impressed. It seemed even he had heard enough about Firebolts to know that they're good. 'That just came out, right?'

'Yeah.'

'How much are they?'

'I'm not sure – my dad paid for it.' Draco was in the habit of buying Scorpius a new broom at the beginning of each school year. Scorpius didn't like to advertise this, though, because he knew how it looked. It seemed Albus was already thinking this, however, and so he said, 'I mean, I didn't ask him to. He just decided to.'

Albus nodded, renascent. 'Cool.'

They continued up the path and the ground evened out as they drew nearer to the castle. It was a Saturday afternoon and the sun was beginning to set earlier as autumn drew in, but today the grounds were fairly busy with students dotted around, enjoying the last warm weekend.

'So how have things been with Zaina?'

The question caught Scorpius off guard. A few hours ago, he would have said they were great – or as great as they had ever been. Since they had made amends on Monday, everything had been pleasant and easy, but he now found himself irritated with her. He knew it wasn't fair; she was completely within her right to want to stay behind and watch her housemates play Quidditch together. It wasn't her fault that he found Connor as irritating as he did.

He decided not to say any of this to Albus, however, and instead said quickly, 'Fine. Yeah. Good.'

His answer must have been unconvincing because Albus raised his eyebrows at him. 'Er … Should I not have said what I said? You know, about us duelling?'

'What? No. That was fine. It's not … It's unrelated to that.'

'Oh … Okay.'

He could feel Albus's unasked question weighing heavily on him, so he gave a heavy sigh. 'She and I are fine. I just didn't feel like spending the afternoon with my dorm-mates.'

At this, Albus gave a sniff of laughter. 'Yeah, I don't blame you.'

Scorpius raised his eyebrows. 'Not a fan of them?'

It seemed Albus realised what he had said because he suddenly looked regretful. 'Oh, I mean … I didn't mean personally … I just meant, you know, being around your dorm-mates all the time …'

'Relax. I know what you meant. Connor Davies is a twat.'

Albus looked immensely relieved. 'Yeah, he is.'

'Don't like that he's seeing Chandra Thomas, then, I take it?'

Albus scowled. 'No. I mean, yeah. I mean … I don't care if he's seeing her. She's allowed to see whoever she wants. I just think she could do better. Not that it's any of my business. But she could.'

Scorpius stopped himself from laughing. 'Right, yeah. Doesn't seem like you care.'

Albus let out a low sigh. 'I just don't want to see her get screwed around.'

'Look, I wouldn't worry. From what I hear, Thomas always has three guys going at once, anyway.'

Albus looked at him. 'What's that supposed to mean?'

'What? Nothing. That's just what I've heard.'

Albus looked just the same as he had when Scorpius had suggested Rose was difficult. 'I don't think it's anyone's business how many guys Chandra is seeing.'

'I didn't say it was, okay? I'm just saying that it seems like she wouldn't be too cut up over Connor. I heard from Zaina that she's also seeing Donny Hopkins again. And that sixth year on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team.'

'Yeah, well, Zaina shouldn't go around talking about that with everyone.'

Scorpius rolled his eyes. 'It's not Zaina's fault, alright? Everyone talks about. And she's not going around talking about it with everyone – she just said it me. I am her boyfriend, you know? We are allowed to talk about things that we both hear.'

Albus held up his hands in a gesture of innocence. 'Alright, alright, sorry. I wasn't, like, having a go at Zaina or anything. I just meant, you know … I don't want Chandra to get a reputation or something.'

Scorpius gave a terse nod. 'Yeah, alright.'

He could feel a tension between them now as they reached the castle's courtyard. He didn't particularly want any tension there, and so in an attempt to overcome it he said, 'Look, thanks by the way – for talking to Zaina. You didn't have to do that.'

Albus gave a shrug. 'Thanks for stopping me doing something stupid with Vane.'

Scorpius shrugged. 'That's alright. I mean, it would have been good to see Vane get hit, but I suppose it wouldn't be worth seeing you get kicked off the team before you even make it on.'

Albus gave a laugh now. 'I doubt I'll even make the team, to be honest with you.'

'Why wouldn't you? Your brother's captain, right? That should help.'

Albus laughed now. 'You don't know my brother.'

At Scorpius's curious look, it seemed Albus knew he needed to elaborate more. 'I just meant … You know, my brother's not the type to do me any favours. I feel like I'll need to do really well for him to even consider me. Even if I do better than everyone else – which I won't. I haven't really had enough practice. And the school broom's are shit – like you said.'

Scorpius considered this, seeing the dark look on Albus's face. He felt some strange compulsion to make amends. He nodded towards his broom. 'Look, if you want to borrow this, you can. For try-outs, I mean.'

Albus looked taken aback by this. Scorpius didn't blame him - it was an unusual offer. He eyed Scorpius's broom suspiciously. 'You'd trust me with that? Aren't they like – really expensive?'

'Well, my dad paid for it – not me.'

Albus laughed at this. 'That's fair. But I couldn't …'

'It's fine. I owe you. For Zaina.'

'No, we're even for that. Because of Vane …'

'Oh, that's nothing. I don't like Vane. And anyway, I don't want him to make the team, which he will if you're on those shitty school brooms.'

Albus seemed to consider this for a while, eyeing the Firebolt with temptation, before he said slowly, 'Alright. Maybe just for try-outs. Then I'll get my own.'

'Yeah, for sure.'

'Right … Well, thanks.'

'Don't mention it.'

They made it to the end of the courtyard and went through the doors into the castle's east wing. They paused, looking at each other, and Albus said, 'So you going to the library?'

'What?'

'You know, the Potions essay.'

'Oh. Right.' In truth, he had had no intention in working on his Potions essay. He had no clue to begin with it. 'I might leave it actually. Can't be arsed right now.'

Albus nodded, considerately, before he said, 'You know, if you're lending me your broom … We'll, I've finished the essay. You can look at it if you want.'

'Oh, no, it's all good.'

'No, seriously. I mean, don't copy it – but you can check my notes. Or I can read yours over for you if you want when you're done.'

Scorpius's first instinct was to decline, but he couldn't deny that this was tempting. He pushed his hair out of his face as he looked down at the shorter boy. 'You wouldn't mind?'

'No. It's fine. I can give it to you tomorrow if you want?'

Scorpius gave a nod. 'Alright, yeah. If it's no trouble.'

'No, course not.'

'Right. And, well … If you want to try out the broom tomorrow, just to see how it handles, I could meet you at the pitch after class tomorrow?'

Albus seemed to hesitate, but he nodded none the less. 'Yeah, alright.'

'Alright, well … I'll see you.'

'Yeah. And thanks for the broom.'

'Don't worry about it. Thanks for the essay.'


The History of Magic lesson passed in much the same manner as most History of Magic lessons: Professor Binns launched into one of his long, drawling lectures, while students feigned vaguely convincing show of attentiveness by staring through Professor's Binns's transparent body at the blackboard.

As usual, Professor Binns was apparently oblivious to the fact that, with only ten minutes left of class, the majority of students were asleep. Rose had her head in her hands and her eyes fixed on the bright, blue sky outside; Albus was writing in his journal under the pretence of taking notes; and Chandra was falling in and out of sleep as she leant back in her chair.

'… now you'll all remember that by this time earlier Celtic spell-work had fallen largely in disuse to be replaced by the much broader Latin lexicon of spells,' drawled Professor Binns, 'but I won't go into that now as I'm sure you've all read up on it for your essays …'

From beside him he heard Chandra give a tiny murmur of panic before he caught her lean towards him and whisper, 'Have you started your essay?'

He shook his head in response, keeping his eyes fixed ahead so as not to attract Binns's attention.

'I can't believe we have a history essay and a potions essay due in the same week,' murmured Chandra solemnly. 'Would you be free on Saturday to help with the Potions one?'

Albus swallowed heavily and whispered back, 'Saturday I can't, I've got … stuff.'

Chandra looked excited. 'Quidditch try-outs? That's great, Al. Do you have a broom?'

Rose felt his eyes flicker to her and then back to Chandra. 'Er … Well, I was going to borrow Malfoy's.'

Rose twisted in her seat to look at him. 'Seriously?'

'Yes, Rose.'

Chandra was looking between Rose and Albus, seeming uncertain, while Albus attempted to keep his eyes on the blackboard. Rose looked across the room at Scorpius Malfoy: he was sitting beside Zaina, tilting back on his chair, his eyes on the window, seeming to be in the daze of disinterest as the rest of the class.

'Why do you want to borrow his broom?' Rose whispered at Albus furiously. 'He tried to get James kicked off the Quidditch team, and now suddenly you're best friends?'

'We're not best friends, okay? I need his broom. He needs my Potions notes. It's not a big deal.'

'I just find it very odd that he suddenly wants to hang out with you.'

'You always used to tell me I was making assumptions about him, and now that I'm actually giving him a chance, you've changed your mind. It sort of feels like this is just Rose being Rose – you just need to be a contrarian.'

Rose flushed with anger. 'Oh, please. I'm not being a contrarian, Al. You're being an idiot …'

'Did somebody have a question back there?' called Professor Binns.

Chandra, Albus and Rose spun in their seats to find Professor Binns and the rest of the classroom eyeing them. Students usually pricked up in History of Magic when somebody was told to stop talking – it was usually the most interesting thing that happened all class. The only person not looking at them now was Malfoy, who had his eyes fixed pointedly on the window.

'I … er … we were just …' Albus glanced at the two girls for inspiration. 'We were just talking about the essay. Are there – um – any good books on spell etymology that we should use?'

Professor BInns' pearly eyes probed into Albus, as if astounded that anyone in his class was capable of posing a question. He seemed to spend several seconds mulling this over before he attempted to answer it. 'Oh, well, Mr Plumber, well … I suppose The History of Magical Language by Karim B. Shafiq could be quite informative, or you could try the House of Magical Ancestry and Artefacts …'

'That place that's opening down in Hogsmeade?' piped up Hamish Coote from across the room.

'Precisely, Mr Collins. It has many wonderful displays relating to Magical lineage and migration, and a very expansive library …'

'But there was an article about that in the paper the other day,' interrupted Kim Nguyen. 'It was saying it was really biased towards Pureblood history. It doesn't have any information on the history or achievement of Muggle-borns.'

'Oh, well, Miss Noon,' said Binns rather impatiently, 'it's only natural for an establishment dedicated to the history of Magical kind in Great Britain will have more information on the older Wizarding families. The fact of the matter is that they've had the greatest impact on Wizarding history. Now if we can return to the spread of Latin …'

'That's not true, though,' said Hamish rather forcefully. 'Nobby Leach was a Muggle-born and it was while he was Minister that the Ministry started funding St. Mungo's.'

'Yes, but Nobby Leach is just one man,' countered Zaina Faheem from across the room before Binns could open his mouth. 'There were thousands of other wizards who did things much more relevant to the history of Wizarding societies.'

'But Zaina,' said Louisa Edgecombe rather uncertainly, looking to her house mate, 'don't you think that might be because, well …'

She trailed off under Zaina's warning gaze. 'Because of what, Louisa? Nobby Leach didn't come around until the 1960s. You can't pretend that it wasn't Wizarding families who have played much more important roles in Wizarding history.

Louisa gave no sign of agreement, but nor did she make to protest further, until from across the room Chandra raised her hand slowly into the air. 'Um, excuse me, Professor Binns?'

Binns, who had been looking utterly baffled by what Rose was sure was his first experience with students expressing anything other than apathy towards his subject, seemed particularly startled to now see a student addressing him as politely as Chandra did. 'Yes, Thompson?'

'Well, I'm not sure but … but a lot of people in the Order of the Phoenix were Muggle-borns and half-bloods, weren't they?' said Chandra uncertainly. 'And … and they did very important things, don't you think?'

Connor Davies made a scoffing sound and Chandra looked at him. He was smiling at her fondly, as if looking at a small animal he was very fond of. 'Well, Chandra, you have to say that, don't you? Your parents were in Dumbledore's Army.'

Rose rolled her eyes. It wasn't the first time she had heard the Order or the war brought up in class. It arose occasionally in Defense Against the Dark Arts and when it did Rose often felt the eyes of other students flicker towards her and Albus. She had made it a principle to stay out of any conversations about the war, but that was made harder today when Chandra was looking so helpless.

Rose was saved from contributing, however, because Kim Nguyen jumped in and said hotel, 'My parents weren't, and I agree with Chandra.'

Zaina gave a dramatic sigh. 'But, Kim, dear, your parents are Muggle-born. So obviously you agree with Chandra.'

'But … but everyone knows how important the Order was,' continued Chandra, sounding very uncertain now that everyone was looking at her. 'I mean, if they hadn't been around then surely You-Know-Who … Well, I don't really know what would have happened.'

'Well, no, you wouldn't, would you?' said Zaina sweetly. 'You-Know-Who has nothing to do with which boys are single, does it?'

Rose knew this was her queue to intervene. 'Every historian with any credibility whatsoever could tell you that the Second Wizarding War totally reshaped Britain. Even J. D. Harper says so at the end of the semester's prescribed book. But you'd already know that if you'd bothered reading it, Faheem.'

'Oh, honestly, Weasley,' snapped Zaina. 'You just can't stand that there are some people in the world who want to learn about something other than your family for once.'

'Yes, of course. Write that in your OWL exams, Faheem. I'm sure you'll do wonderfully.'

Zaina immaculate face flashed with anger. She sufficed to swivel in her seat to face her boyfriend and demand heatedly, 'Purebloods have done more for Wizarding Britain, haven't they, Scorpius?'

All around the room, eyes swivelled towards the blond, who had until then been reclining in his chair on its two back legs wearing a look of enduring boredom. When addressed by Zaina, he straightened up and bought his chair back to the ground.

'Well,' began Malfoy slowly, 'I suppose so. But then again, that might have something to do with the fact that Ministry didn't start hiring Muggle-borns until the 1890s.'

The room was plunged into silence, spare for Chandra's horrified inquiry to Rose of, 'Is that really true?'

'But doesn't that just prove that it was Purebloods who established the Ministry?' countered Zaina. 'They were always in power because they ran society.'

Malfoy remained looking unbothered by this and he gave a nod. 'Yeah, I suppose so.'

'They ran society because Muggle-borns were literally second-class citizens,' Rose bit back. 'You've just proved that point for yourself, Malfoy.'

Malfoy's eyes flicked to her now, his angular face set on her darkly. He seemed to be sizing her up, ready to bite back, until from above their heads the bell chimed.

'Ah, I'm afraid that's all we have time for today,' said Binns wearily, sounding thoroughly relieved. 'I'll be expecting your essays on Monday and from there we'll be moving on to the influence of Norman incantations across the British Isles.'

Binns may as well have saved his breath; it was apparent the students were no longer sparing him any mind. Kim Nguyen gathered up her things and left the room with Elena Fortescue and Sally Wood, whispering mutinously with them. Across the room Zaina Faheem was muttering something heatedly to Scorpius Malfoy as the other Ravenclaws hurried off, looking uncomfortable. Rose stuffed her books into her back, scowling, before she hurried from the room. She felt Albus and Chandra start after her, hurrying to keep up.

'But the 1890s,' said Chandra, once she, Albus and Rose were out in the corridor. 'That's not even that long ago! The Ministry has done some really bad things, don't you think?'

Rose gave a sniff of laughter. 'Yes, Chandra, they have.' She now looked at Albus, who was skulking along beside them, his eyes on his shoes. 'You better not let Kim anywhere near Malfoy's broom at try-outs, Albus. Wouldn't want to give it back to him after a Muggle-born has touched it.'

Albus looked up at her, glaring. 'That's not funny, Rose.'

'I didn't say it was funny – I'm merely pointing out that I don't think he would want her touching his stuff.'

'God, Rosie, did you even listen to what he said?' Albus snapped at her. 'He was the one who brought up the thing about the 1890s – he clearly doesn't have a problem with Muggle-borns. It's just Zaina put him on the spot. He probably doesn't want to argue with her …'

'Oh, no, why would anyone want to argue with somebody who thinks Muggle-borns have no place in society?' Rose hissed. 'It's much more important to stay on good terms with your girlfriend, isn't it?'

'God, can you give it a rest, Rosie?' sighed Albus. 'Some people don't enjoy arguing with the people their dating – you'd know that if you had ever had a boyfriend.'

Rose glared at him, and other her sharp gaze he seemed to regret that comment slightly. 'Look, Rosie, I just meant …'

'I know what you meant, Al,' retorted Rose. 'Seems like you don't even need to be dating someone for you to make excuses for them – they just need to lend you a broom. Anyway, I have Arithmancy. I'll see you both later.'

And she turned abruptly at the staircase and started away from them.


Rose didn't speak to him for the remainder of the day, but he decided not to let it bother him. He had six days left until Quidditch try-outs: Rose being annoyed with him was nothing unusual, but trying to hold his own against more experienced players at try-outs was.

The sun was starting to dip behind the distant mountain peaks by the time he made it down to the Quidditch pitch. The shadow of the grandstand was slanting over the pitch and Scorpius was waiting there. He sitting in the front row of the otherwise empty grand stand, a book open on his lap, his broom rest against the seat beside him.

When Albus got close, Scorpius snapped his book shut and looked up. 'Hey.'

'Hi.' He held out the notebook he had brought with him: it contained his completed Potions essay, along with a stack of notes he had prepared in the process of writing it. 'Here you go.'

'Thanks.' Scorpius took the notebook and then gestured to his broom. 'There you go. Have at it.'

Albus grabbed the broom's handle, inspecting it. It seemed to immediately be of better quality than the school brooms: sturdier and sleeker, but lighter in weight.

'Alright, well, go ahead.' Scorpius gestured towards the ground. 'See how the broom feels.'

Feeling slightly self-conscious of being watched, Albus took the broom and walked with it out to the centre of the pitch. He mounted it, feeling its steadiness beneath him, before he kicked off the ground.

The difference from the school brooms was immediately obvious: there was no hesitation or lurch when he tried to direct it. It seemed to obey the slightest of his movements, gliding easily through the air, whipping across the pitch. It was almost too fast; he felt that his movements were a lot less controlled on the broom. Despite this, being on it felt brilliant – far better than the unpredictable Cleansweep he had been riding.

After ten minutes, he brought the broom down and it hurdled towards the earth so quickly that he had to pull himself sharply out of the dive to avoid crashing. He landed at a bit of a run but managed to steady himself, before he dismounted and marched back to the grandstand. Scorpius had left his book beside him and was instead flicking through the notes Albus had prepared. As Albus drew nearer, the Ravenclaw looked up at him with raised eyebrows.

'So? How was it?'

'Amazing. It's a great broom.' Albus looked down at the broomstick, inspecting its sleek handle. He tried to imagine what his uncle Ron would say if he could see him borrowing Scorpius Malfoy's broom, but he pushed that out of his head. 'How are the notes?

Scorpius looked down at the notebook and thumbed through it. 'It's a lot. Did you write all of these notes just for this essay?'

Albus gave a shrug, trying not to look embarrassed. 'Well, it will help with exams too.'

'How long did that take you?'

'Er … I don't know. A few hours. I kind of already knew it.'

Scorpius nodded and frowned, as if this perturbed him slightly, before he seemed to push through. 'You know, you better test the broom with the snitch and the bludgers out. Not much point flying without them.'

'Oh … er … Alright.' He considered keeping the next part to himself, but decided there wasn't much point. 'I've never really practised with bludgers before. What do I need to do?'

Scorpius considered him, and Albus immediately felt like an idiot, before Scorpius said quite evenly, 'I can get a Beaters' bat if you want. Aim them at you like the Beaters would in the game.'

Albus hesitated. Did he really want to be several hundred metres in the air, having bludgers aimed at him by somebody whose nose he had recently broken? It didn't seem like a wise decision, but then neither did turning up to Quidditch try-outs unprepared to dodge a bludger.

He nodded and said, 'Yeah, alright.'

They spent a good hour up in the air using the school's snitch and bludgers. Albus managed to catch the snitch three times, even in spite of the bludgers that Scorpius aimed at him. Albus was aware, however, that in a real game, a Beater would usually be a lot bulkier that Scorpius and would be on something faster than the questionable school brooms.

As they practised, Albus felt himself becoming more acquainted with the Firebolt. He learnt how to direct it better, getting into the habit of touching it more lightly and pulling it up faster than he would the school brooms. That being said, he still didn't like his chances for Saturday; Scorpius, flying on an ancient Cleansweep from the supply room, still managed to overtake him a few times.

By the time they landed, Albus's shoulders and abdomen were aching from exertion, but he tried not to show this as he dismounted. Scorpius landed after him, summoning the loose bludgers and snitch and returning them to the equipment case. Albus came over to help hold the bludgers down while Scorpius strapped them in.

'How was that?' Scorpius asked him.

Albus nodded. 'Yeah, way better, I think. I mean, I'm still not – you know – good, but …'

'You're not bad,' Scorpius assured him. 'You're pretty good at dodging bludgers. It just takes a bit of time to get used to how the broom handles. You just need to practise more.'

He picked up the equipment case and started back to the supply room at the bottom of the grandstand. Albus followed him.

'How often do you practise to stay good?' asked Albus.

Scorpius gave a shrug. 'I don't know. I try to do it a couple of times a week. I'm kind of out of practise, though. I spent most of the summer at Zaina's place. I didn't fly as much as I usually do over the summer.'

They returned the equipment to the supply cupboard and Scorpius propped his broom over his shoulder. They started off in stride back to the castle.

'So, do you want to use my broom for try-outs?' asked Scorpius as they walk.

'I mean, if I can, then sure.'

'Yeah, go head.' They were silent for a bit as they reached the crest in the hill on the way to the castle, and then Scorpius asked, 'Hey, can I ask … I mean, no offense, but it doesn't seem like you know a lot about Quidditch.'

Albus thought, objectively, this was a slightly tactless thing to say, but seeming it was true he couldn't deny it. 'Yeah, I don't really.'

'Well, why not? I mean, your mum used to play for the Holyhead Harpies, right? And your family's all into Quidditch, aren't they? They're always at the World Cup.'

It was always slightly disarming to be reminded that people Albus hardly knew – like Scorpius Malfoy – knew things about the Potters and the Weasleys without him needing to tell them. He supposed he ought to be used to it by now, but he wasn't.

Unsure what to say, he gave a shrug. 'Er … Yeah, I suppose. I mean, yeah, my family's Quidditch obsessed – most of them anyway. But … I don't know. I just never was. My brother and my older cousins … Well, they're all really good at it. I guess I could just never keep up so I never wanted to play much. And yeah, we go to the World Cup most years. But to be honest I kind of go out of obligation more so than because I like Quidditch.' Albus decided he wanted to talk about something else now, so he said, 'What about you? Did you grow up playing Quidditch?'

Scorpius nodded. 'Yeah, kind of. I mean, I didn't really have anyone to play with – but my dad would fly with me a lot. And we go to the World Cup each year.'

'Right. So, you went to Greece this summer?'

'Well, no. Not this year. But usually we do.'

'Why not this year?'

Albus immediately had the sense that he shouldn't have asked this. Scorpius stared at his feet for a few beats as they walked. He seemed to be frowning slightly. 'My mum's been kind of sick recently. Dad wanted to stay home with her.'

Albus's stomach gave an unpleasant turn. 'Oh, shit. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked …'

'No, it's fine.' But Scorpius was still frowning. 'You didn't know.'

'Is she … is she alright?'

'Yeah, she's fine. She's getting better.'

'Good.' They had reached the west courtyard and, feeling like he ought to change the topic, he said instead, 'So, do you follow a Quidditch team?'

'Yeah, the Tornadoes. You're the Cannons, right?'

'Er … I don't really follow the national league, to be honest.'

Scorpius frowned at him. 'But your sweater?'

Albus reasoned this was a fair assumption to make; he was wearing the orange sweater with the Canon's emblem that he had worn on the train to school. 'Er … This is my brother's old sweater. He used to follow the Cannons when he was young.'

'But he doesn't follow them anymore?'

'No, he kind of just follows whoever's on top of the ladder.'

Scorpius made a noise of derision. 'Not very loyal, is he?'

'No, not at all.'

They made it to the third floor and Albus knew this was where their paths would diverge. He stopped to look at Scorpius, and Scorpius stopped to look at him, and there was a beat of silence.

'Well … thanks for lending me your broom.'

'Don't worry about it. Thanks for the Potions notes.'

'Oh, it's fine. So … er … About the broom …'

Without hesitation, Scorpius held it out to him. 'Just keep it until Saturday.'

'What? No, no, I won't need it until then.'

'Yes, you will,' said Scorpius sternly. 'You need to practise.'

Albus decided to feel appreciative rather than offended by this offer. Hesitantly, he took the broom off of Scorpius. 'Alright, well … Thanks again. And, you know, if you want me to look at your Potions essay before you hand it in …'

Scorpius nodded. 'Will be nice to get a heads up that I'm going to fail. Alright, well, see you.'

'Yeah, see you.'

And Scorpius along the corridor towards his tower, while Albus continued up the stairs, carrying the broom over his shoulder.


James Potter looked good on a Quidditch pitch. There was some dynamic, electrical force between the boy and the gleaming grass of the pitch, some illusive coalition between him and his element. It seemed all the more pronounced on that Saturday morning, the cloudless sky overhead and the congregating students gazing upward at their prospective captain as he circled the pitch on his broom, tossing the Quaffle lazily through the hoops and then diving easily to catch it.

A particularly close catch – in which James feinted backwards on his broom to catch the Quaffle inches from the ground – roused a murmured gasp from Chandra as they strode towards the pitch.

'Oh,' she sighed as James pulled up, Quaffle tucked beneath his muscled arm. 'He's very good, isn't he?'

'Oh, don't,' warned Rose. 'Look at him showing off – he should have gotten everyone flying already. Look at everyone – it's going to take all morning to get through them all.'

It was at this moment that Albus chose to speak for the first time since the brief squeak of "good morning" he had given them in the common room before breakfast, and he did so in a quavering, high-pitched murmur. 'Maybe I won't bother then. There's so many people – and there's all the reserves from last year – and I don't even have my own broom – and I don't even really like Quidditch …'

He gave a shaky laugh and fell out of line with the girls, turning back towards the castle, but Rose's hand flew out for his arm.

'Albus, don't you dare,' she warned him with a scowl. 'Come on. James's coming down – they must be starting soon.'

In spite of his protests, Rose kept hold of Albus's arm until they reached the sidelines of the Quidditch pitch. Albus then abandoned his complaints and fell silent, staring wide-eyed out to the centre of the pitch where James had begun arranging his potential team-mates into year levels.

'Alright, well, off you go,' said Rose matter-of-factly, giving Albus a nudge towards the pitch. 'Good luck.'

Albus remained stationary and turned pleading eyes towards Rose. 'I can't.'

The redhead gave a heavy sigh. 'Oh, drop it, Al. Hurry up and get out there.'

'I can't – I don't – I just can't, Rose!'

'For Merlin's sake, Al, this is getting so dull! You wanted to try out so go do it!'

'I can't! Even on this Firebolt I can barely catch a snitch. Oh, Merlin, what was I thinking…'

'Fine, Al,' snarled Rose, throwing her arms up in a defeat. 'Fine! Forget it, let's go back to the castle! I'm done with you carrying on like this.'

And once again she lunged for his hand, ready to drag him back to the castle. Albus stammered, threw a glance towards the congregation in the middle of the pitch, before he fell silent and made to follow Rose back up the path.

'Al, please wait,' said Chandra very quickly. 'Please – you've got to try out, Al. Look, I got you something.'

Albus turned back to her sheepishly. He watched as Chandra plunged her hand into the pocket of her pinafore and then withdrew it again, her fist closed tightly around something. She took his hand and pressed something small, cool and round into his fingers. He opened his fingers to gaze down into his palm, finding within it a bright orange stone, chiselled into a smooth sphere.

'Oh,' he said, trying not to let his confusion show on his voice. 'I ... er…'

'It's carnelian,' she informed him. 'It brings good luck and helps you focus. I'll need it back, of course, but I think today you could use it more than I can.'

He glanced at Rose for direction to see her struggling to suppress a smile. He turned back to Chandra, finding her bright, eager eyes watching him closely. 'Oh … I … gosh, Chandra, thank you. It's great.'

And before he knew it, Chandra had thrown his arms around him to pull him into a tight hug. 'Oh, you'll be brilliant, Al!'

'I … thanks.'

She unlaced her arms from around him, but not before standing on her toes to plant a kiss on his cheek. 'Good luck, Al.'

He gave a numb nod as Chandra pulled away from him.

'Off you go, Al,' said Rose, and she gave him a nudge towards the pitch. 'Come on, Chandra.'

Albus watched them start off towards the grandstands to join the watching crowd. His cheek burning where Chandra's lips had touched it, he stuffed the orange stone into the pocket of his trousers and started out across the pitch to meet James.

He could feel eyes boring into him as he crossed the wide pitch, knowing all eyes in the grandstand would be watching the last straggler hurry out onto the pitch. When he was halfway across the ground he heard Louis give a call of, 'Al, is that you?'

As awful as it was to know his house-mates were watching him, sizing him as what they undoubtedly saw as measly competition, it was nothing compated to the look James was fixing him with: a kind of twisted grimace, lost between confusion and embarrassment and anger.

'Sorry,' he said when he reached the crowd, sliding into line with Emory Vane and Atticus MacDonald. 'Overslept.'

James seemed unable to answer, still staring at his brother as if he was some gruesome-looking beast he had found living beneath his bed. It was Finlay who instead chose to break the silence.

'Don't worry about it, Al,' said the Beater brightly. 'What position are you trying for?'

'Seeker.'

Albus heard a few of the younger students give excited whispers. James's lip seemed to give an unconscious spasm.

'Alright, then, how about everyone on their brooms?' Finlay pressed on. 'Start with two laps of the pitch, right, James?'


'Is it just me,' said Louis, 'or is Albus not that bad?'

'He's surprisingly decent, yes,' said Xan thoughtfully, gazing up at the figures zooming above them. 'Since when has he been flying, James?'

James did not reply. He was watching the game above intently. The quasi-teams were composed of two seekers and four chasers each and had been mandated by James to try to score against each other in their third hour of try-outs in an attempt to weed out the weakest of the remaining hopefuls.

'James?' pressed Xan, giving his shoulder a light punch.

'What?'

'I'm talking to you, that's what. How long has he been flying?'

'How should I know?'

'Because you live with him, you prat.'

'Play nice, you two,' said Louis serenely. 'Where'd he get the Firebolt from?'

James gave a shrug. 'Probably asked Daddy to buy it for him.'

'They've been up there for nearly an hour,' said Kim Nguyen. 'Don't you think that's enough?'

'Not yet,' growled James.

'They've both scored in the hundreds and She snitch has been caught five times,' Finlay reminded him. 'What do you want them to do next? Make it onto the English national team?'

Scowling, James turned to his dorm-mate. 'Whose captain again?'

'Come off it, James,' sighed Xan. 'You're hoping Vane is going to manage to catch the snitch again so you don't have to put Al on the team.'

'He's been faltering,' grumbled James. 'He's been hit by the bludger twice already. If he can't stay on his broom, he's no good no matter how fast he can catch the snitch.'

'He's been hit by the bludger twice and he's still playing,' Finlay reminded him.

'And anyway, in a real match he'll have Fin and I keeping the bludgers off him,' said Xan. 'So Al for seeker and what about the Chaser?'

'I'd go for Adam Farouk,' said Kim Nguyen. 'He's quick and he's only a third year. Imagine what he'll be like in his seventh.'

'Farouk for Chaser,' said James slowly, 'but I reckon we should get the Seekers to do some obstacle work first …'

'You can do what you want, but I'm going back to the castle,' snapped Xan. 'Try-outs never took this long when Fred was captain.'

'Well, time goes on, doesn't it? I'm going to get Al and Vane down and see how well they dodge some jinxes …'

'James, I know you're captain and all,' said Louis pleasantly, 'but you're being a right dick.'

'Sod off, Weasley.'

'Would it kill you to admit Albus is good at something?' demanded Xan.

'It's got nothing to do with that! I'm looking out for this team, unlike the rest of you apparently.'

'Fine, give it to Vane, then,' said Finlay, and Xan glared at him. 'But I noticed he's been struggling with his dives, so we better train him up for that. And the Ravenclaw beaters are good, so we're going to have to make sure he doesn't keep pausing when he's looking for the snitch as he has been. He needs to be on the move while he's seeking, so you should probably organise extra lessons for him to drill that into him, yeah?'

Louis was grinning by the time Finlay finished, while James looked mutinous. Gazing up into the sky he strode forward without another glance at his teammates and raised his wand, sending a shower of read sparks into the air to signal the players to land. A moment later he was surrounded by the eight remaining prospective players, each of which was looking thoroughly warn-out and bursting with anticipation.

'Right. Farouk's chaser, Potter's seeker,' said James flatly. 'The rest of you can go.'

There was a murmur of protests from amongst the six other students before they started trudging away. This left Adam Farouk behind beaming to himself, Albus looking utterly bewildered and Emory Vane dawdling behind, scowling at the elder Potter.

'You can't pick him just because he's your brother,' snarled Emory.

'No, but he can if he caught the snitch more than you did,' said Xan coolly, appearing at James's side.

'That's not fair! He only caught it the second time because a bludger got my wrist!'

'Well, perhaps you shouldn't let bludgers get your wrist,' suggested Louis innocently.

'This is bullshit,' snarled Emory, kicking at the grass in frustration. 'Fuck it, then.'

And he turned on his heel and stalked off back across the pitch towards the grandstand.

'Right, then,' said Finlay brightly. 'Now we've got rid of him, when's practice?'

'Monday nights, Wednesday nights, Friday nights and Saturday mornings,' said James, before turning to Albus and Adam. 'And, Farouk, you need to get a better broom. I'm not losing the cup because you think you can save money riding the school brooms. Potter, you need to work on your dodging. I lost count of how many times you got hit by the bludgers and that was without anyone hitting them at you.'

'But you both did brilliantly,' Xan assured them. 'I had no idea you could fly like that, Al.'

Albus did not seem capable of summing up any words of gratitude, and instead sufficed to give his cousin a grimacing smile.

'But you need to be better,' James told them sharply. 'Five in the afternoon on Monday. Don't be late or you're gone. Merlin knows I've got enough candidates to choose from.'

'Right – brilliant – thanks!' trilled Adam, tucking his broom under his arm. 'I'll write to my dad write away – get him to send me his broom. Thanks, Potter!'

James said nothing as the new Chaser bounded away to the grandstand where a group of eager third years were waiting to receive him. Chortling amongst themselves, Finlay, Xan, Louis and Kim started back towards the castle, but Albus stayed rooted to the spot. He was staring down at the Firebolt in his hands, seemingly dazed.

'You coming or what?' James asked him.

Albus looked up at him as if remembering for the first time that he wasn't alone. 'Oh – yeah, I … yeah.'

They trudged across the pitch, a good distance between their shoulders, both silent as they walked. Albus could see Rose and Chandra waiting on the sidelines of the grounds, Chandra beaming brightly, and Albus's hand moved unconsciously to clutch the stone in his pocket.

'Since when do you like Quidditch?'

James's query roused him and he turned to glance at the older boy. He was not looking at him, but rather staring at his feet as they walked, looking haughty.

'Oh, I don't really … I mean, not watching it. I like flying though. At least I think I do.'

James pulled out his tin of tobacco from his pocket and began to roll a cigarette. 'Whose broom is that?'

'What? Oh …' Albus looked down at the Firebolt as if he needed time to think about this. Er … I borrowed.'

'From who?'

'Um … Scorpius Malfoy.'

James made a face as he licked the cigarette paper and lit up. 'Excuse me? Since when are yoy friends with that git?'

'I'm not. We just … We got paired up in Potions and I leant him my notes so he leant me his broom.'

James gave a distasteful sigh as he dragged on his cigarette. 'Well, get your own, okay? Don't think Malfoy's going to let you borrow his broom when we go up against Ravenclaw in November. And do it quick – you need to get used to whatever broom you're flying on before then.'

'Right. Yeah. Sure.'

James took another heavy drag on his cigarette as they walked. 'You're alright, but you need to be a lot better, okay?'

Albus looked at him uncertainly. It wasn't often the brothers said anything resembling praise to each other. 'Right … Thanks.'

'Don't thank me, alright? I'm telling you that you need to get better.'

Albus nodded. 'Yeah, okay. And you – you don't mind do you?'

'Mind what?'

'That I'm on the team.'

Another heavy drag of the cigarette. 'No, I don't mind. But just so you know, if you let your old mate catch the snitch before you in November, I'm going to have to kill you.'


'You're sure you don't mind?'

'Seriously, Zaina, it's fine.'

She pouted her lips at him. 'You know, darling, if you had just done your essay when I did mine …'

'Yes, thank you, Zaina. That really fixes it for me, doesn't it?'

He tried to put an end to the conversation by reaching across the desk to snatch up the notebook that Albus had leant him. It seemed to work because Zaina got to her feet, sighing as she straightened the hem of her skirt.

'Well, good luck, love. And if you get it finished before, dinner come down and meet us, won't you? We'll be down by the lake.'

'Yeah, of course.'

She came around to his side of the table, wrapping her arms around him. As much as he didn't want to spend his Saturday afternoon with Connor Davies and Zaina's friends, he still felt slightly reluctant to say goodbye to her when she kissed him. He watched her start across the library towards, watching her long legs moving under her skirt before he gave a low sigh and turned back to the Potions notes.

He opened the notebook but – rather than beginning his long overdue essay – he plucked out the letter he had had tucked inside the centre of the notebook.

It was a letter from his mother. It had arrived on Monday, later than he had expected. There was no mention of his grandfather's funeral, no mention of his mother's health. Just some vague notion of disappointment, chiding him for receiving a detention.

I'd hate to see you do something that you regret, darling, she had written in the letter.

He had read it five times by now but was still uncertain how to reply. He certainly didn't want to disappoint her; he didn't want to do anything to make her feel worse. Simultaneously, however, he felt some sense of relief. If she was writing to him about his detention, surely that meant she was getting better?

He realised then, perhaps a little too late, that somebody had come to stand beside his table. He glanced around, expecting (maybe hoping even) that it was Zaina, but it wasn't: it was Albus Potter. He looked pale, and tired, and a little dazed, and he was holding Scorpius's broomstick.

'Hi,' said Scorpius.

'Hey,' said Albus. 'You can have this back now. Thanks for that.'

Scorpius took the offered broom with both hands and lay it on his lap. He gave it a very quick assessment to make sure nothing had happened to it, but he tried his best not to let Albus know he was doing this, so he nodded and said quickly, 'No, worries.'

'Right, well …' And Albus looked at his feet. 'I better go.'

'Hey, wait a minute,' protested Scorpius. 'Well?'

'Well, what?'

'Come on. Did you make the team or not?'

Albus looked slightly uncertain before he gave a nod. 'Yeah.'

'Oh, great. Well done.'

Albus nodded, but Scorpius had the distinct impression that Albus wasn't too enthralled by this. He merely nodded.

'Well, don't act too happy,' drawled Scorpius. 'God, you look like you just witnessed a murder.'

At this, Albus managed to laugh. 'No, no, I am happy … I just feel like I need to train a lot.' He gestured at the notebook open in front of Scorpius. 'Anyway, how's the essay going?'

'I haven't looked at it, to be honest,' he admitted. Albus looked vaguely disappointed by this news, and so to soften the blow Scorpius added, 'I have to write back to my mum first.'

'Oh.' And Albus looked vaguely worried. 'Is she … You know …'

'Oh, no, she's fine,' said Scorpius very quickly. 'I've just been putting off writing to her.'

Albus gave a nod. 'Right. Yeah. Suppose I better go write to my parents … Ask them for my own broom.'

He managed to give a nod. 'Yeah, you better. Try to get a Firebolt if you can.'

Albus gave a shrug. 'I wish. My brother has a Nimbus, so they probably won't buy me anything better than he's got – he'd make their lives hell. I mean, not that I'm complaining. I just mean … Well, I reckon you'll have a good chance of winning at the first match in November.'

Scorpius shrugged. 'Nah. Good brooms don't make up for shitty flying. You must be pretty good if you made the team.'

Albus looked even more sullen at this idea. 'Yeah, well … I guess we'll see. I promise I won't break your nose again at the match.'

Scorpius gave a sniff of laughter. 'It's alright – I think it looks better now than it did before.'

'But seriously, though … Thanks for the broom.'

'Don't mention it.'

And Albus gave a nod with an air of finality. 'Alright, then. Good luck with the essay.'

'Yeah, good luck with the Quidditch team.'


Song credit: Don't Think Twice, It's Alright by Bob Dylan.