25/07/2017
A Whiter Shade of Pale
She said there is no reason
And the truth is plain to see
But I wandered through my playing cards
And would not let her be
One of sixteen vestal virgins
Who were leaving for the coast
And although my eyes were open
They may just as well have been closed
October dragged on much as it did every year. Grey skies settled over the school and the castle's courtyards lay under a carpet of dead leaves rotting away. The bright green of the Hogwarts lawns faded and the sun began to set earlier, meaning their afternoons were usually spent inside near the fireplace in the common room or library.
Rose's sixteenth birthday passed without much fanfare in early October, as did Albus's three weeks later. Chandra informed Rose and Albus in a delighted trill that Connor Davies had asked her to be his girlfriend. James reduced a variety of girls to tears and hexed a few boys in the corridors.
This year was unique, however, as the days were punctuated not only be the frequent, unpleasant reminders of his impending OWLs but also of the death-defying training schedule James had forced upon the Gyffindor Quidditch team. Albus was sure these rigorous training schemes were doing more to sap his strength rather than build it.
'I can't,' he wheezed, collapsing onto the rain-sodden pitch one dreary two weeks before the first match. 'I can't – I'm done – Vane can play in my part …'
'He cannot and he will not!' James bellowed, swooping over him. 'Albus, I swear to God, get back on your broom or you're not going to be seeing Christmas …'
'For fuck's sake, James, give it a bloody rest,' snarled Xan, coming to a heavy landing beside Albus, her mess of black ringlets matted against her neck by the wind and rain. 'We've been out here for three hours – my legs are killing me. Of course Albus is over it. Everyone else is up at the castle having dinner and we're stuck here with you.'
James's eyes swelled in scandalised fury. He drew in a heavy breath before letting out a deafening bellow of, 'DO YOU WANT TO LOSE TO RAVENCLAW-'
'DO YOU WANT TO HAVE YOUR WHOLE TEAM QUIT TWO WEEKS BEFORE YOUR FIRST MATCH AS CAPTAIN?' countered Xan furiously, throwing her broom down into the mud in protest. 'Because I swear to Merlin, James, I'll do it! Don't think I won't – it would be worth it just to see the look on your stupid face!'
'Oh, please quit, Xan,' said Finlay wistfully, hovering a few metres over them. 'Please do it. I want to see James cry. Please.'
'Ooh, are we quitting?' said Louis eagerly, landing beside Xan with the Quaffle under his arm. 'How fun! Adam, Kim, do you two want to quit too?'
'Oh, yes, please,' said Kim tiredly as she brought herself down to the ground. 'That or I want some kidney pie. I'm not sure which.'
'Oh, I'd murder a kidney pie,' sighed Louis. 'Wouldn't you, Adam?'
'Positively brutalise it, yeah.'
'Right, well, that's settled,' said Louis pleasantly. 'Let's get ourselves all cleaned up and looking gorgeous and we'll go eat. James, we'll be handing you our resignation letters later.'
'Don't you dare, Weasley,' snarled James.
'Oh, I dare, Potter,' said Louis primly.
'Ravenclaw has won the last two cups and I'm not about to let them get on top of the ladder first thing in the year!'
'Well, if we all die of hunger, you're not going to have much hope of winning the cup regardless,' growled Xan, and with that she closed her hand around Albus's arm and pulled him up. 'Come on, you lot.'
Albus allowed Xan to steer him back towards the change-rooms, leaving James on the pitch to remount his broom as proceed to shoot the quaffle through the hoops with furious vigour. Once out of earshot of the captain, Xan launched into a brutal assault on James's stringent training routine.
'He's insane,' said Xan furiously. 'Absolutely insane.'
'Lily did tell me he was a bit – er – passionate,' said Adam thoughtfully. 'But if I had known we'd be down here four days I week I'm not sure I would have bothered trying out.'
'Well, the only way we can shut him up is to show him that we can manage to beat Ravenclaw,' said Kim reasonably.
'Good point,' said Finlay as they reached the change rooms. 'Al, if you want to catch the snitch within the first minute then be my guest.'
They strode into the change rooms and set about gathering up their change of clothes and clean towels, tearing off their soaked and muddy Quidditch robes to get ready to shower.
'Ooh, what's this?' said Louis, plunging a hand into his satchel as he rooted around for a clean shirt. 'Oh, dear, who put this in here?'
Albus turned to see the blond unearth a gleaming, golden bottle of fire whiskey from the depths of his satchel, wearing a mock look of horror as he held it up for his teammate's inspection.
'Very poor form,' said Louis, unscrewing the lid and taking a sniff. 'Sneaking firewhisky into the school? Disgraceful.'
He took a long swig of the firewhisky before passing the bottle to Finlay, who gazed down at the amber liquid in awe. 'Louis, I love you.'
'Well, you're only human. Pass it around. Farouk, you can have some but I'm counting your sips.'
Adam offered his thanks, waiting eagerly for the bottle to reach him as it was passed round the room.
'Here you go, Al,' said Kim after she had taken a deep drink.
'Er – I … You know, I just remembered. I was supposed to meet Rose and Chandra for a study group.'
'Study group on a Friday night?' said Xan, sounding horrified. 'Don't do it, Al. Save yourself. Stay here and get drunk with us.'
Albus feigned laughter, gathering up his broom and satchel as he backed off towards the door. 'Thanks, but I … no thanks.'
And he turned on his heel and strode out into the pouring rain. Everything was sore: the aching muscles in his arms and legs, the burn in his torso that Finlay assured him as the start of a washboard abdomen, the hunger pains stabbing at his stomach. He wanted to eat and he wanted to sleep and he wanted to shower and he never wanted to mount a broom again, but in his exhaustion he couldn't begin to decide which of these wants he was most eager to attend to.
The dilemma was settled for him when he strode into the entrance hall, water dripping from his fringe, and was hit with the aroma of the Great Hall where dinner had not yet finished. His stomach gave a groan of longing and he hurried in, hardly even caring how abysmal he looked in his drenched and dirty Quidditch robes.
The Gryffindor table was nearly empty and Chandra and Rose were nowhere to be found, surely having eaten earlier with the rest of the school, but he was hardly bothered by his solitude. He ate twice his usual fill at twice his usual pace. He was feeling considerably less glum as he started into his second helping of baked potatoes when his spirits were suddenly dampened by the appearance of Emory Vane at the seat opposite him.
'Right, Potter?'
'Hi, Emory.'
'You had practice?'
'Yeah.'
'Heard your brother's a bit of a slave driver,' said Emory carelessly. 'Pretty glad I didn't make the team. I didn't even really want to, to be honest. I wasn't really trying anyway. Seeker's a pretty nothing position, don't you think? I mean it's just looking about. It doesn't take much skill, does it?'
Albus forced a shrug and picked at his food. 'No, I suppose not.'
'Yeah, I think next year when there's an opening for a Beater, I'll definitely try out properly,' continued Emory. 'Takes a lot more skill, Beating – a lot more practice. Oh, by the way, I'm going to Hogsmeade with Cassie tomorrow, so I thought I'd want to have some idea what I'm going get out of it beforehand, you know?'
Albus was silent. This was what Emory had been building to, he knew. This was why the boy had apparently been dawdling in the Great Hall past their usual supper time: he was ensuring he would be able to gloat while Rose and any other of Albus's would-be defenders, few as they were, were absent.
'So, what do you think?' continued Emory, grinning at Albus from across the table, relishing in the smaller boy's discomfort. 'Do you think I'll get much out of her?'
Albus swallowed heavily. He needed to save face. If there was anything he could do to rile Emory, it would be denying him the satisfaction of knowing he had managed to ruffle Albus.
Albus forced himself to answer. 'Do you think she'd be happy that you're asking me this, Emory?'
Emory gave a laugh. 'Oh, I get it. Keeping herself chaste, is she? Well, whatever, I'll give it a go. See you, Potter.'
And the burly boy hauled himself to his feet, swaggering out of the Great Hall. Albus watched him go, blood rushing in his ears in his fury. He turned back to his plate, no longer feeling remotely hungry. Pushing the plate away he got to his feet, fighting to keep his eyes off the Hufflepuff table.
He could see Cassie in the corner of her eye as he trudged towards the door, blonde ponytail gleaming beneath the torchlight.
It wasn't fair – it just wasn't fair.
He turned on his heel, propelled by his agitation, and redirected himself towards the Hufflepuff table. He needed to know – needed to be sure that this wasn't some lie Emory had concocted to torture him. What did Cassie Kettleburn want with Emory Vane anyway?'
'Cassie?'
She gave a little start as he reached her, spinning in her seat to face him. She was silent, as were her friends, gazing up at him in bewilderment.
'Oh, hi, Al.'
'Hi. Can we – er – can we talk?'
The shadow of a frown passed over her face. 'Sure.'
'You know, in … private?'
Her brow furrowed slightly, but when she spoke her voice was as bright as ever. 'You can talk to me around my friends, Al. I don't mind.'
'Er … okay. Well, I was just – going to ask. Going to check really. Only I'd heard – well, I'd been told that – that you're going to Hogsmeade with Emory Vane.'
And there it was – a scowl. He never would have imagined Cassie looking anything close to dangerous. 'Yeah, I am,' she told him, head held high.
'Oh.'
'Yeah.'
'Right … well … okay.'
'Is that all you had to say to me?'
No. He had had a lot more to say. But now, seeing her look up at him with such hostility, he couldn't do it. 'Yes. Well, no. I … I just wanted to tell you that…'
What? What in the hell did he want to tell her?
'That I think you two make a – a great couple.'
Her scowl vanished. Her friends were staring at him, looking on the verge of laughter, but Cassie looked nothing more than astounded.
'Oh,' she said slowly, blinking up at him. 'Oh, I – thanks, Al.'
'Don't mention it.'
And with that he turned away, fighting not to break into a run as he strode from the Great Hall, ignoring the eyes of Cassie's friends that he could feel burning into his back. His heart was pounding and his ears were ringing. Why was he so stupid? Why was he so utterly hopeless?
He hurried up the Gryffindor tower as quickly as he could, skirting around dawdlers in the corridors and ignoring a bellowed invitation from Hugo to join his friends and him dropping dung bombs on a group of unsuspecting Slytherins. He just wanted to be alone.
Cassie and Emory. Emory and Cassie. Cassandra Kettleburn and Emory Vane. The sweetest girl he had ever met with the biggest prat in the school. He couldn't stomach it – he wouldn't stomach it. Tomorrow he would go to Cassie and tell her what he had intended to tell her when he had approached the Hufflepuff table: Vane is an arse and you deserve better.
'Nice broom.'
Albus was so lost in his own thoughts that it took a moment to register that anyone had spoken to him. He looked around to see who had said this and saw Scorpius Malfoy there. They had crossed paths at the bottom of the central staircase.
At another time, Albus might have enjoyed talking about his new broom, but presently he didn't really care. He looked down at the new broomstick he was holding and shrugged. 'Yeah. Thanks.'
'Nimbus 3000, right? Nice.'
Albus nodded. 'Yep.'
Scorpius raised his eyebrows. 'Yeah, you sound really enthused.'
Albus did his best to grin. 'No, I am, I just … Tired from practice.'
Scorpius seemed to consider him for a moment before he said slowly, 'You used to go out with Cassandra Kettleburn, right?'
Albus stopped himself from groaning. He didn't really want to talk about it. 'I … Yeah, I did. Why?'
Scorpius shrugged. 'Nothing. Zaina told me that Emory Vane asked her out. Is that why you're in a bad mood?'
The frankness of this was kind of funny and Albus gave a sniff of laughter. 'Yeah, I guess so.'
Scorpius gave him a kind of sympathetic grimace. 'You know he's probably only doing it to annoy you because he's jealous that you made the team, right?'
'Yeah … Doesn't really make me feel any better though,' said Albus. 'Anyway – forget it. It's stupid. You going upstairs?'
'Yeah, I'm meeting Zaina in the Small Tower. You going up to your common room?'
He said he was and they started walking together up the staircase. Without trying to sound too eager, Albus asked, 'So … What did Zaina say exactly about Cassie and Emory?'
Scorpius didn't answer immediately, seeming to consider how much to say. 'Nothing, really. She just said that she'd heard from Isadora Nott that Juliana Podmore had told her that Cassandra had told her that she and Emory were going to Hogsmeade together this weekend.'
Albus nodded. Knowing that everyone else knew about this made it a lot worse. 'Right.'
'Look, I wouldn't worry about it,' said Scorpius. 'It's just a Hogsmeade date, isn't it? I mean, it doesn't mean anything. She'll probably realise afterwards that Vane is a total arse.'
Albus shrugged. 'I suppose. Thought she would have realised that already though.'
Scorpius shifted his jaw. 'Well, if she hasn't realised that, do you even want to go out with her? Wouldn't you rather somebody who's a bit, you know … more sane?'
Albus couldn't help but laugh at this. 'I suppose. I don't really want to date her anymore … I just don't want her to go out with Emory. I know that's petty but … well, I mean, would you want Zaina to date Connor Davies if you guys were to break up?'
This had a visible effect on Scorpius, who seemed to shudder a bit. 'Fair point. Well, I don't know … Have you tried asking somebody else out? You know, just move on?'
Albus shrugged. 'I don't have anyone to ask.'
'Oh, come on. There are heaps of people you could ask. What about … I don't know. Kim Nguyen? You guys are on the Quidditch team together. You'd have stuff to talk about, right?'
Albus didn't much feel like explaining that he didn't think he'd have much luck asking any of the girls he knew out. Instead, he just said, 'I don't know – that might get awkward.' Deciding to change the topic, he said now, 'Anyway, forget it. I usually just go to Hogsmeade with Rose and Chandra anyway. What about you? Are you going?'
Scorpius shook his head. 'No, I have homework to catch up on. And anyway, Zaina's going with our housemates and I don't really want to spend the day with them.'
Albus gave a sniff of laughter. 'That's fair enough.'
'Hey, Potter?'
Albus stopped in his tracks and Scorpius stopped beside him at the sound of this new voice. It was Mei Zhao, Rose's patrol partner. She was waiting on the third-floor landing, her arms folded. Her long, black hair was loose around her shoulders and she was frowning.
'Oh … hi,' began Albus uncertainly. 'How are you?'
'Bad,' snapped Mei. 'Your cousin was supposed to meet me downstairs half an hour ago. Karim asked us to spend the evening supervising the chess club.'
Albus blinked at her. 'Er … right.'
'Why does the chess club need to be supervised?' asked Scorpius. 'I mean, how severely can anyone be hurt playing chess?'
At this, Mei gave him a withering look. 'Put a bunch of first years in a room together and of course they need supervision, Malfoy. And you shouldn't question the teachers – you're supposed to be a prefect.'
Albus saw Scorpius roll his eyes. Deciding it was probably best to end this interaction, Albus said, 'Okay, well, I'm going up to our room now. If I see Rose, I'll tell her to go down to – er – supervise.'
Mei didn't seem to be able to find anything to fight over this so she gave a nod. 'Alright, thanks.' She now, perhaps for the first time, seemed to take in that Albus was holding a broom. 'Have you been down at the pitch?'
'Is that a problem?' Scorpius grumbled back. 'It's a before curfew, isn't it?'
Mei looked slightly taken aback before she frowned again. 'I was just asking.' Ignoring Scorpius, she looked at Albus. 'So, you're on the team, are you?'
Albus gave a reluctant nod. 'Yeah.'
'Oh, well done. Your team didn't do very well last year – hopefully they can be better this year.'
'Right. Yeah … Thanks.'
Mei nodded, as if satisfied with the interaction. 'Okay, so you'll go tell your cousin I'm waiting for her?'
'Er … yeah. Sure.'
Feeling like he was being told to leave, he started up the stairs with Scorpius. Scorpius waited until they were at the next floor before asking quietly, 'You know her?'
'Er … No, not really. She's just Rose's patrol partner.'
'That's about the nicest I've ever seen her be to anyone. Everyone in our house is scared of her.'
Albus shrugged. 'She's a bit scary, I suppose. You'd probably need to be to be Rose's patrol partner though.' At this, Scorpius raised his eyebrows and Albus frowned at him. 'What?'
'Why don't you ask her to go to Hogsmeade with you?'
Albus goggled at him and, instinctively, glanced back down the stairs to make sure Mei was out of earshot. He turned back to Scorpius. 'I can't do that.'
'Why not?'
'She … well … I hardly know her.'
'You've spoken to her before, though?' said Scorpius reasonably. 'And you both like Quidditch. Go to Hogsmeade with her and you can get to know her.'
'I don't …' Albus searched for an explanation. 'I wouldn't even know how.'
Scorpius rolled his eyes. 'Just go ask what she's doing on the weekend.'
'Yeah, but … But what if she says no?'
'Who cares? Just don't ask again,' insisted Scorpius. 'Go on. She seemed quite pleased to see you.'
'Yeah, because she wants me to go tell Rose off. Which I don't want to do, by the way. Rose will murder me for telling her to go to prefect duties.'
Scorpius gave a laugh. 'Well, if you ask her and she says no, she'll probably never ask you to tell Rose off again, right?'
Without really meaning to, Albus came to a halt on the third-floor stairs. He stood there for a moment, deep in thought, as Scorpius looked at him, before finally he gave a sigh. 'Fine.'
Scorpius nodded approvingly. 'Alright, go on.'
Albus started down the stairs before he could convince himself not too. His heart was pounding in his chest as he made it back to the landing where Mei was waiting. When she saw him, she raised her eyebrows.
'Well – did you find her?'
'Er … no,' said Albus briskly. Mei seemed to begin to frown, and so he asked very quickly, 'Are you going to be in Hogsmeade tomorrow?'
'What?'
'Hogsmeade – it's the first weekend. Are you …' And suddenly he realised what he was saying as he stomach did a somersault. 'I … er … I was wondering … maybe if you don't already have plans …'
Mei's eyes swelled. 'Are you asking me to go Hogsmeade with you?'
'No, I just meant – if you were there – and I was there – then maybe… Actually, yeah. Yeah, I am. Do you want to go with me?'
Mei scoured him with her dark, suspicious eyes, her lips pursed tightly, before she told him coolly, 'We don't really know each other.'
'I know we don't. I just thought maybe … maybe it would be good if we did.'
'Oh,' she said with a frown. 'Yes, I suppose it would be good.'
'So – so do you want to go?'
Mei pursed her lips in consideration. 'Well, I was planning to stay at the castle to use the library while nobody else was around. The Halloween feast is tomorrow night too so I can't work on it tomorrow night … But I suppose I could do that on Sunday.'
'So – so is that a yes?'
'Yes, I suppose. But I can't stay there too long.'
'No – no, right. Okay, that's – that's great. Well, I – I guess I'll see you tomorrow.'
'I guess so, yes.'
'Okay. Okay, bye, Mei.' He took a step towards the Fat Lady's portrait and gave her the password, very careful not to trip over his words as he did so.
'And Albus?' said Mei as he scrambled through the portrait hole.
He turned back to her. With her pale skin gleaming under the torchlight and her long, black hair trailing over her shoulder, she looked very pretty. 'Yes?'
'Tell your cousin I'm waiting for her, won't you?'
'Right. Yeah. Course. See you.'
His heart was beating so fast he could almost hear it in his ears. He focused very hard on putting on foot in front of the other as he went back upstairs. Scorpius was waiting for him, arms folded as he leant on the balustrade upstairs. 'Well?'
Albus managed to nod.
Scorpius raised his eyebrows. 'She said yes?'
'Yeah.'
Scorpius grinned. 'Jesus, that's a miracle.'
Albus frowned at him. 'Excuse me? You told me to ask her!'
'Yeah, but … that's Mei Zhao. She never goes out with anyone.'
'She – what? Why the hell did you let me do that then?'
But Scorpius was grinning, and at the sight of this he couldn't help but grin too, and then Scorpius shook his head in amazement. 'Alright, well, I'm officially late. You better go find your cousin of Mei won't be happy.'
Albus nodded. 'Yeah, right. I … thanks. Although maybe I shouldn't thank you as it does kind of feel like you had no faith in me.'
'It's not personal – I wouldn't have faith in anyone trying to ask her out,' Scorpius assured him. 'You must have something working for you though. Anyway, see you - enjoy your weekend.'
'Yeah, you too.'
And Scorpius continued up the stairs while Albus started down the corridor towards his bedroom. It was hard to still be annoyed at Emory Vane now.
'You're crazy,' said Rose. 'You do know that, don't you?'
'Yeah, I suppose so.'
'And she's positively insane.'
'She seems alright to me.'
'That's because you've never spent more than five minutes with her.'
'She seems cool.'
'Cool?' said Rose, sounding disgusted. 'She's the farthest thing from cool you could ever come across. As are you, for that matter.'
Sighing, Albus pulled the jumper he had been searching for from his trunk. 'Perhaps we'll make a good couple then.'
'Oh, God, Al, not that jumper again.'
Pulling on the Chudley Cannons sweater, he gave her a scowl. 'Did you come up here just to be a prat? Don't you have anywhere else to be?'
'Chandra and Connor snuck off after breakfast,' said Rose bitterly, 'and seeming you're not going to be free today, Xan wants me to go along with her friends. I'm meeting her downstairs.'
Albus turned to the mirror to run a hand over his fringe, attempting to flatten it. 'Do I look alright?'
'Zhao's not going to care how you look as long as you hold still while she devours your body post-coitus.'
Albus rounded on her. 'Can you leave her alone?'
'What? Is it bothering you?'
'Yes, it is,' he snapped. 'What if it turns out I really like her? What if she becomes like – like my girlfriend?'
Rose let out a huff of laughter. 'You look fine. Can we go now?'
Scowling, Albus snatched up his wand from his bedside table and Rose sprung up from his four-poster, striding towards the dormitory's door with Albus in her wake. They found Xan in the common room beside the fireplace with her friends and together the group traipsed out of the common room.
Mei Zhao was waiting at the bottom of the marble staircase and when she saw him she gave him a smile. He caught himself from stumbling on the stairs. Rose rolled her eyes.
'Morning,' he croaked when he reached her.
'Good morning,' replied Mei, not sparing a glance at Rose. 'Nice jumper. You follow the Cannons?'
'Kind of.'
'Well, shall we head off then? I don't want to be back at the castle too late.'
'Sure.'
Mei led the way out of the entrance hall, leaving Rose staring after them with a scowl.
Xan's friends were exactly the kind of people one expected to be friends with Xan. The girls were pretty, funny and well-dressed. The boys were just the same, churned in with a chivalry that Rose considered rather obnoxious. Linus Stebbins held the door of the Three Broomsticks open for them and Julian Jiang took it upon himself to fund the first round of ale, but not before asking Rose if she was old enough to drink.
'Course she is,' said Xan impatiently. 'She's sixteen. Don't patronise her.'
'Some people have better morals than you, Xan,' said Julian.
Julian returned from the bar with two pints of ale and poured them each a glass, while Linus pulled out a deck of playing cards and lay them on the table.
'Poker, anyone?' he asked. 'James's rules?'
There was a nod of agreement from around the table.
'You know how to play, Rose?'
'Poker, yes,' she said cautiously. 'Not James's rules though.'
'It's exactly the same as real poker,' Finlay assured her. 'Only every time you lose money you have to finish your drink.'
As Linus dealt out the cards, Rose asked Finlay quietly, 'Where is James, anyway?'
Finlay sipped his ale and gave a shrug. 'No idea. He's an enigma, that boy.'
As the game progressed, the first pints disappeared fairly quickly. Julian Jiang returned to the bar for seconds, and then thirds, and the fourths. Rose liked ale, she decided. It made her laugh. It was much easier to enjoy the company of Xan and Finlay's friends once she was on her fourth pint.
'Slow down, Rosie,' said Finlay. 'What would Mummy and Daddy say?'
'To stop drinking, I suppose.'
'Oh, I love your mum, Rose,' said Tessa Mishra. 'I was reading the Prophet the other day. She's brilliant, isn't she? She's always so calm in press conferences, even when the reporters are all over pushing this blood-purity nonsense.'
'But is it nonsense?' asked Corrina Peakes. 'I mean, they still haven't worked out what happened to Gamp. Or if they have they're not reporting it.'
'Yeah, what's going on with that, Rose?' asked Linus. 'Has your mum said anything about it?'
'Not to me,' said Rose earnestly. She was still waiting for her mother's letters to give any acknowledgement of what had happened at the Ministry in the last two months.
'Okay, enough of this,' said Xan. 'Back to drinking. I'll shuffle the deck.'
'Why can't we talk about?' Linus said this quite forcefully. 'It's important, Xan. If Rose wants to tell us about, she should be able to.'
'But you don't want to tell them anything, do you, Rose?' insisted Xan.
'I don't know anything about it,' said Rose truthfully.
'Rubbish,' said Linus. 'James says the same thing. His dad's Harry Potter and we're supposed to believe James isn't going to know anything about what happens in the Ministry?'
'Rose and James's don't send them updates of murder investigations,' retorted Xan.
'Well, of course you have to say that. But I think we have the right to know what's going on. If the Ministry starts lying to the people again, it'll be just the same as it was in the nineties, won't it? If Shacklebolt wants to pretend his administration really has everyone's best interest at heart …'
Rose got to her feet and the eyes around the table snapped to her.
'Where you going, Rosie?' said Finlay.
'Post office,' lied Rose. 'I need new parchment.'
And she turned away and hurried to the door, feeling uneven on her feet as she pushed through the crowd of students who had trudged into the pub to escape the drizzle outside.
Mei Zhao wasn't nearly as coarse as she appeared, he thought as they strode through the town. In the watery Autumn light, donned in her yellow rain-jacket and her hair hanging in two longs braids, she looked nothing but lovely. Walking beside him, she had abandoned that sharp, direct march she seemed to favour in her role of prefect and the scowl he had become accustomed to was absent. He wasn't sure how to approach her, not when most of their previous interactions had centred around the misdeeds of his family, and so told himself to keep quiet. If she wanted to talk to him, she surely would.
And yet, he asked himself as they strode through the Hogsmeade square, what if she was thinking just the same as him? What if her heart was pounding just as his was, anticipating humiliation with every slight movement she made?
It seemed unlikely but, he conceded, it wasn't entirely impossible.
'So – er – where do you want to go?' he forced himself to ask.
She didn't meet his eye when she said, 'I don't mind. You choose.'
'I don't mind either, so you can choose.'
And all at once he saw the haughtiness return to her with the furrowing her brows. 'I said I don't mind. Just choose somewhere.'
'Oh … er. Right, well … I – I suppose we could go to Madam Puddifoot's?'
He immediately regretted the suggestion. It was where he had taken Cassie on their first date. She had found it charming – gushed at how sweet the teashop was. Mei, it seemed, didn't have the fondness for sweetness that Cassie had.
'If you want,' said Mei.
'Well, we don't have to …'
'No, we'll go.'
And she gestured for him to follow her down the street. Madam Puddifoot's was much the same as it had been the only other time he had set foot inside. They bustled inside, finding the place dominated largely by couples, most of who seemed to be on their first date. He had wondered vaguely if he might find Chandra there with Davies, but they had apparently been seeing each long enough to have abandoned the pretence of dates. He followed Mei as she strode to a table at the back of the teashop, trying to ignore the glances they were attracting from other students.
They took their seats, ordered their tea and waited for the drinks to arrive. They thanked the waitress when she brought over the pot and Albus poured them both a cup.
'Milk?' he asked Mei, raising the jug.
'No, thanks.'
He offered her the sugar bowl. 'Sugar?'
'Thanks.'
He scooped up a teaspoon and reached for her cup. She pulled it out of his reach and he tipped the sugar onto the tablecloth.
'I can stir in my own sugar,' she informed him.
'Oh. Right. Sorry.'
She promptly brushed away the spilt sugar and took the bowl from him. He watched as she stirred half a teaspoon of sugar into her tea, a frown on her face as if the process required much concentration. She sipped her tea and he mirrored her and then there was silence. He took another gulp, wracking his brains for something to say, and she continued frowning into her cup. Had the sugar incident really caused her such upset?
'Good tea,' he told her after several minutes silence.
'Yeah.'
'I like tea.'
'Yes, it's good.'
'Earl grey's my favourite,' he told her matter-of-factly. 'But I like English breakfast too, and Irish breakfast. And Darjeeling can be nice if it's done right.'
'Done right?'
He blushed. 'You know … brewed properly. Some people don't brew it properly.'
'Oh.'
'My mum doesn't let me make cups of tea.'
She frowned at him. 'Why not?'
'She says I don't do it properly. None of us do, apparently.'
'How can you make an improper cup of tea?'
'I don't know, but she's right. I never make it strong enough, or sometimes I try to compensate by putting in too many leaves and then it's too strong, so I add more water but then it's too weak, so I don't put in as much water and then there's not enough for all of us, and I always put it in too much milk and it goes cold.'
'Sounds heinous,' she told him, and he got the feeling she was being sarcastic.
Tea. He was talking to her about tea. What was wrong with him?
'Yeah,' he mumbled. 'So … er … what classes are you taking?'
Mei set down her cup and railed off the answer breathlessly as though the topic of classes was the real reason for their conference. 'Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Defence, Transfiguration, History of Magic, Charms and Potions.'
'Wow,' he said. 'That's a lot for sixth year, isn't it? Your schedule must be full.'
'I'm going to work for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement,' she told him, as if he should have guessed as much.
'Oh. Cool.'
'And what classes are you taking?'
'Er … well, the regular ones, as well as Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes.'
'And what do you plan to continue with after your OWLs?'
'Er…' He hesitated; he generally avoided thinking about that question, as the answer presumed he would have managed to pass his OWLs, which he wasn't so comfortable in counting upon. 'I'm not sure. I might drop Charms and Defence.'
'Charms and Defence?' said Mei, sounding horrified. 'You can't give up Charms and Defence. They're important.'
'Well, I – I don't like Charms,' said Albus. 'And Defence – I'm just not good at Defence.'
'Well, why don't you try harder?'
'Er … yeah, maybe. I suppose I should.'
'I'd give up Care of Magical Creatures if I were you,' said Mei curtly. 'I never got much out of that class. Especially not while Professor Hagrid continues to be allowed to teach it.'
'Right,' said Albus uncomfortably. 'So … uh … where is it that you live, anyway?'
'Aberdeen.'
He gave her a quizzical look. 'You're not Scottish though.'
He immediately regretted this observation at the withering look she gave him. Had that sounded impolite? He reddened and searched for words of amends.
'I mean … You don't … Just your accent, I – you sound like you're from the south coast.'
She pursed her lips and sipped her tea before telling him, 'I grew up in Dorset.'
'Oh. Dorset's nice.'
'It's okay. I prefer Aberdeen. We moved up there when my mum got remarried.'
'Your parents are – are separated?'
She paused before answering, and his stomach gave another uneasy jolt. Was that, once again, impolite to ask? However, when she answered there was no curtness in her voice, and she informed him calmly, 'No. My dad died when I was ten.'
His stomach gave its most unpleasant turn yet again. He immediately made to stammer out an apology, his tongue tripping over the words, feeling his face flushing red. 'Oh, I – I'm sorry. I didn't know – no one told me – Mei, I'm sorry-'
To his astonishment, a smile crept across her face. 'Why are you sorry? It's not your fault.'
'I … I don't know. That's what people say, isn't it?'
'Yes, I don't know why though,' she reasoned. 'You have nothing to be sorry about. And it was a while ago now – I don't mind talking about it. You live in Godric's Hollow, don't you?'
'Er, yeah …' said Albus, recovering from his embarrassment. 'How did you know that?'
'Everyone knows that,' said Mei impatiently. 'The Ministry gave your father Hecate Hall as a thank you for his services to the nation.'
'Yeah, something like that.'
'It's controversial, really,' said Mei thoughtfully. 'I mean, Hecate Hall was quite a landmark. Built for Godric Gryffindor's family to reside in. I think it would have been best if it stayed in the Ministry's position, personally, rather than having it altered to accommodate your family.'
Albus was not sure how he was supposed to respond to this, but was none the less pleased to have moved away from the topic of her father. 'Yeah … I guess. I suppose Dad wanted to live where he was born and to, you know … be close to his parents.'
'My dad's buried in Dorset,' said Mei. 'In a Muggle cemetery in Weymouth. I don't need to live near there just because of that.'
'Right … er … I suppose I wouldn't know.'
'I suppose it's different for your dad,' reasoned Mei. 'He never knew them. I can still feel close to my dad without needing to visit his grave all the time.'
Albus was silent for a moment. He had a strange longing to give her an offering; to serve up something macabre in an act of solidarity. 'My brother and sister and I used to visit my grandparents' graves with him. We'd walk into town after breakfast on weekends to visit the graves.'
'That sounds depressing,' said Mei.
'Er … yeah. It kind of was, I suppose. I used to go just to keep Dad company, but after I started at school, he just started going alone.'
'Does he talk to them?'
'Um, I … I don't think so.'
'I talk to my dad.'
'Do you?'
'Sometimes. I tell him what I did that day before I go to sleep.'
'Oh, that's … that's nice.'
'I wouldn't call it nice. It's just what I do.'
'Right, I – sorry.'
'You don't have to keep saying sorry. It was years ago. I'm used to talking about it.' She reached across the table for the teapot to touch up their cups with the last dregs. She moved with a sort of punctuality, thought Albus as he watched her finish her tea; a sense of direction or purpose that he was unfamiliar with.
'Have you finished?' she asked him.
'Sorry?'
'Your tea. Are you finished?'
'Oh, right. Yeah, sure.'
'Want to go for a walk?'
She didn't wait for him to answer but merely got to her feet, pulling a few sickles from her pocket to pay for her tea.
'No, wait – I'll pay.'
She glanced up at him, eyes sharp. 'I can pay for my own tea.'
'Right – sorry.'
'Stop saying sorry,' she told him, and she tightened her scarf around her neck and led him towards the door.
She ought to have expected it – ought to have known better. The topic of her parents was never far over, ready to be sprung upon her when anyone thought they were civil enough with her to afford to bring it up.
That, she thought as she trudged down the street through the October chill, was why she had been drawn to Chandra rather than any of the other girls in her dorm. Chandra was one of the few people at school who had wanted to be her friend purely for the sake of being her friend.
Other than Chandra and Albus, Rose didn't really count anybody else as a friend at school; she had realised quickly that it was hard to tell if people wanted to be around her because she was herself, or because she was one of the Weasleys. And if it was the latter, people were usually disappointed; she was nowhere near as outgoing, charming or extroverted as her cousins.
Rose was pulled from her reverie when somebody she recognised – somebody tall and blond – came out of the mouth of a laneway she was passing and very nearly crashed into her.
'Sorry, I – oh.'
His apology seemed to fall away as he realised who it was he had nearly crashed into. She and Malfoy stood stationary, looking at each other, his pale face set into a scowl.
She hadn't expected to see any other students around here; there were no shops and no places of interest on this side of town. She had specifically chosen to walk through this side of town to avoid anyone she knew. Had she been sober, she probably would have thought it quietly to herself, but after drinking the ale she couldn't help but ask, 'What are you doing here?'
His scowl seemed to deepen, his eyebrows pinched together. 'Didn't know I needed permission.'
'Well, there's nothing much around here, is there?'
He rolled his eyes. 'You're down here, aren't you? You can go where you please, but nobody else can?'
She tried to look dignified as she folded her arms. 'I'm not skulking down a laneway out of sight.'
He hesitated now, his pale eyes fixed on her, before he asked briskly, 'What's it to you anyway? I suppose you don't have anything more interesting to think about when you're out here all alone, after all.'
She raised her eyebrows. 'You know, you're alone too.'
'Right – and I'm late to meet my girlfriend. So …'
And he broke into a march away from the centre of the town, down the winding road that led to the forest in which Hogsmeade was nestled. A second passed in which she watched him stride away before he turned the corner at the end of the street.
Don't do it, she told herself. It's not worth your bother.
But hadn't she been heading that way anyway, and where else was she supposed to go? Re-joining Xan's friends in the Three Broomsticks was anything but appealing.
Balling her hands into the sleeves of her coat to ward off the cold, she started down the street, trudging along after Scorpius Malfoy. She found it a lot harder to follow him than she probably would have another day, seeming she had downed three pints of ale. She followed at a distance, keeping her eyes on his distant head of silvery hair, until eventually they rounded a corner.
They had arrived in Hogsmeade's north square, smaller and far less fashionable than the main square that the students visited. The cobbled square was home to a number of magical businesses that were largely unappealing to Hogwarts students: the old apothecary, a tailor selling robes only fashionable fifty years earlier, the ugly sandstone hall that had stood empty until its recent transformation into the House of Magical Ancestry and Artefacts. Scorpius Malfoy was conspicuously absent.
Feeling like an idiot, she strode over to the front of the House of Magical Ancestry and Artefacts. This was the site that had caused the argument in History of Magic several weeks earlier. Its windows were full of ancient-looking tapestries and ornaments of a long-gone era, embroidered with house-crests of Pureblood families. Had Scorpius Malfoy come to visit this place? And what was she going to do – go inside and catch him looking at Pureblood memorabilia?
No, it was stupid. She was going to go back to the castle and push it out of her head. She started across the square to the main road that would lead her back to the Three Broomsticks. She had wasted a good half hour on the expedition. It was Albus's fault really; he had planted the doubt in her head, made her question Malfoy's motives.
And then, all of a sudden, a howl reached her from across the courtyard – like that of a fierce wind or a raging flame – and before she could even spin on her heel she heard of chorus of screams echo around her. She wheeled around to face the square, feeling the air electric with panic as villages pushed past her in a run.
The square was cast in a glowing purple glow from the fire that had erupted across the courtyard. Rubble was strewn across the courtyard; the façade of the House of Magical Ancestry and Artefacts had been blown apart, villagers caught in the blast crumpled on the ground, purple flame consuming the exposed interior of the old sandstone building.
When she was eight years old, she had broken her brother's nose. It had sounded like the snapping of a twig beneath her foot and felt like a burst of warmth in the pits of her stomach; brilliant, bursting anger and the clumsy magic that she couldn't control.
She had stared across her bedroom at him, the heavy droplets of blood splattering onto her carpet, the beat of silence before he began to cry, the stolen lemon drops that had started the row slipping through his fingers.
He has to be okay, she threatened, but of whom she was unsure. Let him be okay.
She pressed her hands into her eyes to try to stop herself crying, thinking of her brother's blood on the carpet of her bedroom. He had never been one for crying, but that day it had been genuine. Her mother had yelled at her after that – told her Victoire would never have done something like that.
'Dom?'
She glanced up. She hadn't noticed anyone approaching. The room was already flooded with movement, the other administration workers bustling around the office sending their memos, notifying the appropriate people and answering the more urgent inquiries. Tragedy turned their office into mayhem.
Teddy was before her. She should have known he'd come, and perhaps somewhere within her she had been expecting it, but the longing in her chest to follow Harry to Hogsmeade had pushed all other wants from her head and she had not had the room in her to consider the man before her until then.
She wiped the tears from her face and made to stand. 'Teddy … I …'
'No, don't get up,' and he moved around the desk, placing a hand on her shoulder to lower her back into her chair. 'Everyone's saying there's been some kind of accident – something about Hogsmeade …'
She gazed up at him, his magenta fringe falling over his face. His dark eyes watched her unwaveringly, careful and gentle and she felt her last shreds of desire to hold onto dignity slip away as she began to sob.
'Dom …' he said, lowering himself down to place an arm around her. 'What's happened? Where's Harry?'
She gulped down air and steadied herself long enough to reply. 'He – he went to the village – to – to see what's going on. There's been some – some building's been cursed, and they can't get the flames out – and it's spreading – and it's a Hogsmeade weekend, Teddy.'
The look in Teddy's eye didn't change – that same ever-calm gaze, those dark, gentle eyes. 'Don't worry,' he told her without hesitation. 'Harry will sort it out. They'll get all the kids back to the school, and you'll be the first to know.'
'There are dozens of injured – they're being taken to St Mungo's. And – and they can't identify them – because of – of the burns …'
He pulled her into his chest as she began to sob again and she felt her hands clinging to him. 'It's alright,' he told her. 'It's okay – Lou's going to be okay.
She buried her face into his neck, the smell of his skin engulfing her …
'Pardon me, Dominique?'
She pulled away from him, quickly as she could, lunging back as if caught in the midst of some terrible act. She straightened up, spinning in her seat to face the man before her.
'Oh, Mr MacMillan …' She wiped her eyes hurriedly, fighting to steady her shaking voice. 'I didn't hear you come in – I'm sorry…'
'Never mind that, Dominique,' said MacMillan bracingly. 'I've come up to try to track down your timesheets. We haven't gotten them yet.'
'Oh, the timesheets, I … I must have forgotten…'
'Never mind, Dominique. If you give them to be now, I'll get them sorted. I can see you've got a lot on your plate.'
'Right … I … I haven't finished them, but I'll send them along as soon as I have.'
MacMillan goggled at her. 'You haven't finished them? Dominique, it's nearly four o'clock.'
'I know, I – I'm so sorry, Mr MacMillan – I've been … busy …'
'As we all have, Dominique,' said MacMillan impatiently. 'But you must understand, if we don't get the timesheets then we can't organise the payroll, and if we can't organise the payroll then your office goes without its pay slips next week. Now I know this Hogsmeade business had thrown a spanner in the works for you lot, but the Aurors will do their job as long as you do yours, don't you agree?'
Beside her she felt Teddy straighten up, standing bolt upright, and Dominique watched as he moved wordlessly around the desk to come face-to-face with MacMillan, his face impassive.
MacMillan eyed Teddy suspiciously, looking thoroughly bemused by the young man sidling up towards him. 'Lupin, shouldn't you be downstairs –'
'Do you have kids, MacMillan?'
'Do I …? Oh, yes, I do …'
'But they're not at Hogwarts yet, are they?'
'Lupin, I really don't have time –'
'I would have thought you'd have a little more respect,' Teddy told him, and Dominique did not miss the snarl in his voice. 'People are hurt, you know? The school's having a Hogsmeade weekend, you know?'
MacMillan stared at Teddy, startled, before he fumbled over his words. 'I – I don't know what you think …'
'We're up here hoping no-one in our family's been killed and you should be feeling pretty bloody lucky you're not in the same position,' Teddy growled. 'So I suggest you leave her the hell alone and go back down to payroll where you're wanted, alright?'
MacMillan was silent, gasping at Teddy in bewilderment and it was several seconds before the man recovered himself. Straightening up, he sent a final sheepish look at Dominique, mumbled an apology and hurried out of the office.
'Prick,' Teddy muttered.
'Teddy, you didn't need to do that,' said Dominique shakily. 'He's right – I shouldn't be sitting here – I'm supposed to be working – you don't need to stay with me …'
Teddy returned to her side and caught her hand, guiding her to her feet. 'Come with me.'
'What – but – Teddy …'
'Downstairs,' he told her. 'I've got some firewhisky in my desk. You need a drink.'
'No, Teddy, I shouldn't – oh!'
Dominique's gasp mingled with a dozen others from around the office as a gleaming burst of silver light rushed through the door, dancing through the crowded room to land before Dominique. The silver stag hovered before, brilliant and blinding, and Harry's voice echoed from it.
'Louis safe at the school. Others still being accounted for. Nothing else known for now.'
The Patronus vanished like a wisp of smoke and Dominique gave a murmur of surprise before she fell back into her chair, Teddy keeping a heavy grasp on her.
'You hear that?' he said to her, his dark face alight in a grin. 'He's fine – I told you he'd be fine, didn't I?'
Dominique drew in a steadying breath, her heart pounding in her chest. She gazed up at Teddy before with a jolt of tearful laughter she threw her arms around him.
James had been a tearful child, apt at dissolving into tantrums whenever he began to suspect he would not be getting his way. This talent had matured as he had gotten older, abandoning the tears for bellowing anger, which soon lost its favour for the rolling of eyes and the muttered retorts that James discovered were most effective at irking his parents.
'It doesn't look like it's dying down.'
Harry couldn't remember the last time he had seen him cry. Surely not since he had begun school, and even then he was sure it was before that that James had acquired his dexterity in snideness.
'Sir, I think it would be sensible to evacuate the next street over. Get everyone out of the row houses there.'
He didn't know where James liked to frequent on Hogsmeade weekends (ought he have known?) but was sure it would involve either drinking or Quidditch. There was nothing of that sort that would have brought James to this corner of the village.
'Sir, are you alright?'
He felt a hand close on his shoulder and rounded on the young Auror before him. The girl's face was blackened with ash; he had sent his team into the neighbouring buildings to check for any residents when the fire had begun to spread. The cursed smoke from the blaze seemed intent on flooding into the doorways and windows of the surrounding buildings, as if it was consciously seeking out people to choke.
'What did you say, Hopkins?'
'Evacuations,' said the witch called Hopkins. 'I think we should do the next street, too. The curse breakers still aren't sure how to go about putting it out.'
Harry turned back to the burning building. It was almost unrecognisable; the roaring purple flames seemed to have some corrosive ability, the ancient sandstone building crumbling into itself. The flame had managed to spread to the neighbouring buildings, the wooden ones already devoured by the cursed fire.
The curse-breakers deployed by the department had given him nothing more than their best guess when they had arrived at the scene; fiendfyre, amplified by some other dark magic. Normal fiendfyre didn't have a fall out – normal fiendfyre didn't have the capacity to burn flesh twenty feet away from the flame.
'Do what you think is best,' Harry told the girl before him.
The Auror looked taken aback at the level of credence Harry was giving her. Her sooty face made it hard to tell but she looked young, surely her first year out of training. 'Er – you mean the whole block, sir?'
'If you think so,' he replied. 'Take McCarthy and Saluja with you.'
'Thank you, sir.' She turned to go.
'Wait – Hopkins?'
She rounded back in an instant. 'Yes, sir?'
'Any word from the school? Anyone else turned up?'
He knew by the look in her eye that she pitied him, but he gave no sign of noticing.
'No, sir. I'm sorry.'
'Right. Off you go.'
'But the Head Mistress doesn't seem to be too worried,' Hopkins informed him. 'When we spoke to her she said the students never come down this way.'
'Off you go, Hopkins.'
'I told you, I've got no idea where he was going today.'
'He won't be in trouble, Mr Jordan,' Neville assured him evenly. 'We're only trying to cross everyone's name off the list.'
'Honestly, Professor, I'd tell you if I knew where he was.'
Neville surveyed the beater before him before giving a slow nod. 'Alright, thank you, Finlay.'
'Are you going to tell us if he shows up?' asked Xan, following Neville to the portrait hole. 'Is anyone out looking for him?'
'Of course. The Auror Office has offered up a dozen heads to lead the search for any stragglers in the village – Professor Hagrid and Professor Karim are accompanying them, and I'm on my way to join them now. That is why I really must go.' Neville hesitated at the portrait hall and gave a nod towards the prefects who stood waiting beside him. 'Remember what I said: anyone returns to the common room, let one of the teachers know immediately so we can cross their name off.'
They gave their ascent.
'Good on you. The house elves are preparing food to have sent up here. It shouldn't be too long,' said Neville and he climbed through the portrait hole. 'I'll keep you all updated.'
Once the Head of House had departed, eager conversation broke out across the crowded common room. The prefects, who had until then been grouped together, splintered off the re-join their friends.
Xan gave a sombre sigh and threw her arm around Rose. 'Guess this means there's no Halloween feast.'
Finlay at their side, they pushed their way through the common room. The room wasn't used to holding all of Gryffindor tower at once; the students were usually granted the lenience of mulling around the rest of the castle before curfew, but for the sake of counting numbers they had been restricted to their common rooms. Lily was surrounded by a group of third-year boys listening to them recite their death-defying witnessing of the cursed fire; Louis was huddled in an armchair with his boyfriend; Lucy stood in the centre of the room recounting heads for the third time and jotting names down onto a long sheet of parchment.
Rose, Finlay and Xan reached the spot by the fire where Albus and Chandra were waiting. Albus was looking considerably paler than usual, and there was a definite forced quality to the trill in Chandra's voice as she gave him tarot reading.
'Oh, where the hell could he be?' sighed Xan bitterly, dropping down onto the settee beside Albus. 'Fin, are you sure he didn't tell you where he was going?'
'Oh, right – I just remembered. He's gone to London for a shopping trip,' retorted Finlay. 'If only I had remembered to tell Professor Longbottom that the first ten times he asked me.'
'Well, I was just checking,' snapped Xan. 'There's no point in covering for him.'
'I know there's no point in covering for him. I'm not covering for him. He was gone before I woke up this morning. What more do you want me to tell you?'
'But where could he have possibly gone?
'I'm off to bed,' announced Finlay bitterly. 'Night, all.'
And with that he turned and departed, Xan glaring after him.
'He's lying,' she informed the three fifth years.
'Oh no, he isn't, is he?' asked Chandra nervously, glancing up at Xan from her spot on the floor beside the hearth. 'He wouldn't lie about something so serious, would he?'
'He and James deserve everything they get; they're both so moronic,' Xan declared, and she jumped to her feet. 'I'm going upstairs. Come get me when dinner arrives, will you?'
They told her they would and watched her traipse away up the stairs to the girls' dormitories. Now alone, the three fell into silence, spare for the soft shuffling of Chandra's tarot cards. Moments passed in which they watched the fireplace, Chandra's nimble figures working over the deck of cards, before she turned to glance up at Albus.
'Al?'
He looked down at her. 'Mmm?'
'James didn't mention anything to you, did he?'
Albus shook his head. Chandra gave a slow nod of defeat and set apart laying herself out a spread. Rose and Albus watched her do so, murmuring to herself as she gazed down at the cards, furrowing her brow as she turned each one over.
'Chandra?'
'Yes, Al?'
'You were up in the castle with Connor all day, weren't you?'
'Mhmm.'
'In his dormitory?'
'Yeah.'
'And when you came through the common room, did you see Mei?' he asked. 'We got separated on the way up to the castle – I was trying to find you two and she was getting the third years back up to Ravenclaw tower …'
'She's in her dorm,' said Rose. 'The heads of house told the prefects whose missing. They've got all the Ravenclaws. All except for Malfoy.'
'Oh, dear,' said Chandra. 'Oh, Merlin, this is awful. How can people still be missing?'
'I saw him in Hogsmeade today,' continued Rose. 'Right near the House of Magical Artefacts and Ancestry.'
Chandra gave a small gasp and an utterance of, 'what?'.
Albus turned back to her, eyebrows raised. 'He wasn't in Hogsmeade today.'
'Yes, he was – I spoke to him.' She hesitated for a moment before she admitted, 'And I followed him. I don't know why, but I'd been drinking with Xan, and I was being stupid – but on the first day back at school, after his dad was arrested and there was another attempted break it at Gamp's manor, I noticed Malfoy had turned up to the prefects meeting with his leg all bloody.'
Chandra looked horrified. 'Bloody? Bloody how? What happened, Rosie?'
Rose shook her head. 'I know it's ridiculous, but I just couldn't help but thinking – like you said, Al, I know they didn't manage to get into Gamp's house, but maybe that wasn't the point. If it looked like someone else was trying to get into Gamp's house while Draco Malfoy was at the Ministry, then they'd have to release him, wouldn't they? And Malfoy knows about that passageway out of the school …'
'So, you think Scorpius tried to break into the Gamp manor so they'd release his dad?' said Chandra slowly. 'And then today – oh, Merlin, Rosie, you don't think he did this awful stuff in Hogsmeade, do you?'
'Well, he was there,' said Rose thoughtfully. 'It's not impossible, is it? I never took Mum and Dad seriously when they talked about the Malfoys – I thought they were being paranoid. But perhaps Draco Malfoy really did come back to their side – maybe he hated Gamp even more than our parents did.'
'Did you tell the Aurors?' asked Chandra.
'Yeah. They asked if I knew if any other students were in that part of town, and I said I'd seen Malfoy around. They didn't seem to want to know much else. Certainly not my theories on what had happened, obviously.'
Chandra gave a murmur of dismay and turned to Albus. 'What do you think, Al?'
Albus shrugged and said again, 'He wasn't in Hogsmeade. He told me he was staying at the castle.'
Rose rolled her eyes. 'He was there, Al. I spoke to him, okay?'
Albus hesitated before he shook his head. 'Well, so what? All of us were in Hogsmeade too – is that suspicious?'
'Al, you're the one who thought it was him in the first place,' said Rose. 'But now that you two are suddenly best friends …'
'We're not best friends, Rose,' Albus bit back at her. 'Just because I can manage to be civil with people, unlike you …'
Rose gave a sharp laugh. 'Oh, congratulations, Al. You've made a friend for the first time in fifteen years. He was sneaking around Hogsmeade all alone, right before the fyre started, and all you want to know about is whether Mei Zhao made it back and safe and sound to Ravenclaw tower?'
'You know,' said Albus slowly, gritting his teeth, 'I'm getting really tired of listening to you tell me how much you hate her.'
'Oh, she doesn't hate her, Al,' insisted Chandra, forcing a smile. 'Do you, Rosie?'
'I don't give a damn about Mei Zhao one way or another,' snapped Rose. 'And neither do you. You only asked her out to get back at Cassie – not that Cassie would care.'
'What would you know?' growled Albus. 'It's not like you've ever had a boyfriend. Not like anyone's asking you out.'
Rose's eyes flashed with anger, but when she spoke her voice was venomously even. 'And yet, unlike you, I can still find someone to shag me.'
'Oh, Rosie, don't,' pleaded Chandra. 'You're both upset – you don't mean it.'
Albus stayed frozen, his eyes fixed on Rose. Rose fought through the pang of guilt and stared right back, before Albus got to his feet.
'Alright, fine, I'm going to bed.'
'No, Al, don't,' pleased Chandra. She jumped to her feet and grabbed Albus's arm in an attempt to stop him. 'Come on …'
'Forget it, Chandra.'
'Al, please …'
But Chandra's pleading was interrupted by a shriek from across the room.
'James!' cried Lily.
Across the common room, heads turned towards the Quidditch captain clambering out of the portrait hole, straightening up at the calls of greeting and relief that welcome him. He gazed around at the over-packed common room and cocked an eyebrow. 'Hello, all. Shouldn't you lot be down at the feast?'
From across the room people went for him: Rose, Albus and Chandra jumped up to meet him; Lucy swept across to berate him; his dorm-mates abandoned their card game to gamble over and interrogate him; his sister flew forward, landing at his side and delivering his temple with a sharp slap.
He gave a grunt of pain and shoved her away. 'What's your problem?'
'Lily!' cried Lucy, scandalised.
'Where the hell have you been?' bellowed Lily.
'God, Lil, bit temperamental, aren't we?' asked James. 'Blokes don't fancy girls who act that deranged.
Lily gazed up at him, her freckled face twisted with contempt, before her hand plunged for her wand.
Albus dived forward to catch her hand, pulling it sharply back to her side. 'Lily, don't!'
'Let go, Albus!'
'Evening, Al,' said James brightly, running a hand through his hair. 'Mind telling me what the hell is going on?'
'Me tell you?' asked Albus weakly. 'Well – well, no, James, I do bloody mind! Everyone's been looking for you!'
James frowned down at his brother before once again surveying the room. The entire room was staring back at him, watching the exchange eagerly.
'Crowded in here,' he said casually. 'Did I miss something interesting?'
Lucy gave a huff of indignation. 'If you call an outbreak of cursed fire in Hogsmeade interesting! Where were you? The Aurors have been in the village for hours looking for students!'
James's brows shot upwards, and it was clear that this was indeed news to him. 'Did they? Must have missed me.'
'And how did you get back in the castle?' demanded Lucy. 'The caretaker's down at the front gate! She was supposed to summon a prefect to escort any students back up to the castle!'
'Oh, really?' said James, loftily as could be managed. 'Must have missed her. Anyway, if you don't mind, I think I might turn in …'
'James,' hissed Lucy venomously, 'you need to tell me where you've been. If the school couldn't find you in the village that's a serious lapse in security – we need to be able to reach students if we need to. And if you were out of bounds …'
James waved her away. 'Oh, Lucy, where could a lonesome soul like me get to? I've been doing a bit of shopping, poking in and out of here and there, took a nice stroll through Circe's Copse. None of that is out of bounds, is it?'
Lucy glared up at him, bristling with rage. It appeared her frustration had rendered her speechless.
'Right, well, then,' said James, grinning broadly. 'Off to bed. Sleep well, you lot.'
Heads turned to watch him stride away, swaggering his usual swagger, before disappearing up the stairs to boys' dormitories. Slowly the students returned to their conversations. Lily, her cheeks still flushed with anger, trudged back across the room to re-join her friends and Lucy remained by the portrait hole, scowling after James, while Julian Jiang departed to inform the teachers that James had turned up.
'Well,' said Chandra bracingly, glancing between Albus and Rose, 'he's back. That's very good, isn't it?'
'I'm going to bed,' declared Rose.
'Me, too,' said Albus.
'Oh, okay,' said Chandra, evidently anticipating another eruption between the cousins. 'Just wait while I go get my tarot cards …'
But neither of them spared her another glance as they stomped off towards their respective dormitories.
Ravenclaw tower was loud and very full when he returned. It seemed all of Ravenclaw house was in the common room, mulling around a table that had been set up in lieu of the Halloween feast. Students were chatting happily with friends, making up for the lack of chairs by sitting on the floor with plates of food.
He tried to navigate away his through the crowded room across to the staircase, but he was unsuccessful. Before he had even made it halfway, somebody stepped in front of him.
'Where have you been?'
Mei Zhao's eyes were narrowed and she looked unhappy.
He ground his jaw. 'I got back late.'
'Yes, I can see that. But why? The teachers have been trying to account for all of the students, you know? You made everyone worry.'
'Well, they shouldn't have. I just went for a walk outside of the village.'
Mei looked riled. 'Where exactly? There are Aurors all over the village looking for students – so where were you?'
He thought very quickly. 'I meant, I was walking outside of the Quidditch pitch. I didn't leave the grounds.'
'Well, why didn't you come back to the common room?' Mei demanded. 'Malfoy, we were worried. With the fyre in the village …'
'Darling, you're back.'
Scorpius looked around to see that Zaina had appeared through the crowd. He had never been so relieved to see her. She gave him a smile and a hug and then looked around at Mei. 'Is there a problem, Zhao?'
'Yes, actually,' Mei bit back. 'Malfoy's been missing. He claims he wasn't even in the village, that he came back to the school …'
'Well, yes, that's what he told me he was going to do,' said Zaina curtly. 'Is that a problem?'
Mei goggled at her. 'You knew? Well, why didn't you tell us? You're a prefect, Faheem. You know the teachers have been out looking for him …'
Zaina gave a breathy sigh. 'Gosh, Zhao, relax. I did tell Professor Karim, okay? Perhaps she just didn't update you. Now, if you don't mind, I'm exhausted. Come on, Scorp, let's go to my dorm.'
And without another word from Mei, Zaina took his hand and started to pull him through the crowd towards the stairs. They didn't talk for a minute, partly because the room was so loud and packed, but Scorpius could sense immediately that she was unhappy with him. She didn't say anything until they made it upstairs to her dormitory and she had shut the door after them.
'Thanks for that,' he said immediately. 'God, Zhao's a lunatic.'
Zaina turned to face him, her arms folded. 'Well?'
'Well, what?'
'Well, Scorpius, where were you?'
'I wasn't anywhere, Zaina. I really was just out in the grounds, okay?'
She gave him a warning look. 'Love, I really wouldn't lie to me if I were you. You know what I'm like when I'm annoyed.'
He stopped himself from rolling his eyes and instead took a few steps towards her, raising his arms to put them around her waist. She didn't resist, but nor did she lean into him, keeping her arms folded and her lips pursed.
'Zaina, come on,' he told her gently. 'What do you think I was doing?'
'I have no idea, because you said you were staying at school to study, but you weren't here when I got back.'
He tried not to look guilty. 'That was just … I was just in the owlery writing a letter to my mum, okay?'
At this, Zaina seemed to soften slightly, as he knew she would. He had to try harder to fight back the guilt.
'You could have just told me that, you know?' she told him coolly. 'You know, if you want to talk about your mum, we can talk about her. I want to know, you know?'
He gave a fervent nod. 'I know. Seriously, okay, I do know that. I just …' But all he could do was give her a shrug.
Zaina's anger seemed to be dissipating now because she finally leant into him, putting her arms around his neck. She looked up at him with her heavy-lashed brown eyes, her heart-shaped face set into a look of concern. 'I'm sorry, Scorpius. Is she doing any better?'
All of this was making him feel horrible. He didn't want to have to think about this anymore. 'Yeah, much better. Anyway, forget about that. Come on.' And he took her hand and started pulling her over to her four-poster. 'Tell me about your day, alright? Mine's not interesting.'
The creak of the dormitory's door was enough to rouse Finlay from his shallow sleep and he rose suddenly, waking easily, snatching up his wand to illuminate the room.
'James,' he said to the boy in the doorway.
'Alright, Fin?'
'Fucking hell.' Finlay scrambled out of bed, hurrying across the room to meet James. 'What happened?'
James managed to close the door before slumping back against it, abandoning his stance, allowing his leg to give way beneath him. Finlay lunged forwards, catching James's arm to hold hip upright.
'I've fucked my leg,' said James through gritted teeth. 'Can you have a look?'
Finlay was silent as he lowered James onto the floor, easing him into a sitting position with his bad leg stretched out in front of him,. With a flick of a wand, he slit James's jeans from ankle to thigh, brushing away the fabric to inspect the wound. He said nothing as he did so, not trusting himself to speak.
'You can fix it up, yeah?' James's voice was careless, but Finlay could hear it shudder. 'You're good at stuff like that.'
'Fixing cuts and stuff, sure,' said Finlay. 'But that's a cursed wound.'
'So?'
Finlay looked at James, his dark face looking gaunt and pained. He gave a low sigh. 'James, I've never done this before.'
'I trust you.'
Finlay raised his wand once more and aimed it at James's leg, willing his hand not to shake. 'You shouldn't have done it, James.'
And with that he pressed the tip of his wand against the blackened flesh rippling up James's thigh. James stuffed his fist into his mouth, his teeth cutting into his knuckles and he forced back the cry of pain.
Song credit: A Whiter Shade of Pale by Procol Harum.
