Chapter four

Albus held his breath, the foreign hand still clamped firmly over his mouth. He had stopped struggling as soon as he had seen the figure enter the alleyway. Scorpius was likewise standing limply by his side. Albus watched, terrified, as a large, hulking figure exited from the side door, his head turned behind him to speak to whoever was standing just inside the entrance. The two men exchanged a few words, none of which were intelligible, before the door to the alleyway was closed again with tired creak.

Where there had been light, there was now darkness, and Albus's eyes fought to adjust to the gloom. When they did, if his mouth had not been firmly held shut by someone else, he would have let out a shout of shock, because the man leaving from the side entrance was now fully facing Albus, Scorpius, and their captor.

The eyes of the man betrayed no change in expression as his gaze passed through where the trio stood. The man, having carefully peered down the alleyway in Albus's direction, turned again, and stepped deeper into the gloom, disappearing with a loud crack. Albus was so confused, he almost forgot the predicament he currently found himself in. Clearly, the man didn't want to be seen. But he had looked directly at Albus's terrified face, and simply turned away. How?

The answer was soon revealed when a low voice hissed in his ear "when I let you go, for the love of god, don't shout." Albus recognized the voice immediately. As soon as the hand disappeared, he started to speak. James Potter's hand was clamped back over his mouth in a millisecond. "We need to get out of this alley. Now. Don't be a ninny." Albus snorted against his brother's hand, but, rolling his eyes, threw his hands up to show he surrendered. As he did so, his hands slightly shifted the invisibility cloak that covered all three of them.

James hissed again, readjusting the cloak, before carefully setting off towards the alley entrance. Albus had no choice but to follow closely behind. He could feel Scorpius's chest bouncing off his back, and he had the pleasure of watching James bite back a curse when Albus accidentally stepped on the back of his ankle. The cloak really wasn't big enough for three teenagers – any space that had been made up by Albus's lack of height was nullified by James, who, like their father, was unusually tall. It was lucky that the streets were deserted because he was sure the soles of his shoes flashed with the wind.

It was an uncomfortable few minutes before they got back to the apothecary where Draco had left Scorpius. Albus could see dark splotches of sweat blooming on the cotton between his brother's shoulder blades. The air underneath the cloak was hot with breath. Finally, they stood before the dingy apothecary door. Albus twisted around, not bothering to apologize for the elbows that knocked up against his brother's back.

"We don't have much time" James said quietly. The older boy had stopped, nonetheless. Albus looked to Scorpius. Where were the words? Albus had thought he had something to say… but the expression on his friend's face had wiped everything else away. It was a flash of pain, bewilderment, anger? Albus wasn't sure.

The distant sound of footsteps approaching caused James to lurch forward. Still, the words wouldn't come. The sounds were closer now, and Scorpius made a move as if to step out of the cloak. There were no words. Albus held out his hand, findings Scorpius's for a brief moment, long enough to give one firm squeeze, before his brother pulled him away.

The cloak was swept off Scorpius, and before Albus had time to breathe his brother had pulled him half a block away. He watched as Scorpius turned to greet his father. He saw the hand that he had held a moment ago. He saw it turn into a fist.

Before Albus could get his jumbled thoughts together, he was blinded by the light. They had made it back to the brighter, and much busier, Diagon Alley. The chaos was so extreme that it was enough for James to pull Albus behind a display cart of large brightly coloured mushroom emitting puffs of mysterious looking gas, to pull off the cloak without being noticed.

Albus watched as James carefully folded the cloak and tucked it away in his back pocket. It disappeared so neatly, without displaying even the smallest bulge, that Albus looked strangely at his brother's jeans. James noticed his gaze and shrugged, not offering any explanation. The older boy sat up and ran his fingers through his tousled hair. He appeared to be having some sort of internal debate.

"Right" he said, looking like he'd made his decision, and immediately lunging forward to hold his brother by the collar, who fell to the ground with the shock of the force. "ARE YOU MAD" he shouted, his voice barely carrying over the din of the crowds streaming down the cobblestone street.

Albus turned red, and not just because the fist twisting his collar had cut off his airway. Albus attempted to push brother off of him. "You were following me" he accused, sounding more petulant than he had wanted to. "Aren't you glad I was?!" James replied heatedly. Albus huffed, half because he was out of breath. "Don't you dare say you had it under control" James warned, pointing a finger between Albus's eyes. Albus sighed. That was exactly what he had been tempted to say, whether it was true or not.

"Why did you do it?" Albus asked, wheezing slightly. James loosened his grip on his shirt. "Dad's been planning this trip for weeks. Haven't you noticed how many aurors are on duty? Why would you go out of your way to make a fuss?" Albus tried to worm his way out of his brother's grasp, unsuccessfully. He had actually managed to make the collar of his t-shirt tighter, somehow. The need for air gave way to fighting fairly, and Albus lifted his knee up, hard. He made contact with his brother, who let go of his collar to double over in pain. "They're here for Elle, not us. I wasn't making a fuss, I just wanted to see Scorpius…"

Albus trailed off when he saw his brother's gaze. He sighed again, holding up his hands to admit defeat before his brother managed to fully recover from his injury.

Whatever his intention had been, it was undeniable that his brother had just gotten him out of a very tough spot. But Albus couldn't get over the fact that James had followed him before he'd even known where he was going, and his excuse wasn't good enough. "You were following me" he repeated, internally wincing at how pouty the words sounded. James rolled his eyes. Now that Albus was slowly calming down, James didn't even need to say it. The truth sunk in a second before James replied, "you would've done the same to me."

Albus gritted his teeth but nodded. It was true enough. Things were quickly cooling off between the two brothers. Albus was still embarrassed, however, so he couldn't resist one last jab. "You sweat like a pig when you're nervous." He watched as James blushed, clearly regretting wearing grey. "Don't think I didn't see the look on your face when you stepped into Knockturn Alley" James warned.

Albus grinned, and accepted his brother's outstretched hand, pulling him into standing. The two wove their way through the jostling mass of people, Albus trying to smooth out the wrinkles in his shirt near his collar. "You should sneak in first" James instructed, as they approached the steps of the large purple building that housed the joke shop.

Albus turned towards the doors, then changed his mind. It was really starting to sink in that James had saved his and Scorpius's necks back there. He faced his brother again. "You can wear it, you know." He said, just loud enough to be heard over the rabble. James looked at him uncomprehendingly. Albus softly tapped his right pants pocket, where he knew his brother was keeping the badge. Realization dawned on James' face, and he slowly grinned.

"You knew?" he asked. Albus rolled his eyes. "I'm not daft" he replied. James shook his head, still clearly surprised. "I thought you'd be… I dunno, really." Albus fought to keep his composure and managed a weak smile. "Just don't expect me to call you captain" he warned, turning on his heels towards the door. He heard James's laugh. Albus was glad he had already turned away because he suddenly found that his eyes were watering. He shook himself once, trying to clear his head, before finding an opportune moment to slide through the constantly revolving front door.

Albus had barely stepped into the shop when he walked almost directly into Teddy Lupin's back. Quickly realizing what was going on, he deftly wove his way around a large display of brightly coloured love potions, rounding the corner to meet the group without making it obvious he was coming from the front door. "There you are" Teddy said, gesturing him to follow the group. Albus thought he would get a harder time for disappearing, but Teddy seemed just to be thankful that he was there. Albus noticed beads of sweat on the young auror's brow.

"Where is James?" the turquoise-haired boy asked, scanning the room, the barest hint of panic in his voice. As if on cue, Albus's brother appeared at Teddy's shoulder. Now that they were all accounted for, Teddy quickly shepherded the group out of the store. Albus caught Elle's look out of the corner of his eye. His absence had not gone completely unnoticed.

He barely had time to mouth "later" to her inquiring gaze before his mother and little sister had appeared on the steps to the shop. Lily was clutching her wand bag reverently, and Albus was about to ask her what she'd gotten when his mother interrupted him. "Right Teddy, you take the lead, I'll take the rear. Kids, grab hands – yes, even you James, no one gets lost in the crowd."

When Ginny Weasley spoke with authority, no one questioned her, even her fifteen year old son, who was clearly too old to be holding Lily and Rose's hands to walk through a crowd. The group was quickly ushered through the streets. It was all Albus could do to keep a tight grip on Elle as the fought their way through the masses of shouting people. Albus spotted the mushroom stand, and looking intently, glimpsed the entrance to Knockturn alley. There were several men in the previously deserted streets, but Albus couldn't make out anything more before he was yanked away. His heart lurched. Scorpius.

Two more minutes of chaos ensued, before the group of confused, and slightly scared, kids were led up a narrow set of stairs. It took Albus a minute to recognize his uncle Percy, who looked rather bewildered when he opened the door.

"Cheers" Ginny said, giving Percy a quick hug, and leading the kids into the neat apartment. "Mind if we use your flu?" she asked. Percy quickly scanned the group of sweating, panting kids. His eyes flickered back over to Elle. Percy nodded, gesturing towards the small fireplace. "To the burrow" Ginny announced, trying to retain composure. It was a bit late for that however, Albus thought to himself – clearly something wasn't right. He couldn't help but notice his father had not returned from the wand shop. And Elle looked like she wanted to vomit. He could tell she was worried.

It wasn't the moment to kick up a fuss and demand to know what was going on, however. If his mother wanted them out of Diagon Alley immediately, it was probably for good reason. He stepped towards the fireplace. The last thing Albus thought about before he was engulfed in green flames was the suddenly crowded Knockturn Alley.

Scorpius.