Albus Potter and the Secrets Within

[DucksRMagical]

Chapter 10: Dueling and Detention

The next day when Albus and John walked down to breakfast together, they were surprised to see that Matt was already sitting at the table. They ran right over and sat down across from Matt.

“Hey, mate!” Albus exclaimed, while grabbing a bowl of porridge. “Nice to see you back so soon.”

“Yeah,” John agreed, eying Matt warily. “Potion work, then?”

“Sure did,” Matt responded. “Finish all your homework?” he asked, quickly changing the subject.

“Took us a while, but we did. Blimey, that potions essay nearly killed me,” John shook his head. “Would have gotten it done loads faster if Rose had agreed to let me use her notes.”

“But then you wouldn't have learned anything,” Rose chimed in as she sat down next to Matt.

“Lucky Albus let me borrow his, then!” John laughed. He glanced up from his eggs. “Great, look who it is,” he groaned.

Albus looked up. Quinton Willinson was striding over to the Gryffindor table with a smug look on his face. What did he want?

“Guess what, Potty?” Quinton leered at Albus. “Slughorn's having a Christmas party. Have you heard? Just told me about it yesterday.”

“So?” Albus said flatly, not looking up from his porridge.

“So, are you going then?” Quinton laughed. “Are we going to be treated to yet another Potty show?”

James walked into the Great Hall and immediately noticed Quinton near his brother. He ran over to see what was going on.

“What are you doing here?” James asked, crossing his arms across his chest.

“Ah, the older Potty! What a pleasure to have them both here at once,” Quinton said excitedly, “I was just telling your dear brother about Slughorn's Christmas party. I was merely wondering if he would be attending.”

“That's none of your business,” James glared at Quinton.

“Will you be going as well?” Quinton asked, ignoring James's comment. “Then we could have a running commentary on how you caught the Snitch just like your dear father as well as listen to your brother's outbursts!”

“Shut it!” James shouted, turning beat red and drawing his wand.

“James! It's ok, just ignore him,” Albus told his brother.

“No, it's no ok,” James responded.

“Going to duel me, Potty? I can take both of you,” Quinton drew his wand and pointed it at James.

“Bet you can't take us as well,” John said as he and Matt both drew their wands.

“Easy,” Quinton snorted.

“What is going on here? Dueling at breakfast?” Professor Washburn walked over to the table and smiled at James.

“No, Professor, just defending my brother,” James responded.

“I believe that qualifies as dueling, Potter,” Washburn spat, “Detention for you and your brother, plus Brickston and Eckerton as well. And 50 points from Gryffindor.”

James gaped at him. “But what about Willinson? He started it! And Albus doesn't even have his wand drawn! He didn't do anything.”

“I'd suggest you shut your mouth, Potter, or I'll make it 2 detentions,” Washburn growled as he walked up to the staff table. “I'll tell you all the date and time in your next charms class. And I don't care if you have Quidditch practice during the time of detention.”

“Well, I guess I'll see you at Slughorn's party, then,” Quinton told them as he walked back to the Slytherin table.

“This is ridiculous!” James shouted, “We didn't do anything! He hates me, I tell you.”

“I know, he hates me too,” Albus agreed, “And I haven't even done anything to him. I've had a detention a week from him.”

“Quidditch practice is tonight at 7! He better not make it tonight!” James groaned.

“Wonder what he'll have us do?” John asked.

“Dunno? He usually has me do lines, while he glares at me,” Albus told him.

“I hate lines,” Matt sighed, “They're so boring.”

“Well, there's a lot worse detentions than lines,” James told him.

“True. Blimey, look at the time!” Matt shouted as he glanced at his watch. “We're going to be late for DADA!”

Matt, Albus, and John got up from the table and murmured rushed goodbyes to James, who was rushing off to History of Magic. Albus noticed that the girls and Bilius had already left for class.

******

“Well, that was boring, John groaned as he, Albus, and Matt left DADA a while later, “Why do we have to read about the spells before we get to do them!”

“Because otherwise you won't understand what the spell does and what the point of it is,” Rose said, exasperatingly. She was often explaining the point of reading to John.

“I'd rather read in DADA than do spells in Charms,” Albus sighed. The Gryffindors were on their way to their least favorite class.

“Me, too,” Matt agreed, “And we'll be learning what our detention will consist of.”

“Ugh! I've done way too many detentions with Washburn,” Albus groaned. “And you can bet that he'll purposely have us doing the detention while James is supposed to have Quidditch practice.”

“Of course,” Matt agreed, as he pushed open the door to the Charms classroom. The boys walked inside and found their usual table at the back of the room.

Washburn stormed into the room a few minutes later, he was obviously in a bad mood. “Today we'll be starting to learn how to make a strawberry walk across the table. It's not very difficult, if you've been practicing the incantation and reading up on it.” Washburn swished his wand and a strawberry appeared in front of each student. “Well, get to it then!”

John looked at Albus, “You been practicing or reading up on this, Mate?”

“Nope, how about you?”

“'Course not,” John laughed. “Looks like Rose has, though.”

Albus looked over at the table Rose was sharing with Marina and Karina. Sure enough, her strawberry was walking across the table. Washburn, who had been glaring at the students from behind his desk, got up and strode over to Rose.

“Apparently someone in this class has shown that they might have a small bit of talent,” he spat at Rose. “I suppose if this were any other class, Gryffindor may have gotten a few points. But I, on the other hand, don't think this is very remarkable, considering you've supposedly been studying this for a few days and every one of you should be capable of doing what Miss Weasley's done. Now, back to work!”

“Blimey, he's mad,” John whispered to Albus and Matt.

“Sure is, I mean, Rose did a good job. None of us can do it,” Matt agreed.

Albus looked around the room and noticed that most of the class's strawberries were not so much as moving a leaf. A few of them had made a feeble attempt to roll over, but that was it. As the class progressed, Washburn started to stand behind the back table and glare as Albus, Matt, and John tried to make their strawberries walk. By the end of the class, they had made no progress whatsoever.

“Pathetic!” he shouted, “For homework, write a foot-long essay on the proper way to make a piece of fruit walk, due on Friday. And Potter, Eckerton, and Brickston come up here to arrange your detention.”

The rest of the class stared at Albus, Matt, and John as they left the room. The three boys walked slowly up to Washburn's desk after the rest of the class had left.

“Your detention will be this Saturday, at noon. You will meet me in the Great Hall, where you will be polishing the portrait frames, house points hourglasses, and whatever else needs cleaning. Potter, you tell your brother this, I expect him there as well, despite his Quidditch practice,” Washburn barked, “You're dismissed.”

Albus, Matt, and John ran out of Washburn's room as fast as they can. They went straight to the Great Hall for lunch.

“Blimey, he was angry about something today,” Matt groaned as he helped himself to some potatoes.

“Yeah, but I wonder why he wants us to clean for our detention?” Albus wondered. “He's always had me do lines, before.”

“Bet he thinks it'll be funny, watching us clean. Plus, it's a Saturday, there'll be lots of people around to stare at us. He'll probably enjoy our humiliation,” John said.

“What are you talking about?” James asked as he sat down next to John.

“Detention. Saturday at noon, cleaning in the Entrance Hall,” Albus told him.

“Bloody hell! I've got Quidditch practice at noon!” James shouted as he slammed his goblet on the table.

“I know, that's probably why he made the detention then,” Albus said.

“He hates us, I swear he does,” James growled, “He's always hated Gryffindors, that's a known fact, but he seems to hate us more than everyone else.”

“Don't you think it's a bit strange?” Albus asked.

“Not really. Some teachers just don't like certain students,” John explained, “'Course, the students never really find out why.”

“Sucks, though. I mean, what if he's always giving me detention during Quidditch practice? This'll be the 4th practice I've missed for Washburn's detentions. Samantha won't be too happy about it.”

“You'll just have to watch yourself around him. Don't say a word during his class,” Albus advised.

“I know, I've been doing that since beginning of last year,” James explained, “After I set off a dungbomb during the second class.”

“Well, that's why he hates you!” Matt laughed, “And he probably thinks Albus is just like you.”

“He does,” Albus groaned.

“I guess I'd better be off to class,” James told them as he got up from his seat. “See you lot later.”

“Bye,” Albus told his brother. He turned to John and Matt. “I guess we'd better go too.”

“Yeah, probably. Double potions,” John said as he got up.

“Ugh, just what I need. Slughorn'll probably invite me to his Christmas party.”

Sure enough, at the end of class, Slughorn asked Albus and Rose to see him after everyone left.

“We'll wait for you,” John told Albus. He, Matt, and Amanda waited at the back of the room.

“Albus and Rose!” Slughorn beckoned them to his desk, “Great job, today, great job. Both of your potions were superb!”

“Thanks,” Albus muttered.

“It was a challenge, but I think I did all right!” Rose said excitedly.

“Well, as you both probably know, I'm having a little Christmas party on the last day of term. You are both invited, of course, and may bring guests. I hope to see you there! I have some interesting people coming that I'm sure you'd like to meet!”

“Who?” Albus asked warily.

“Oh, don't want to spoil the surprise!” Slughorn laughed, “I'll see you later, then!”

“So, you going to go?” John asked Albus nervously as they walked out of the dungeon.

“No way,” Albus mumbled.

“Well, someone told me your dad's going,” Rose said, “So you might have to go.”

“I don't care.”

“Oh, come on, Albus! What if he has really neat famous people there! I heard once he had some Quidditch players come!” John told him.

“I really don't think anyone would start anything with Uncle Harry there,” Rose said reassuringly.

“Well, maybe not. But what about Willinson?” Albus asked.

“He's a git, and he won't do anything with your dad around. Washburn may give Slytherins special treatment, but Professor Potter doesn't,” Matt said confidently.

“If you do go, can I be your guest?” Amanda asked, “I've never been to one.”

“You can be my guest, Amanda,” Rose told her, “I told you I'd take you to the next one after I took Janie to the Halloween one.”

“Oh, yeah.”

“Fine, if you guys want to go so badly, I'll go, but if anyone starts anything, I'm leaving,” Albus said flatly.

********

Before Albus knew it, Saturday had arrived and so did detention with Washburn. Albus was used to Washburn's detentions, but he had never had to do one that wasn't lines before. He was a bit nervous about what the detention would involve and about having to do it in public.

When Albus, John, and Matt arrived in the Great Hall, neither James nor Washburn were there yet. “James better get here before Washburn does,” Albus said nervously.

“Yeah, Washburn'll give him another detention if he's late,” Matt agreed.

At that moment, James came bursting through the oak doors. “Oh, good, he's not here yet!”

“You're lucky,” John told him.

“What is James lucky about?” a cold voice from behind John, said.

John turned around to see Washburn staring down at him. “Nothing, Professor.”

“Good,” Washburn spat. “Now, if you'll each take a bottle of cleaner and a rag, we can get started.” He gestured to a bucket of cleaning supplies at his feet. “We'll be doing Muggle cleaning. I want you each to start out by polishing the House points hourglasses. They must be spotless.”

Albus, James, John, and Matt each took a rag and started to polish the hourglasses. Washburn paced behind them, staring at each one in turn. Every once and a while, he would inspect the cleanliness of the hourglasses.

“You missed a spot, Potter,” Washburn growled at Albus.

While the boys were polishing the hourglasses, various students and professors would walk by and stare at them. Much to Albus's disgust, Quinton Willinson passed by a lot.

“Oh, look, Potty's doing his detention for trying to duel with me,” Quinton laughed, “Funny how he thought he could actually duel me.”

Albus just ignored his taunts and rubbed the Hufflepuff hourglass even harder.

“That slimy git,” John whispered to Albus. “If any of us taunted him in detention, we'd get a detention ourselves.”

“Yeah, and he had his wand drawn, too,” Matt agreed, “Washburn seems to like him best.”

“No surprise there,” Albus told them as he scrubbed a particularly stubborn piece of dirt. “They're both horrible.”

“I just wish it had been some other teacher who passed by our table that morning,” John groaned, “Then Willinson would have at least gotten detention, too.”

“Get back to work, Potter!” Washburn shouted at James, who had stopped polishing the Gryffindor hourglass and was resting his head on it.

“Something wrong, James?” Albus whispered.

“I dunno. My head just felt funny all of a sudden.”

“D'you think you're ill or something?” Albus asked, “Maybe you should go to the Hospital Wing.”

“Nah, Washburn would never let me. He'd think I was faking. I used way too many Skiving Snackboxes in his class last year.”

“Yeah, but if you're really ill, he'll have to let you go,” Albus said with a look of concern on his face.

“I know, but he'd make me do the detention over again.”

“Shut up, Potters! Both of you back to work or I'll give you another detention!” Washburn screamed.

For the rest of the detention, James was very quiet. The boys worked until two o'clock, at which point all four hourglasses were cleaner than they had been in years.

“I think you should go to the Hospital Wing,” Albus told James.

“Yeah, probably,” James agreed.

“I need to go, too,” John told them, “My hand feels like it's going to fall off! I hate Muggle cleaning.”

“Me, too,” Matt agreed, while rubbing his hand.

“But I doubt Madam Pomfrey will fix it, though,” Albus told them, “She usually doesn't do that after teachers make us do Muggle cleaning.”

John and Matt decided to go with Albus and James to the Hospital Wing anyway. When they got there, Madam Pomfrey was already tending to Bradley Weasley, who had taken a bludger to the arm during Quidditch practice.

“Yes, yes, what is it?” Madam Pomfrey asked the boys.

“Well, I was doing Muggle cleaning for Washburn's detention-” James started to say, but Madam Pomfrey cut him off.

“You know I don't fix aching hands due to detentions! If I did, you wouldn't learn anything from them!”

“It's not that. I was polishing the Gryffindor hourglass, and my head felt funny all of a sudden. It wasn't like a headache. I've never felt that way before. I kept seeing my own memories.”

Madam Pomfrey quickly looked up from Bradley and bustled over to James. “Really? Well, that sounds an awful lot like someone was using Legilimency on you.”

“What?” James shouted.

“Someone was reading your mind. That's why you were seeing your own memories,” Madam Pomfrey explained, “Who else was in the Great Hall with you?”

“Well, Washburn of course,” Albus told her. James appeared to be in shock and couldn't speak. “And Quinton Willinson, a couple of his friends, the Gryffindor Quidditch team, a variety of Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws I don't know, a few other professors. They all wandered in and out of the Great Hall.”

Madam Pomfrey sighed. “That doesn't really help any. We really don't have any way to know who was doing it. Seeing as you're not really ill, there's not much I can do for you. But I will inform the headmaster and your father about this.”

James had found his voice again. “Okay.”

Madam Pomfrey went back to tending to Bradley, and James, Albus, John, and Matt left the room.

“That's so strange,” James told them, “Why would anyone want to read my mind?”

“No idea,” Albus shrugged.

“I bet it was Willinson,” John growled. “What a git.”

“Yeah, he was probably just doing it to scare you,” Matt agreed.

“Was he even in the room when your head felt funny?” Albus asked.

“I don't really remember,” James told him.

“Well, I bet Dad'll take care of it,” Albus reassured his brother.

“I guess,” James said distractedly, “I think I'm going to go back to the common room.”

“Okay, see you at dinner,” Albus waved goodbye as he, Matt, and John walked back down the stairs so they could enjoy the new fallen snow.

[Phoenix15]

I think your writing is very good. You use similar termanology (spelling) as JKR. Things like "git" and "lot," I like that.

[DucksRMagical]

Thanks, Phoenix! I'm trying to make it sound British. If anyone has any suggestions about things I should change to make it sound more British, just let me know.

Chapter 11: Parties and Pranks

During the next few weeks, the teachers had increased their homework, each insisting that the students needed to increase their studying time. Albus found himself doing homework every day after dinner, and finding it hard to have time to have snow ball fights outside.

Albus hadn't forgotten about his cleaning detention with Washburn, and was doing even more to try to stay away from him. During class, Albus woudln't even look at Washburn. He did not say a single word during Charms anymore. No more talking to John and Matt while they were practicing making fruit walk across their desks.

Albus had noticed that James had changed since the detention. He was quieter, and often sat in a corner of the common room with their cousins Cedric and Ben, whereas he used to be at the center of attention, talking about Quidditch games. Albus guessed he was still scared about what happened during detention. Albus hadn't mentioned the incident to anyone, so only him, John,and Matt knew. Of course, James had told Cedric, Ben, and his friend Nathan, but Albus rarely noticed them talking about it. He was also a bit afraid of what the incident meant, but not nearly as much as James was.

Before they knew it, Christmas break was upon them. There was one day left, which was the day of Slughorn's Christmas party. The entire school was talking about it, and envious students who had not received invitations were constantly dropping hints to invited students about going with them. Albus would have gladly given up his invitation, but since all his cousins, James, and his dad were going, he had to go too.

Albus, John, and Matt had decided they should go a little later than the party actually started, so they could try to slip in unnoticed. John in particular, was very excited about going.

“Which Quidditch player do you think Slughorn's invited?” he asked as they walked down to the dungeons.

“Dunno. Maybe he's invited a couple!” Matt responded excitedly.

“Yeah! I sure hope so,” John said.

“Guess we're about to find out,” Albus told them as he opened the door and walked into the dungeon. It was packed. Albus noticed most of his cousins, with their flaming red hair. The few who had not inherited the hair were blending in with everyone else.

“Blimey! How are we supposed to find the Quidditch players with all these people here?” John exclaimed.

“No idea. How about we head for the food and hope we find them on the way?” Matt asked.

“Sounds good. C'mon, Albus,” John said as he pushed through people to get to the food. Albus and Matt followed.

“You see Willinson anywhere?” Albus whispered.

“No, but it's hard to tell if he's here or not,” John answered.

“I'm sure he's here somewhere. Keep your eyes out for him,” Albus told his friends. “I've got to stay away from him.”

When the boys arrived at the food table, they saw that Rose and Amanda were already there. “Hi. Did you just get here?” Rose asked.

“Yup, wanted to slip in unnoticed,” Albus told her as he grabbed a plate and started filling it. “Seen anyone interesting yet?”

“Yeah, actually. The rumor about the Quidditch players was right,” Rose responded.

“Really!? Who's here?” John shouted, as he scanned the crowd.

“Oliver Wood. He used to be Keeper for Puddlemere United,” Rose told him.

“I know who he played for, Rose. He's really here? That's brilliant. Puddlemere United's my team,” John told them.

“We know, you've told us a million times,” Rose said exasperatingly.

“Who else?” Albus asked.

“Helena Yaspies, current Chaser for Chudley Cannons,” Amanda told them.

Matt started choking and spat out his mouthful of butterbeer. Albus slapped him on the back. “You okay, Mate?”

“I'm fine!” Matt coughed, “The Chudley Cannons are my team! I've got to find her! Anyone got a quill for an autograph?”

Rose laughed. “You guys are crazy.”

“Nothing crazy about wanting to meet your favorite Quidditch players,” John told her. “Blimey, Oliver Wood...”

“I ever tell you that my dad used to play on the Gryffindor team with Oliver Wood?” Albus asked John.

This time it was John's turn to spit out his butterbeer. “No! You never did! Why not?”

Albus laughed. “You never asked. Anyway, he was captain when my dad joined the team in his first year. They played on the team together until my dad's third year..”

“Blimey! That's brilliant! So, you could have met him?” John asked.

“I have, Mate,” Albus smiled.

“You're kidding!” John shouted, “Well, what are we waiting for? Go introduce me!”

Albus laughed. “Ok, let's go find him. You want to come, Rose and Amanda?”

Rose sighed, “Sure, I guess.”

“Any chance you know Helena Yaspies?” Matt asked.

“Nope, sorry. Never met her,” Albus told his friend as they maneuvered their way through the crowd.

“There he is, Albus!” John shouted, pointing to the back of the room. “He's talking to your dad.”

Albus made his way to the back of the room, his friends following behind him. The room was slightly less crowded in the back. There was still no sign of Willinson.

“Hi, Al!” Harry waved at Albus.

“Hi, Dad.”

“What's up? Enjoying the party? I know you're not a fan of these, but thanks for coming,” Harry told Albus. He bent down so only Albus could hear what he next said, “You know, I wasn't a fan of these either, when I was in Hogwarts.”

“How are you, Albus? Enjoying school?” Oliver asked.

“Yeah, it's great!” Albus responded. “These are my friends, John Brickston- he's a big Puddlemere United supporter, Matt Eckerton, and Amanda Tagger.”

“Hi, nice to meet you,” Oliver told Albus's friends. “So, you support Puddlemere United, John?”

“Yeah!” John shouted, his eyes lit up. “I've been to a few games. I saw you in the last game you played in! I was 9, but I remember it like it was yesterday. Such spectacular saves.”

Oliver laughed, “That was a good game. I'm glad you enjoyed it.”

“It was awesome!” John said.

A tall brunette came walking over to the group, carrying a small boy on her hip. A little girl was trailing behind her with a plate of Christmas cookies.

“Hey, Heather,” Oliver put his arm around the woman. “John, Matt, Amanda, this is my wife, Heather. And this,” Oliver took the little boy from his wife and put him on his shoulders, “is my 2 year old son, Alex. And my daughter, Holly who is 6.”

“Hi,” John and Matt said together.

“I stopped playing Keeper shortly after Alex was born. Couldn't keep up all the traveling with 2 kids.”

“I remember that,” John told him, “I was kinda mad, but was just glad I got to see your last game.”

Oliver laughed, “I understand. I would have been mad if I were you, too. But I've got high hopes for little Alex here. He can already fly his toy broom expertly. And Holly's already flying a real broom!” Oliver beamed, he was obviously proud of his kids.

“That's pretty neat!” Matt replied, “My mum wouldn't let me on a broom until I was 8.”

“Holly was on one at 5. But just because you start late doesn't mean you'll be a bad Quidditch player,” Oliver explained, “Look at your DADA teacher! Hadn't set one leg over a broom until he was 11.”

“Yeah, but I'm rubbish at Quidditch,” Matt told him.

“Hey, Mr. Wood, could you sign my Quaffle?” John produced a Quaffle from his bag and held it out to Oliver.

“You brought a Quaffle?!” Rose exclaimed.

“'Course! After hearing those rumors, how could I not bring one?”

“Sure, I'll sign it,” Oliver took the Quaffle and signed it with a quill that he pulled out of his robes. He then handed it back to John.

“Thank you,” John whispered, as he stared in awe at the Quaffle.

“How 'bout you, Matt?” Oliver asked, “You want an autograph?”

“Sure! But I don't have a Quaffle.”

“That's okay. I've got some parchment,” Oliver signed some parchment and gave it to Matt.

“Thanks!” Matt pocketed the parchment.

Alex started whining. “Hungy, hungy!”

“Well, boys, I've got to go get some food for little Alex, here,” Oliver told them, “Enjoy the party!” He and Heather walked towards the food table with Holly behind them.

“Wow, just wow,” John told his friends, “That was so cool.”

“I'll say,” Matt replied.

“I can't believe you two know him!” John told Albus and Rose.

Rose rolled her eyes, “It's no big deal.”

“You just don't like Quidditch that much,” Albus told her, “It's cause you're horrible on a broom.”

“Shut it, Albus,” Rose glared at him.

“Where's Helena Yaspies?” John scanned the crowd, “Any of you lot seen her?”

“Nope, not yet,” Albus told them.

“No, but look over there near Slughorn's desk. It's Willinson,” Matt whispred.

Albus groaned.

“Excellent!” John grinned.

“What?” Albus looked at him like he was crazy, “Why on earth do you want to see him?”

“I've been plotting a little prank,” John whispred, “C'mere.” He pulled them behind a table and they all crouched down. John pulled a box out of his bag. “This is an Exploding Eclair.”

“What?” Amanda asked.

“Exploding Eclair,” John repeated, “I bought it through owl-order from your uncle's store, Albus.”

“What are you going to do with it?” Albus eyed him warily, he happened to have been on the receiving end of an Exploding Eclair at the family dinner before start of term. His cousin, Bradley, had done it.

“Plant it on Willinson's plate,” John told them, “But I'll need your help. When Willinson sets his plate down, walk by him. Close enough that he can see you, but far enough that he'll have to leave his plate unattended. Then I'll put the eclair on it. And when he bites into it, bam! It'll explode.”

“Brilliant!” Matt shouted.

“I dunno. It'll make him real mad,” Albus said.

“But he won't know it's us! That's the beauty of it. There's so many people here,” John explained, “But to be on the safe side, we'll leave right after. We don't want to stay if he's here anyway.”

“True,” Albus agreed.

“Everyone in, then?” John asked, grinning.

“Yep,” they all stated.

“Then let's go,” John got up from under the table and his friends followed. Willinson was still by the desk, so Albus, Matt, Amanda, and Rose headed over. They walked next to the food table and waited until Willinson noticed them. It didn't take long. He spotted them, smirked, and set down his food. Albus saw John close in on his plate.

“Hello, Potty, Weasel, and company,” Willinson glared, “Enjoying the party? I'm just waiting until the moment you explode again, Potty.”

“Willinson,” Albus snarled, “I'm not planning on exploding. Are you?”

“'Course not. When have I ever exploded? You on the other hand,” Willinson laughed, “Don't like the popularity, do you, baby Potty?”

“Shut it,” Matt stepped towards Willinson.

“What're you going to do about it, Shrimp?” Willinson towered over Matt by at least a foot.

“You think I'd tell you what I'd do? Think I'm stupid? If I told you, you'd know how to block it,” Matt growled.

“I doubt there's a curse you know that I don't know how to block.”

“Probably, but I know you wouldn't start anything with Professor Potter a few feet away,” Matt jerked his head in the direction of Harry.

At that moment, Albus looked over and saw John. John winked at him and walked away from Willinson's plate.

“Well, I think I've had enough of your company tonight, Willinson,” Albus annonced, “Have a horrible Christmas.” Albus started to walk towards John, and his friends followed.

“Got it planted, then?” Albus asked when they reached John.

“Yup,” John gave him a thumbs up, “We're on.”

They walked over to the door of the dungeon so they could escape easily if needed. Willinson picked up his plate and wandered back over to his friends. As they were talking, he picked up the eclair and bit into it.

The explosion was amazing. As soon as Willinson bit the eclair, cream exploded all over his face and in a 2 foot radius around him. A few bystanders were hit as well. It didn't seem possible that that much cream could fit in one eclair.

“Bloody Hell!” Willinson shouted, and the whole dungeon went silent. Everyone looked at Willinson and started laughing.

Willinson looked around the room and his gaze fell on Albus. “I'll get you for this, Potty,” he seethed as he stormed out of the dungeon.

“That was bloody brilliant,” John said once Willinson had disappeared into the hallway.

“Yeah, it was!” Matt agreed.

The girls and Albus nodded. “But he said he'd get us. We'd better be on the lookout. He knows it was us,” Albus told them.

“He can't know it was us!” Matt said.

“Yeah, I guess. But he'd still get us even if he doesn't know who did it,” Albus reasoned.

“But it's Christmas break tomorrow, so it doesn't matter!” John grinned.

“I suppose you're right,” Albus smiled, “But let's get to the common room anyway. His friends agreed, and the five of them made their way to Gryffindor tower.

*******

It was still early when they made it back to the common room, so it was quite crowded. However, Amanda spotted a few chairs in the back for them to occupy.

“So, who's excited about Christmas?” John asked, “I sure am, I could use a break from studying.”

“You're not going to get a break,” Rose told him, “We've got loads of homework.”

“Way to put a damper on things, Rose,” John answered, “But at least there's no classes!”

“I'm looking forward to Christmas,” Albus said, “I love Christmas.”

“What do you usually do for the holidays?” Amanda asked.

“Oh, it's great! We all go to my grandma and grandpa's house. Everyone. My family, Rose's family, all our aunts, uncles, and cousins. It's pretty crowded, but it's still fun. I love it. Usually someone winds up having too much to drink and there's loads of jokes played on people,” Albus said excitedly.

“Yeah, it's pretty neat. We don't all stay the whole break, though. Because most of us have other family to visit. My family usually stays until a few days after Christmas and then we spend the rest of the holiday with my mum's parents,” Rose explained, “But Albus's family spends the whole break at the Burrow, that's what we call my grandparents' house.”

“Yep. But most of our cousins go straight to the Burrow from Hogwarts. My family always goes home first, to visit my grandparents' graves. We always do that on Christmas Eve. Dad's been going ever since he was 17, every year on Christmas Eve. Then we get the Burrow late that night.”

“What do you do you guys do for Christmas?” Rose asked.

“Oh, I love Christmas too,” John smiled, “We stay at my house and my aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents all come over. They never all come at the same time, though, so it gets pretty crazy. My mum freaks out because she never knows how much to cook. And usually someone starts arguing about something, but it's all right. My family loves to argue, but we never get real mad at each other.”

“Sounds pretty cool. You have a lot of cousins, John?” Amanda asked.

“A fair amount. Most of them are all younger than me, though. 'Course that means they're great to play tricks on,” John laughed.

“Well, my family celebrates Hannukah,” Amanda told everyone.

“Oh, that's neat,” Albus told her.

“Yeah, it's good. I'm just glad Hannukah is late this year, so I'll be home for it. Sometimes it's at the end of November. But anyway, I have a pretty small family. Just 3 cousins and my aunt and uncle. And my little brother and older sister. My cousins usually come over for two days or so and we all exchange presents. It's quiet, but fun.”

“Sounds fun,” John agreed, “But I love my huge loud family. What do you do, Matt? You've been awful quiet.”

Matt looked up from the table. “Chirstmas has never been all that fun for me, I guess. We usually go down to Australia to visit my grandparents.”

“That sounds like fun to me,” John told Matt.

“Well, it's not. I don't like Australia. That's where-” But Matt suddenly stopped talking.

“Where what?” John asked.

“Nothing, nothing. It's just, that's where I, er, got sick for the first time. You know, how I get sick so much.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, anyway, well, we visit my grandparents. My parents, me and my sister go. My mum's a muggle born, and we visit her parents. They don't like me too much. I dunno why. It's always very formal when we visit them. They're rich and stuck up. Never let me do anything there. I have to just sit still and they're always staring at me. Guess they don't want me to break anything. Luckily we only visit them at Christmas. I don't have any cousins. My dad's got a brother, but he's living in America, so we don't see him much either. We usually visit him over the summer. My dad's parents died a long time ago, before I was born. So I don't have much family. I just wish we'd spend Christmas at home.”

Albus, John, Amanda, and Rose just looked at Matt. “I'm sorry, Matt. I wish you had a better Christmas,” Rose said sympathetically.

“Why don't you spend Christmas with us?” Albus asked, “No one'll notice another person in the Burrow.”

“That's a great idea!” Rose shouted.

“I dunno. I don't think my parents will let me. Especially this short notice,” Matt looked down glumly. “My mum likes all of us to be together on Christmas. She seems to think every year it'l be different. That my grandparents will loosen up. But they never do.”

“Blimey,” John whispered, “That stinks.”

“I know,” Matt agreed.

At that moment, James came bursting in with his friend, Nathan. They both made a beeline for Albus's table.

“Was it really you?” James shouted breathlessly, “Did you give Willinson the Exploding Eclair?”

John grinned. “It was my idea.”

“Brilliant, just brilliant,” James smiled, “The look on his face.”

“Yeah, but you lot had better watch out when you next see him. He seemed to know it was you,” Nathan told them.

“I'm not worried,” John answered, “He'll probably forget about it over break.”

“I sure hope so,” Albus stated. He looked at his watch. It was midnight. “Well, I'm off to bed. I'll see you guys in the morning.

“We'd all better go to bed,” Rose stood up, “I think the train's leaving at noon tomorrow.”

Albus got up out of his chair and headed to the staircase. He couldn't wait to go to the Burrow. He missed being surrounded by his family all the time. He missed his grandmother's cooking. Thoughts of the delicious food filed his head as he drifted off into a pleasant, dreamless sleep.

[DucksRMagical]

(I realize this chapter is really short, but I felt it had to be by itself, I didn't want to put any other events in it.)

Chapter 12: Christmas Eve

“Lily!” Harry shouted into the living room, “Are you ready to go? All packed?” Harry was standing with Ginny in front of the front door, with a couple trunks and suitcases at his feet. James and Albus were standing nearby, having a sword fight with a couple fake wands. Albus's wand turned into a fake parrot and emitted a loud squawking noise.

“Albus! James!” Ginny scolded them, “Behave yourselves.” James and Albus quickly stowed the wand and parrot into their trunks

A small, red-headed girl walked into the room, trailing a pink rolling suitcase. “Are we leaving now?”

“Yes, we are. What were you doing in there, dear?” Ginny asked.

“I was packing. I couldn't find all my Wendy Witch dolls and had to look all over the house for them.”

James laughed. “Do you have to take them everywhere?”

“Of course I do! I couldn't leave any of them home. It wouldn't be fair,” Lily explained. Albus and James laughed even harder. “Mum! Tell them to shut up.”

“Boys, be nice to your sister. Now, does everyone have everything? I'm sending the trunks to the Burrow and we won't be coming back after we visit Godric's Hollow,” Ginny informed them.

“Yes, we've got everything,” Albus told them.

“Good,” Ginny waved her wand and the trunks and suitcases disappeared, “Now, then, it's time to go. Lily, take my arm. Boys, take your father's.” And with a loud crack, the Potter family disappeared from their house.

A few seconds later, they reappeared in a field a little ways away from a small town. The sun was setting and their was fresh snow on the ground. From the field, Harry could see tiny people walking along the streets.

“Daddy, why do we have to walk so far?” Lily whined, “Why can't we just Apparate in town?”

“I've told you before, Lily, we can't let the Muggles see us,” Harry explained.

“But I'm tired.”

“Oh, shut it, Lily,” James snapped at his siter, “It's not that far.”

“Is, too,” Lily stomped away from him.

James reached down and made a snowball and then threw it at the back of his sister's head.

“Ow!!!” Lily screeched and ran to Harry.

James and Albus started laughing. “Good one, James,” Albus gave his brother a high five.

“Boys!” Harry shouted, “Enough! Lily, it's not that much further. I'll carry you.” Harry picked up his daughter, who started sobbing into his jacket.

“She's really tired,” Harry whispered to Ginny.

“I know. She's been real excited about you and the boys coming home for the holiday. She's been up until midnight every night the past week,” Ginny said.

“She won't be getting much sleep for the next week either, staying at the Burrow,” Harry told Ginny.

“That's for sure.”

As the Potter family moved into the town, some people occasionally stopped to stare at them. A few stopped to say hello, but hurried off quickly. Others completely ignored them. Many people were finishing up last minute shopping or hurrying off to church.

The little church was already full of people singing. The Potters could hear the carols as they walked by. They crunched through the snow in silence. Even James and Albus were quiet. Lily had fallen asleep on Harry's shoulder shortly after he picked her up. Harry appreciated how his kids were always behaved when he visited his parents graves. It was sort of an unspoken thing. He had never once had to tell them to behave themselves in the cemetery. The kids would fight and bicker along the streets in the village, but would always get along once they entered the cemetery.

Harry walked into the cemetery, with Ginny, James, and Albus following him. As he walked the familiar path to his parents graves, he thought about his previous visits. There was the first visit, of course. He couldn't forget that. Voldemort had showed up and tried to kill him. Ever since then, he had been visiting every Halloween and every Christmas Eve. He had taken Ginny once they were married, and the kids once they were born. Harry always felt sad when he visited, but this year he felt worried as well. Who was attempting to read his and his kids' minds? What about the mysterious death of Professor Torro?

Harry made his way towards his parents' grave and stopped in front of it. He bent down and put his hand over the names. James and Lily Potter.

Before the downfall of Voldemort, mysterious deaths were expected. Of course, nowadays, there were deaths every once and a while. These were usually attributed to Death Eaters still at large or witches or wizards who believed in Voldemort's ideals. Harry or one of the other Aurors usually caught them quickly and they were in Azakaban at the moment. Harry had had Aurors on the case of Torro ever since September, but there were still no leads. This reminded him of very much of the days when Voldemort was at large.

What was he supposed to do? He was doing all he could to catch Torro's killer. He couldn't help but think the death was somehow related to the legilimency that was being performed on him, James, and Albus. And what could he do to help reassure his sons? The other teachers had told Harry that James was more subdued in class ever since the episode during his detention with Washburn. James was obviously quite worried about it. Albus was, too. Harry had met with Ron shortly afterward and neither of them could come up with any new ideas of who did it. It must have either been a student or a teacher. As much as Harry hated to do it, he realized he was going to have to investigate his colleagues. Ginny was worried, too. However, she believed that the boys were safe with Harry at the castle. Harry knew she took comfort in knowing he was near them at all times. Harry only wished he felt as confident in his abilities as Ginny did.

Ginny knelt down next to Harry and wordlessly took the sleeping Lily from his arms. Harry reached into his cloak and pulled out a bouquet of lilies. He bent down again and placed them in front of the grave stone. Harry stood up and looked at the grave, his eyes glistening with tears.

“Happy Christmas, Mum and Dad,” Harry whispered. Ginny put her arm around Harry, and the two of them turned around and headed out of the cemetery, with James and Albus in their wake.

[*Riley*]

WOW ! you rule ! can you make a series of them and send them to me. like my own personal book lol. well keep up the great work and i love the English phrases "git" and i am sure that you are absolutely the best rpg-ist in this whole forum. but seriously keep writing your a natural.

[DucksRMagical]

Thanks, Riley. I'll be posting all future chapters, here, in this thread. I'm not going to send them to anyone, sorry.


Chapter 13: Christmas

A little while later, the Potter family appeared in the yard behind the Burrow. They walked up to the back door and Harry opened it. He walked inside, followed by his family, and saw the usual chaos. The entire Weasley family was standing inside. It was a sea of flaming red hair. Most of the children had inherited the Weasley red hair. The few exceptions were Albus, who looked just like Harry, and Victoire and Gabrielle, who had their mother's silvery blonde hair.

“Mum, make him give it back!” six-year-old Lindy shouted as her brother held her doll in the air.

“Cedric! Give her back her doll!” Corrine Weasley yelled at her son. He reluctantly handed Lindy her doll and ran from the room.

The Burrow was cramed with people. There didn't seem to be room for anyone else. Teddy Lupin was currently entertaining the younger Weasley children by changing his ears and hair color. The older kids were eating various sweets and talking about all sorts of things. Many of the adults were drinking eggnog and getting louder and louder by the minute.

Ron was the first to notice the Potters. “Oi! Harry's here!” he shouted and ran towards the door, “Hi Harry! Great to see you, mate!”

“Hey, Ron!”

“Harry, Ginny!” Molly Weasley came bustling into the kitchen, “Come in, come in! Are you hungry? Want any stew?”

“Sure,” Harry told her and he sat down at the table next to Ginny. Molly went over to the stove and got five bowls of stew.

“This is great, Mum, thanks,” Ginny told Molly.

Albus and James were already digging into their stew. Lily ate a few bites and then ran off to find her cousins, apparently not tired at all anymore.

“Well, everyone's here,” Molly told them, “They're all in the living room. I don't know if we'll ever get the kids to bed.”

“It's Christmas Eve, don't even bother,” Harry laughed.

Albus finished his stew and got up from the table. He went into the living room with James and found Rose, along with his cousins Bradley, Cedric, Ben, and Mark sitting together on the floor. Cedric and Ben were second years, and Bradley and Mark were third years.

“What's new?” Albus asked.

“Oh, not much,” Ben told him, “Uncle George and Uncle Charlie are pretty drunk. Grammy is trying to get the younger kids in bed. All the aunts are talking about all kinds of stuff. My dad, Uncle Percy, Uncle Ron, and Grandpa are all drinking eggnog and eating cookies over there,” he pointed to a few chairs grouped together around a small table. “And let's see, Teddy and Victoire were snogging earlier. It was pretty gross. Who wants to see their sister snogging someone? Grammy made them stop. Now Teddy's changing his hair color all the time for the entertainment of the little kids, which is making it hard for Grammy to get them to go to bed.”

James and Albus laughed. “Should be an interesting break,” James said, “What have you guys been up to?”

“Oh, not much, just talking about Quidditch,” Cedric said, “Oh, and Rose is trying to get some studying done.”

“Rose! We're on holiday!” James looked shocked, “Now's not the time to study!”

“Well, you'll be scrambling to get your work done on the last day, like always. Maybe you should study tonight, too.”

“You'll never get anything done with all this racket,” Cedric told her. “What's up with you, James and Albus?”

“Oh, not much. Lily's been complaining a lot. She got really mad when I threw a snow ball at her while we were walking into Godric's Hollow,” James told them.

“Yeah, she's been kind of a pain, and we've only been on break for a day!” Albus said as he snatched a cookie from a nearby platter. “I'm sure going to enjoy this time off, though. I haven't gone a week without detention in ages.”

“Me too!” James agreed, “I need a break from Washburn, he's crazy.”

“Definitely,” Bradley agreed, “You've missed so much Quidditch practice because of him.”

“He hates me, I tell you. Hates Albus, too.”

“Remember that dung bomb in first year, James?” Cedric asked.

“Yeah, how could I forget that? That's when he started hating me,” James reminisced. “Didn't learn many charms that year due to the amount of times I used nosebleed nougats.”

“I'm hoping I get new Snackboxes for Christmas this year,” Cedric told them, “I'm running out. Can't wait till next year and I can go buy them at Hogsmeade.”

“Defnitely. Hogwarts won't know what hit it when we're able to buy prank stuff all the time,” James laughed.

“Going to Hogsmeade's great,” Mark chimed in, “I've bought so many sweets at Honeydukes this year.”

“Not to mention everything else there. Like the Three Broomsticks. What a great place. And the Shrieking Shack. You know it's shrieking again this year,” Bradley added.

Albus and Rose glanced at each other nervously.

“Yeah, I've heard it. But I wonder why? It hasn't shrieked since Teddy's dad was at Hogwarts,” James wondered aloud.

“You don't think-” Cedric started to say, but was cut off by Molly.

“If you're not in Hogwarts yet, it's time for bed!” she shouted, “It's nearly midnight, way past your bedtimes. Go on! Lily, Hugo, Angie, Samantha, Lindy, and Eddie! Bed!”

“But Grammy!” Lily whined, “I don't wanna! I'm not a little kid!”

“No buts, Lily, bed, now!”

Lily pouted and then stomped up the stairs to the room she shared with Angie, Samantha, and Lily.

“I see what you mean about Lily,” Cedric told James and Albus.

“Yup, she's been doing it all evening. Dad actually carried her at Godric's Hollow. And she fell asleep on his shoulder. 'Course now she doesn't want to go to bed, figures,” James said.

“So, what does everyone think the chances of England making it to the World Cup next year?” Albus asked quickly, before everyone could return to the topic of the Shrieking Shack.

“Ugh!” Rose sighed, “Back to Quidditch again.” She pulled out her copy of the Standard Book of Spells, Grade One and continued reading.

The subject of Quiddtich carried the boys the rest of the night and Albus was very relieved that no one mentioned the Shrieking Shack again. After a while, Molly decided it was time for everyone else to go to bed, too. James, Bradley, Cedric, Mark, Ben, and Albus were all sharing Ron's old bedroom on the top floor. They trudged up the stairs while continuing their Quidditch conversation. When they reached the room, they found three sets of bunk beds crammed into the room, just as they were every other Christmas. It was a bit cramped, but they all had enough room. Albus climbed into the bottom of the bunk he shared with James and fell into a restful sleep.

******

“Albus! Wake up! It's Christmas!” a shrill voice screamed as Albus opened his eyes. He sat up and bumped his head on the bed above him.

“Ouch!” Albus rubbed his aching head. He had forgotten he was at the Burrow. “What is it?”

“It's Christmas, Albus!” Lily screeched.

“What time is it? Is anyone else up?”

“It's six in the morning!” Lily said excitedly. “I'm the first one up. Look, you've got presents!” Lily pointed at the pile near the foot of Albus's bed.

“Excellent! Looks like a good load this year,” Albus smiled. “Have you opened yours?”

“Not yet. I think I will now, though!” Lily grinned and ran from the room.

Albus heard stirring from the bed above him. “You up, James?”

“Yeah, I am now. She's always the first one up on Christmas,” James yawned.

“I know, she's even up before the twins, Angie, and Eddie,” Albus laughed. “Well, mine as well get started on the presents!”

Albus crawled to the end of his bed and examined his presents. He picked up a large, soft package and knew what it was before even opening it. He tore off the wrapping and unfolded a scarlet sweater with a Gryffindor lion on it. Albus knew he'd be getting one of these this year. His grandmother always knitted everyone a sweater every year, but for each kid's first year at Hogwarts, they got a Gryffindor sweater. Albus pulled his over his head and smiled. “What sweater did you get this year, James?”

“Scarlet with a gold Snitch,” James told Albus, “You get the Gryffindor one?”

“Yup.” Albus reached for his next present. It was from his Uncle George and Aunt Alicia. He opened it up and found a Skiving Snackbox. He grinned. He never had much use for these sweets before, but now that he was at Hogwarts, they would definitely come in handy. “What'd you get from Uncle George?”

“Extendable Ears,” James responded.

The next present was in the shape of a book. Albus knew it was from his Aunt Hermione before he even looked at the tag. When he unwrapped it, he found it was Hogwarts, A History. Albus laughed. James had gotten the same book last year.

“Did you get Hogwarts, A History?” James asked.

“Yeah, how'd you know?” Albus sniggered. The next package was from his Uncle Ron, a box of Honeydukes sweets.

Albus reached into his pile of presents and found the one from his parents. It was a long rectanglular box. Albus opened it and found a dragon skin wand cover. It was scarlet and embossed with gold lions. Albus stared at it in awe. He had seen one of these in Diagon Alley when he was there buying his school supplies. He had wanted it, but his dad had said no. It came with a small bottle of wand polish. “What'd you get from Mum and Dad?”

“Haven't opened theirs yet,” James said, “Lemme find it.” Albus heard rustling from the bed above and ripping paper. Then silence. “Wow! This is awesome! They got me a wand cover!”

“Me too!” Albus exclaimed, “What's yours have on it?”

“Snitches! It's like my sweater, scarlet with gold Snitches.”

“Mine's scarlet with gold lions.”

“Pretty impressive,” James said.

“Yeah,” Albus agreed.

Albus continued opening his presents until there were none left. He got a lot of sweets and Weasley's Wizard Wheezes products. He also got a few books, including Quidditch in the Twentieth Century. But his favorite present was his wand cover, he kept staring at it. When Bradley, Cedric, Mark, and Ben woke up, they opened their own presents.

By the time the boys had all finished opening their presents, everyone else in the house was up. When they went downstairs they found Molly cooking breakfast. All the other adults were sitting around the table talking and having coffee and tea. The younger kids were running around playing with their presents. The older kids were all clustered around one of the armchairs in the living room. The boys went over to investigate.

“What's going on over here?” James asked, while squeezing in between Stanley and Fred.

“Georgia's gotten a new broom!” Fred exclaimed. “Newest model, a Firebolt 3000.”

“Oh, wow!” James exclaimed, “Can I touch it?”

“Sure,” Georgia was sitting in the armchiar, with her new broom resting on her lap. Everyone was admiring it.

“This is so cool,” Heather gazed at the broom, “Wait till the Slytherins see we have one of these on our team.”

“Yeah!” Fred agreed, “Supposed to be the fastest broom yet. Just came out last week.”

“Can I fly it later?” James asked.

“Yeah, sure, but I want to try it out first,” Georgia laughed, “We'll go out after breakfast.”

“Do you know if anyone else has one at Hogwarts yet?” Bradley asked.

“No, I don't think anyone else has one!” Georgia said.

“Wow, wait till everyone finds out it's my sister who got the first Firebolt 3000,” Bradley sighed, “But I do wish I got one.”

“Well, I was riding a Nimbus 2000. You've got a regular Firebolt.”

“I know, but I hope I get one for my birthday.”

“Breakfast is ready!” Molly called into the room.

Everyone scrambled into the kitchen and got plates of food. There wasn't enough room at the table for everyone to eat at. The kids all went back into the living room to eat. Albus sat down next to Lily, who was playing with her new toys and eating at the same time.

“What'd you get, Lily?” Albus asked his sister.

“New My Little Hippogriffs,” she told him, gesturing to her toys. “And a stuffed owl, which I named Hedwig. Some candy, a few fake wands, a sweater, some socks, a couple books, and a Gryffindor hat and scarf.”

“That's good,” Albus responded, as he started eating his eggs. Rose came and sat down next to Albus.

“Hi, Rose. You get good presents?”

“Yeah, I got a lot of books!” she told him.

“I got a few books. But the best thing is my new wand cover,” Albus grinned, “It's upstairs, I'll show it to you later.”

“Wow, that's neat.”

“Did you see Georgia's new broom?” Albus asked, “Its only been out a week. She's probably one of the first to get one.”

“Yeah, I saw it. It's pretty impressive. You going to try it out?"

“Definitely. It's got to be great to fly. Maybe I'll be able to get a broom next summer. I'm trying out for Chaser next year,” Albus told her.

“I'm sure you'll get it,” Rose told him as she ate her toast.

“I dunno. I mean, there's only 1 chaser postion opening up next year. Samantha'll be leaving. Plus Ryan will be too, but he's a beater, and I don't think I'd make a good beater. I bet Georgia'll be made Captain.”

“Probably. She's the next oldest. And she's a good leader,” Rose agreed.

“Plus she's got the best broomstick ever!” Albus said.

“True,” Rose said, “But just because you've got a good broom, doesn't mean you're a good captain.”

“Yeah, but Georgia's a great player. Her new broom will only make her better. Slytherin won't stand a chance. I think we're playing them shortly after we go back in January,” Albus told Rose. “You gonna try out the broom?”

“Probably not. I'm not very good and I wouldn't want to break it.”

“I doubt you'd crash it. You're an ok flyer,” Albus told her. “But I'm definitely trying it.”

“Let's go play Quidditch!” Georgia stood up and held her broom over her head. Everyone who had been eating breakfast dropped their plates and either stormed up to the bedrooms to get their own brooms or ran out into the field that was used for Quidditch practice. Albus, since he did not own his own broomstick, went directly outside. Georgia had already ran out the door and was standing in the middle of the field, with a huge grin on her face.

“Ready, Albus?” she asked.

“Definitely! I can't wait!” he told her, and he looked over to the back door of the house. James, and everyone else who had their own broom had come out and were running over to the field.

“Can I try it after you?” Teddy shouted from behind everyone else.

“Sure!” Georgia shouted back.

“Then me!” James waved his arms around.

“And me!” Fred screamed.

“Me!” Heather pushed her way in front of Fred, trying to block him.

“Shut it!” Georgia shouted over the noise, “Everyone will get a turn! But right now, I'm flying it!” Georgia mounted her broom and kicked off from the ground. The speed was amazing. She could make turns at top speed and brake seconds before she would have crashed into the ground.

“Wow!” James screamed excitedly. “That's brilliant!” Everyone started talking at once and Albus was not able to make out anything. Georgia flew around the field for fifteen minutes before landing beside her siblings and cousins. She dismounted and handed the broom to Teddy.

“Thanks!” Teddy grinned and changed his hair to red. He flew into the air did a series of spins and turns. He flew for about ten minutes and landed next to Georgia. “Wow, I wish I'd had that when I was Seeker, we never would have lost a match!”

“We barely lost a match anyway,” Georgia laughed. She took the broom and handed it to James. For the next two hours, everyone took a turn on the broom. Even Rose got into the spirit of things and flew around for a few minutes. After everyone had had a turn, Georgia decided to organize a Quidditch match.

“Ok, I'll be captain of my team and Teddy can captain the other team,” Georgia decided. The two captains took turns picking their team and eventually their were two teams of six players each. As there weren't enough players for full teams, six players for each had to work. Georgia's team consisted of James, Bradley, Cedric, Stanley, and Gabriella. Teddy's team consisted of Heather, Fred, Victoire, Ben, and Mark. Since Albus did not have a broom, he couldn't play. He and Rose watched from the sidelines, while the younger kids played in the snow nearby.

“That was close last night, about the Shrieking Shack, I mean,” Albus whispered to Rose.

“I know,” she whispered back, “Everyone's suspicious about it. I hear people whispereing about it sometimes in the Great Hall.”

“That means Matt's hearing it, too,” Albus groaned, “It's got to be horrible for him.”

“Does this mean you definitely believe he's a werewolf, then?” Rose asked.

“I'm not totally convinced, but it does seem that way. I don't think I'll be fully convinced until I hear him say so himself.”

“I suppose you're right, but I'm pretty sure of it,” Rose told him.

“How'd you find out, anyway? How do you know so much about werewolves?” Albus asked.

“I've read about them, of course. Once I found out that Teddy's dad was a werewolf last year, I read all about them in Mum and Dad's old school books,” Rose said.

“Oh, yeah, that makes sense. You sure do read a lot.”

“I know,” Rose agreed, as she pulled her copy of Hogwarts, A History, out of her jacket.

“You got that for Christmas, too?” Albus questioned.

“Yup, it's quite interesting. I'm already on chapter three.”

“I haven't even started reading it yet.”

Rose laughed and opened up her book. Albus looked out towards the field and watched the rest of the Quidditch match. It was a pretty good match. Quite different than Hogwarts matches, though. There was no referee, so a few arguments errupted. After an hour or so, Teddy caught the Snitch and his team won. Albus and his cousins trooped back into the house, snowy, wet, and cold. It was almost time for Christmas supper, and Molly was cooking in the kitchen, with help from Ginny and Fleur. Albus ran up to the top bedroom and got out his new Quidditch book and read it until supper was ready.

Christmas supper was always an interesting event at the Burrow. The kitchen table was not big enough to seat everyone, so usually the younger children sat there, while the oldest kids and the adults found seats in the living room. There was always a lot of food, too. The food was kept in the kitchen and people got up to get some when they wanted it. As Albus was walking into the kitchen, he distinctly saw James sneaking around the living room doing something with one of the arm chairs.

Sure enough, after Albus sat down at the table and started eating his food, he heard a scream from the living room. He jumped up from his chair and followed his cousins into the room.

“What was that?!” Harry shouted, looking down at the chair he had been sitting in.

Molly came into the room and pushed past Albus. “James Sirius Potter! What did you do?”

James looked sheepishly at her, “How did you know it was me? You didn't see it happen.”

“I raised your Uncle George! I know a guilty look when I see one,” Molly screamed at him, “What did you do?”

“Shocking Seat,” James explained, “It's a little thing you hide on a chair and gives a mild electric shock to the person who sits in it.”

Harry started laughing, “And I suppose it's from your shop, George?”

“Yup, newest product. Just came out a few weeks ago. I got James a few for Christmas. Thought he'd like them,” George told him.

“I'd say he does like them,” Harry grinned, “Just don't use them on any teachers.”

“Too late. I just did,” James laughed. Everyone else started laughing as well, except Molly, who went back into the kitchen.

The rest of supper went by with only a few minor pranks. Someone snuck a Ton Tongue Toffee into Albus's pudding and his tongue grew two feet before Harry found out and fixed it for him. A few glasses exploded and a few bowls of soup crashed to the ground, mostly because Stanley had just turned seventeen and wanted to use magic to bring things to the table for people. Eventually, everyone had enough to eat and they migrated into the living room. The adults had all had quite a bit of eggnog and firewhiskey and were not paying a whole lot of attention to the kids. This enabled Teddy and Victoire to sneak off into the kitchen, to be alone.

Albus and Rose decided to play Wizard's Chess. Lily and Hugo sat down to watch. It didn't take Rose too long to beat Albus. Rose was very good at chess and she was much better than Albus. After that, the four of them played a few rounds of Exploding Snap, most of which Albus won.

Eventually, Molly decided it was time for everyone to go to bed. Albus climbed slowly up the stairs and got into his bunk. He was very tired. It had been a great Christmas. With his stomach full and his heart happy, Albus fell into a deep sleep.

[FawkesthePhoenix]

chapter 12 is so sad! congrats, duckie, you've got the power to make me cry.

[*Riley*]

what can I say?? phenomenal.

[DucksRMagical]

It was supposed to be bitter sweet, Fawkes. I figured I had to put something sentimental in it.

Chapter 14: Secrets

Boxing Day was usually a lazy day at the Burrow. Everyone slept late and ate whatever whenever they wanted. Albus awoke around noon, and found that a few of his aunts, uncles, and cousins were getting ready to leave. His Uncle George and Aunt Alicia and their kids were getting ready to leave to visit Alicia's parents. His Uncle Charlie and Aunt Katherine and their kids were also leaving to visit other family.

“Bye, guys,” Albus waved as his Uncle Charlie stepped into the fireplace with Eddie.

“Bye, Albus,” Charlie waved back, “Have a good time at school.”

Albus walked into the kitchen and found Rose sitting at the table reading Hogwarts, A History. Hugo was also there.

“Morning, Rose,” he said as he sat down next to her.

“Hi,” she said, not looking up from her book.

Albus went to the counter and made some toast. Hugo got up from the table and ran into the living room. When Albus brought his breakfast back to the table, Rose had set her book down.

“Good, he left,” Rose whispered, “I want to talk to you about Matt.”

“What about him?”

“His little 'problem',” Rose said, “Listen, I went snooping around Grandpa's study this morning while everyone was asleep. I want to do some more research about lycanthropy.”

“Well, did you find anything?” Albus asked eagerly.

“Yeah, I did. I found a few books that have information in them. I took them and hid them in my trunk upstairs. Now that Heather's left to see her other grandparents, I've got my room to myself. We can go read them after we're done eating.”

“Sounds good,” Albus whispered back, “And we've got to ask Uncle Bill about it too.”

“I know, I've thought of that too. We'll ask tomorrow. There'll be less people. Uncle Bill, Aunt Fleur, Victoire, Gabriella, and Ben aren't leaving until day after tomorrow. Uncle Percy, Aunt Corrine, Georgia, Bradley, Cedric, and the twins are leaving tomorrow. I don't want to be overheard.”

“Good thinking,” Albus said as he took a bite out of his toast. At that moment, James, Cedric, Bradley, and Ben came in.

“What were you two talking about?” James asked, as he stole a piece of Albus's toast.

“Nothing,” Albus said abruptly.

James looked at him warily, “Hmm, well, we're going to go play Quidditch. You want to watch?”

Rose looked at Albus. “Um, no, me and Rose have, er, homework to do.”

James laughed. “There's plenty of time left to do homework. Oh, well, suit yourself.” Jame shoved the last bit of his toast into his mouth and he, Cedric, and Ben went outside.

“That was close,” Rose whispered, “We can't let anyone find out. Are you ready?”

“Yeah,” Albus said as he got up from the table. Rose got up, too, and Albus followed her to the bedroom she stayed in. They went inside and Rose closed the door quietly. She went over to her trunk, pulled out a few heavy books, and dumped them on her bed.

“If anyone bursts in and asks us what we're doing, we say it's homework,” Rose told Albus. She picked up a book and handed it to him. “Here you go. Just look through it and read anything you find about werewolves.”

Albus took the book and looked at it. It was entitled Modern Magical Remedies. He opened it to the index and looked for 'werewolf', but it wasn't there. However, 'wolfsbane' was. There was a whole chapter on it. Albus turned to the chapter and briefly leafed through it. It was long and the print was very small. It was not the kind of reading Albus would normally do, but his curiosity about Matt's condition triumphed over his dislike of tedious reading. Albus and Rose read for close to two hours. In the time it took Albus to read about the Wolfsbane potion, Rose had gone through two of the other books.

“Well, what did you find?” Rose asked once Albus had finished his chapter. She looked a bit pale and kind of scared.

“Lots, how about you?” Albus told her, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Rose whispered, “It's just, the other books I've read didn't really go over what it's like to transform. These did. Oh, Albus, it sounds horrible! Really dreadful! And painful. I just feel so bad for Matt, if that is what's going on. Apparently, when a werewolf is in wolf form, they must bite other animals or people. They're not in their human mind, they don't know what they're doing! And if there's no other animals or people to bite, they bite themselves. That must be where Matt got all those cuts and bruises from. He's doing it to himself.”

Albus stared at her with his mouth open, “That's horrible! There's got to be something someone could do! Healers or someone must know a cure or something.”

“There's not. There's no cure for lycanthropy. Just the Wolfsbane potion,” Rose told him.

“Oh, yeah,” Albus had momentarily forgotten what he had been reading about, “The Wolfsbane potion does work. If a werewolf takes it every night a few nights prior to transformation, they will transform, but will be harmless to themselves and other people. It's really complicated to make, but apparently it makes the transformations loads better.”

“But why doesn't Matt take it then?” Rose wondered.

“He must take it. Remember one month he came back and he was fine!” Albus said.

“Oh, yeah, but most months he comes back sick and bruised,” Rose reminded him. “I wonder why he doesn't take it all the time?”

“I dunno. I guess the only way we'd find out is to ask him,” Albus told her.

“So you believe me, then? You're convinced he's a werewolf?” Rose asked.

“You know, I think so. I guess I'm still not positive, but I'm as convinced as I could be without him actually telling me.”

Rose got up from the bed. “I guess we've learned everything we can from these books. I'll sneak them back early tomorrow morning.” She picked up all the books and put them back into her trunk.

“I think I'll go see what everyone else is up to,” Albus got up from the floor and opened the door, “You coming?”

“Yeah, sure,” Rose followed Albus out the door.

The cousins walked down the stairs from Rose's room. The house was very quiet. Most of their cousins were outside playing Quidditch or in their rooms enjoying their presents. Since two of the families had already left, it was quite a bit calmer. As Albus and Rose strode past the kitchen, Albus stopped short. Rose bumped into him.

“Ouch!” she screeched as she bumped her head on his back.

“Shush!” Albus whispered as he pressed his head to the door of the kitchen, “I heard someone say my name.”

Rose leaned her head against the door as well and the two of them tried to listen for a minute or so. “It's no use! They're whispering. I can't hear anything.”

“Me neither, but I swear one of them mentioned me!” Albus listened again, “I'm pretty sure it's my mum and dad, and your dad as well.”

The front door banged open and James, Cedric, Ben, and Bradley stormed in, dropping their brooms on the floor. “It's bloody freezing out there!” James shouted as he tore off his gloves and scarf.

“And someone's locked the kitchen door!” Cedric added, as he pulled off his frozen hat.

“Shush!” Albus shouted back.

“What?” James asked as he came rushing over, followed by Cedric, Ben, and Bradley.

“The kitchen's locked because some of the adults are in there talking about me!” Albus whispered back.

“Really?” James looked at him curiously, “What about?”

“I dunno!” Albus whispered back, “I can't hear them, they're being real quiet.”

James thought for a moment, and then a grin appeared on his face. “Time to break out one of my Christmas presents.”

“That's right!” Albus said excitedly, “You got Extendable Ears for Christmas!”

“Yep, sure did I'll go get them!” James announced, and then he ran upstairs. He appeared a minute later holding a blue box with a large ear pictured on it. “Here they are.” James tore open the packaging and pulled out seven fleshy tubes. He handed one to everybody and stowed the extra in his pocket.

Albus hastily pushed one end of the Extendable Ear into his own ear and sent the other end to the bottom of the door. Albus had used Extendables once before, when his cousin Gabriella had bought some at Hogsmeade and let Albus try them out. That was two years ago, and he hadn't heard anything interesting. Gabriella had bought them in order to listen in on Victoire's conversations with her friend who had stayed for Christmas break. Victoire only talked about how much she liked Teddy, and Albus found that rather boring. This time, however, Albus was sure he'd hear more interesting conversations.

“I'm really not sure I should tell them,” Albus heard his dad say.

“I know,” his mother responded back, “If someone invading thier minds, it's best they did not know right now.”

“I mean, I hadn't really thought about when I was going to tell them,” Harry responded, “I guess I was planning on doing it when they were much older. I worry about what they would do with the information. James especially.”

James turned away from the door and looked at Albus. “They're talking about me, too!”

“I know, shush!” Albus said as he turned his attention back to the conversation in the kitchen.

“I honestly would only trust Rose with the information, Harry,” Ginny told her husband.

This time it was Rose's turn to look at Albus. “Me, too! But whatever it is, they trust me.” Rose couldn't help but grin as she turned back to the door.

“I don't want her to know, given the current circumstances,” Ron said.

“Me neither,” Hermione agreed.

“I know, but it seems as if whoever's doing it is focusing on James and Albus,” Harry informed them. “I was always leery about telling them, but especially now...”

“Harry, we didn't even tell my brothers,” Ron said, “Why are you worrying about telling the kids?”

“Part of me wants them to understand what we think is going on,” Harry went on, “But the other part of me doesn't want them to know.”

“I'm siding with that part of you,” Ginny said, “We shouldn't tell them.”

“Ever?” Hermione asked tentatively, “I do think they should be trusted with that information at some point.”

“I agree, Hermione,” Harry told her, “But not now. I guess I'd just been waiting for the opportunity to present itself, haven't really thought about when I'd tell them. I suppose the best thing to do would be to wait until they're out of school, they'll be more mature and there'll be less of a chance of it leaking out.”

“That sounds reasonable, Harry,” Ginny agreed, “Someday, we'll tell them about the Hallows. But right now I think we need to talk about what's been going on with-”

“James, Bradley, Cedric, Benedict, Rose, and Albus, what on earth are you doing?!” a livid voice caused Albus to drop his Extendable Ear and he was not able to hear what his mum had been about to say.

Molly Weasley ran over to the five cousins, a look of rage on her face. “Have you been listening in on that conversation? Obviously you have! You have no right! Your parents wanted to be alone! And give me those!”

Albus, James, and their cousins did not even think about not listening to their grandmother and handed over their Ears at once. “And the other one?” She eyed James's pocket. Albus glanced at it and noticed the little bit of flesh sticking out of it. James sulkily pulled it out and handed it to her.

“I'll be having a word with your Uncle George! He's lucky he's not here right now. He shouldn't be giving you those for Christmas, honestly, the nerve of him...” Molly stormed over to her desk and grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill and started writing while she mumbled to herself. Albus knew she was going to send a Howler to her son.

The commotion outside the kitchen caused Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione to cease their conversation and come out to see what the commotion was about. Once Albus heard the door start to open, he made a mad dash for the stairs, and the thundering behind him told him his brother and cousins did the same.

Albus didn't stop running until he made it to Rose's room, and once James and their cousins were inside, he slammed the door shut.

“What was that all about?” Albus asked as he sat down on one of the beds.

“I dunno,” James responded, “They obviously know something we don't and they don't want to tell us about it. But what did they mean by they didn't want me to know about it especially?” James stomped back and forth across the floor, obviously mad that his parents wouldn't trust him with something.

“Well, that's not the only reason they're keeping it from us!” Rose argued, “They said they trust me, but still won't tell me.”

“Must be something really secretive because only your parents know about it,” Ben reasoned. “I suppose Bradley, Cedric, and I won't ever find out.”

“Yeah, you will!” James insisted as he threw himself onto a bed, “Once I find out, I'll tell you!”

“James!” Rose shouted, “That must be why they won't tell you right now! They don't want anybody to know. If it's something so secretive that they won't even tell any of our uncles, then they must not want a whole lot of people to know.”

“But what would my parents, Aunt Hermione, and Uncle Ron know that none of the other aunts and uncles know about?” Albus asked Rose.

“I dunno,” Rose answered. The five of them sat in silence for a few minutes, trying to think of what this could be.

“You don't think...” James started, “...that maybe it has something to do with the war?”

Albus looked at him, “But Dad said he told us all about the war.”

“It makes sense, Albus,” Rose told him, “What else besides the war do my parents and your parents have, but none of our aunts and uncles do?”

“But my parents were involved in the war!” Cedric insisted.

“I know they were,” James said as he got up from the bed again and started pacing, “But my dad and Rose's parents were a lot more involved. They destroyed most of the horcruxes and they were off by themselves for almost a year doing it.”

“True,” Cedric agreed.

“Whatever it is, they're keeping something from us,” James told everyone as he pounded his fist on the night stand, “And I don't like it. Especially since Dad said he told us everything.”

“Anyone catch what they were talking about?” Bradley asked.

“Yeah,” Albus responded, “Hallows. Whatever they are.”

“Never heard of them,” James said.

“Me neither,” Cedric said. Bradley and Ben shook their heads. Albus looked expectantly at Rose. Whenever someone else didn't know about something, Rose always knew.

“I've never heard anything about them either, Albus, I'm sorry,” Rose sighed, “But once we're back in school, we can look in the library.”

“I guess,” Albus said, looking down at his feet. He did not like the idea of his parents keeping something from him. It made him feel betrayed. Harry had always told Albus that he told him everything about the war. But if these Hallows had anything to do with the war, like James suspected they did, then Harry and Ginny were keeping something from them. What were the Hallows? And why were his parents so intent about not letting him know about them? Why did they think he wasn't trustworthy enough to know about them?

[*Riley*]

is that girl Alicia Spinnet ? and who were cedrics parents ??

[DucksRMagical]

Yep, George's wife is Alicia Spinnet. And Cedric is Percy's son. Cedric's mum is a witch named Corrine, who I made up.

Chapter 15: Occlumency and Potions

By the time Albus woke up the next morning, his uncle Percy, Aunt Corrine, and their kids had already left. Albus had not slept very well. Although he hadn't had any nightmares, Albus couldn't stop thinking about what his parents were keeping from him, and the thought had kept him tossing and turning almost the whole night. Once he fell asleep, he slept until it was nearly one o'clock in the afternoon. He never even had the chance to say goodbye to his aunt, uncle and cousins. However, he didn't have long to dwell on it because shortly after he had gotten dressed, James burst into the room.

“Good, you're up,” James greeted him, as he sat down on one of the bottom bunks.

“Yeah, I'm up,” Albus yawned, “Just got up, couldn't sleep well last night.”

“Me, neither, but Cedric woke me up before he left. Tried to get you up, but you were out like a log.”

“Well, what's been going on? Do Mum and Dad know that we listened to them?” Albus asked.

“They do. Grammy told them. I'm never getting those Extendables back,” James groaned. “But I don't think they're too bothered by it.”

“Well, that's good,” Albus told him, “Better they don't know that we're trying to find out what they're keeping from us.”

“Definitely. Oh, but they do want to talk to us in a few minutes,” James informed Albus, “They sent me up here to wake you up.”

“You don't think they want to yell at us about listening in, do you?” Albus asked nervously.

“No, I don't reckon that's what it's about. They just want to talk to us. Not Rose,” James answered.

“That's odd. What else could they want?” Albus wondered.

“Dunno,” James glanced at his watch. “Well, we'd better go. They're waiting in the kitchen.”

Albus followed James slowly down the stairs. He had no idea what this could be about. For a moment, he thought that maybe his parents were going to tell them about the Hallows, but he knew that couldn't be it. They had seemed so adamant about not telling James, Albus, or Rose about them.

Albus made his way into the kitchen after James. His parents were in there, along with Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione. Harry gestured for them to sit down. Albus sat down in one of the chairs and James sat next to him, neither of them saying a word. Harry went over to the door, closed it, and pointed his wand at it while muttering a spell. Albus figured it was some kind of spell that rendered Extendable Ears useless.

“First,” Harry told his sons, as he walked over and stood next to Ron, “I want to tell you that I'm not punishing you for what you did yesterday. Both of you look like you're sitting in a detention.”

Albus smiled a little, but James did not move.

“I would have done the same thing if I were you,” Harry grinned and continued, “Well, let me rephrase that. I have done the same thing you did. Plenty of times. Right after your uncles Fred and George invented Extendable Ears."

Harry started pacing around the kitchen. Albus had noticed that his father did this whenever he was thinking about something serious. It was the same kind of pacing that James had done the previous day.

“However, what I do want to talk to you about is a serious matter,” Harry lowered his voice, “It's about what's been going on in the school.”

Albus looked at James. Neither of them really knew what their dad was getting on about.

“James, when you were in detention a few weeks ago and you said your head felt funny. Madam Pomfrey had the suspicion that someone was using Legilimency against you. I think she was right. Well, I'm sure she was right. The way you described it is just like how it feels,” Harry told his son, “James, someone is trying to invade your mind.”

James looked shocked. Albus noticed he was a bit paler than usual. He looked very much the same as he did in the days following that detention. Albus guessed that the days at the Burrow had made James forget about that awful experience.

“Albus, about that dream-” Harry started, but was cut off.

“You said it didn't mean anything!” Albus reminded his dad.

“I thought that it didn't, until I started having the same one,” Harry informed them, “I talked to your Uncle Ron about it and we both agree that they're not normal dreams. Someone is using Legilimency on us as well.”

Albus felt the blood drain from his face and he was sure he looked as pale as James did. “But who's doing it?” he whispered.

“I honestly don't know, Al,” Harry softened his voice and sat down next to his son. “But your Uncle Ron and I are trying very hard to find out who it is.”

“Why does someone want to read our minds?” Albus asked his dad.

“I, have a few ideas,” Harry answered slowly, “But I'm afraid I can't tell you just yet.”

Albus nodded. It was strange that his dad couldn't just solve this problem. During Albus's younger childhood years, Harry had always been able to fix everything for him. Broken toys, minor injuries, his dad was always there to solve the problems. But this time, Harry couldn't just wave his wand and make it better.

Harry drew Albus into his arms. “Now, Al, I do need to know if you've had anymore of those nightmares since that first one.”

“Yeah, I have. I get them a few times a week.”

“Always the same one?” Harry asked.

“Yes.”

“And have you had any while you've been at the Burrow?”

Albus thought for a moment. “You know, I haven't. I hadn't really thought about it, but I haven't had any since I left Hogwarts.”

Harry glanced at Ron and got up from the chair. “I think that's all I need to know about the dreams for now. But if they start changing at all, you've got to let me know right away. Just ask one of the portraits in the common room to find me. Don't leave the common room to tell me, it's very important that you do not wander around at night.”

Harry started pacing again and he turned to face James. “Are you ok? I know it's a scary thought, that someone's invading your mind. But I will find out who's doing it. I don't want you to worry about it too much.”

James just nodded, apparently still unable to speak.

“Good. Now, it's obviously very disturbing that someone is trying to see our thoughts and memories. Ron and I, as well as a few other Aurors are working to figure out who it is and why they're doing it, so we can stop them. But for now, you two have to learn how to protect yourselves.

“Ron and I have decided that you should start to learn Occlumency. I know you both already know what that is, but neither of you have had any training in the subject. If you're able to learn it properly, then no one will be able to read your thoughts.”

“Are you going to teach us, Dad?” James spoke for the first time since he entered the room.

“No, I can't,” Harry told him, “I'm not a very good Occlumens and am having a hard enough time trying to close my own mind, let alone trying to teach you two.”

“Then who's going to teach us?” James asked, with a worried look on his face. He and Albus looked at each other. Harry had told them the stories of when Professor Snape had tried to teach him Occlumency in his fifth year.

“Don't worry,” Harry reassured them, seeing the looks on their faces, “I know from experience that in order to learn Occlumency properly, it's much better if you trust your teacher. That's why your Aunt Hermione will be teaching you.”

Albus breathed a sigh of relief. Although his Aunt Hermione was strict, he knew she would be able to teach him well. There was hardly an aspect of magic that she did not do well.

“I'll be coming to Hogwarts two nights a week until you are both capable of protecting your minds from intruders,” Hermione informed them.

James opened his mouth and was about to speak when Hermione cut him off. “Not to worry, James, it won't interfere with Quidditch practice! I know Quidditch is the most important thing in this family.” She glared at Harry and Ron, who both grinned sheepishly.

“I'll send an owl to the school once the first lesson is set up, telling you which classroom it will be in. We still need to run this by the Headmaster, but I'm sure he will not mind,” Hermione informed them.

“Well, I think that's it, boys,” Harry strode back over to James and Albus and gave them each a hug. “I don't want you to worry about this too much. Your Uncle Ron and I have things under control. Just concentrate on learning Occlumency. Try to keep your guard up, as well. Constant vigilance, as Mad-Eye would have said. I've got to run into the Auror office for a few hours, but I'll be back before dinner.”

When Harry opened the door to the kitchen, Rose fell into the room. She had been leaning on the door, trying to listen in. She stood up, blushing furiously and ran out of the room and up the stairs. James and Albus burst out laughing and ran out of the room after her. They found her up in her room.

“So, what was that about?” she asked eagerly, once Albus had shut the door behind him and James. “Any chance they told you what they're trying to keep from us?”

“No,” James said bitterly, it was obvious to Albus that he was still mad about that.

“Well, what was it then?” Rose pushed.

“Remember that detention that me, James, Matt, and John had to do with Washburn? The one where we cleaned the hourglasses in the Entrance Hall?” Albus asked.

“Yeah,” Rose said warily.

“Well, someone tried to read James's mind during it. And someone's been trying to read my mind and Dad's while we're sleeping, too. I've been having weird dreams ever since school started, and apparently they mean someone's using Legilimency on me.”

Rose stared at him, then she glanced at James, who had sat down on Rose's bed. “You're serious?”

“Yep,” James confirmed, “And Dad wants me and Albus to learn Occlumency to try and stop them. I get the feeling something's happening. I'm not sure what, but all the adults seemed a bit worried when they were telling us this. Dad doesn't know who's doing it or why. Well, he has an idea why, but he won't tell us. Figures.” James punched one of the pillows. “I guess I'm not trustworthy.”

“Who's teaching you?” Rose asked.

“Your mum,” Albus answered. “She's coming to the castle two nights a week as soon as everything's straightened out with Professor Kendrick.”

“Well, that's good, then. I hope you two are good at Occlumency,” Rose said, “But do you two get the feeling this whole mind reading thing might have something to do with what they're keeping from us?”

“Seems likely,” Albus agreed.

James nodded. “We've got to figure out what they're keeping from us. We'll start once we're back at school. And I don't think we should tell anyone what we're doing, since Dad's teaching there. I don't think he'd be too happy if he found out what we're up to.”

“I suppose you're right,” Rose responded.

“Yeah,” Albus said. He didn't like the idea of keeping something this big from John, Matt, and Amanda, but he could see James's point. Their father didn't want them to know about whatever this is, and if he found out they were looking, it would make it harder to discover the secret.

“James!” a voice shouted from downstairs, “Come help with dinner, please! I've got Ben cutting up vegetables and you can help him!”

James got up and went over to the door, “Aw, Mum! Why can't Teddy do it? He can do it by magic and it'd go faster!”

“Teddy's helping Victoire study! Now get down here, please!” Ginny screamed back.

James snorted and looked at Albus and Rose, who were giggling. They were sure that Teddy and Victoire were not studying, but were in fact hiding away somewhere, snogging.

“James!” his mother shrieked.

James stomped out of the room and down the stairs, muttering something about muggle cooking.

Rose got up from the bed and shut the door behind James. She turned back to Albus. “Ok, we've got to ask Uncle Bill what he knows about werewolves tonight after dinner.”

“Yeah, we should. He's leaving tomorrow. Do you really think he knows something that we haven't already read in the books?” Albus asked.

“I'm not sure. But what I want to know is why someone wouldn't take the Wolfsbane potion or why it wouldn't work,” Rose told Albus as she sat down next to him.

“Good idea. The book I read didn't mention anything like that. But if Matt's a werewolf, then he's definitely not taking that potion every month.”

“Or it's not working for him,” Rose suggested.

“Yeah, that too. But what are we going to tell Uncle Bill when he asks why we want to know about the Wolfsbane potion?”

“I've got it taken care of,” Rose told him, “I'll tell him that Professor Slughorn gave us extra credit to research an advanced potion. And we'll say that Slughorn let us do it in groups of two and you're my partner.”

“Wow! That's good thinking, Rose,” Albus said excitedly, “I'd never be able to come up with that.”

“It just came to me last night. I knew we'd need an excuse because we don't learn about werewolves until third year.”

“Rose! Albus! I need your help for dinner, please!” Ginny screamed up the stairs.

“Alright, Mum!” Albus answered, “We'll be right there!” He and Rose went downstairs, where they were immediately put to work slicing bread.

*****

Supper was late that night, and not nearly as enjoyable as Christmas supper. Everyone wanted to wait until Harry returned from the Auror office to eat, and he did not get back until nearly eight o'clock. Once Harry walked in the door, everyone sat down and started eating.

“I've got some bad news,” Harry announced as he poured some butterbeer for himself. Everyone stopped eating and looked at him. “Someone was found dead this morning in their house. Jasmine Lomski. She worked in the Magical Law Enforcement Office. Avada Kedavra was the cause of death. It's looking very suspicious. I've got someone investigating, but so far nothing's been found.”

“Lomski?” Ben asked, his face was white. He was looking at James, whose face was equally pale. “There's a girl in our class, a Ravenclaw, Rachael Lomski. Are they related?”

Harry nodded, “Yes, that's her mother. Jasmine's husband, Connor, was taking Rachael and the other kids to see their grandparents for Christmas, so they were not home at the time. Jasmine did not go with them because she had to work tomorrow.

“But I want everyone to know that the other Aurors and I are doing all we can to find out who did this, and who killed Professor Torro, and hopefully we'll be able to arrest whoever did it soon.”

“You think the two murders are related, then?” Arthur asked.

“I really can't be sure yet, but I do have a feeling they are,” Harry answered.

The rest of the meal was spent discussing the suspicious killings, and no one really had much of an appetite anymore. Hugo and Lily did not pay much attention to the conversation, and after they finished eating they ran off to play with their Christmas presents. Albus mostly pushed his food around his plate. He couldn't help but wonder if the mysterious killings had something to do with his strange dreams. James seemed to be worried, as well. He was also not eating, and his face had not regained any color since their dad's announcement. Ben and Rose weren't eating either, although they looked less worried than James did. Teddy, Victoire and Gabriella spent much of the meal whispering to each other with worried looks on their faces.

After everyone had eaten whatever they could, Bill excused himself to the kitchen to get a cup of tea. Rose glanced at Albus and they both got up and followed him.

“Um, Uncle Bill?” Rose asked tentatively, “I was wondering if Albus and I could talk to you, er, in private?”

“Sure...” Bill answered warily, he was obviously wondering what they were up to. “Let's go into your grandpa's study.”

Grandpa Weasley's study was always an interesting place to visit. It was filled with all sorts of muggle devices that were in various states of disrepair. When Albus walked into the room, the first thing he noticed was the broken computer sitting on the desk. That had been a present from Albus's Aunt Hermione. Hermione's parents had recently gotten a new computer and Hermione was able to get their old one to give to Arthur. He had been thrilled and had spent much of the holiday taking it apart.

“So, what can I help you with, Rose?” Bill asked.

“Well, um, I was wondering if you knew anything about the Wolfsbane potion,” Rose told him.

Bill spat out the mouthful of tea that was in his mouth. “Wolfsbane potion? Well, I do know a bit about that. But why do you need to know about it?”

“We're doing an extra credit essay for Slughorn on advanced potions. We picked the Wolfsbane potion. Now, we've learned a bit about it from books, but I've got a few other questions,” Rose said.

“Sure, go ahead and ask,” Bill sat down in Arthur's chair and put his feet up on the desk.

Rose and Albus sat down in two other chairs. “I guess I was wondering if there's ever been a case where the Wolfsbane potion hasn't worked?” Rose asked.

“It's rare,” Bill told them, “But not unheard of. There have been a few people that the potion hasn't worked on. It's hard to know for sure how many because there aren't a whole lot of werewolves to begin with anyway. And many do not report how the potion works for them.”

“Ok,” Rose said, while she pretended to take notes on a piece of parchment, “Why wouldn't it work? Or why wouldn't someone take it?”

“A few werewolves have been allergic to the potion, or to one of the ingredients in it, so that's why it doesn't work for some. And they'd obviously stop taking it if that happened. There's also a fairly new study about the affects of emotions on the potion. A few people have reported that the potion does not always work well, depending on what kind of mood the person is at the time of transformation. Which makes sense, since the nature of the transformation depends on emotions as well. As far as why someone wouldn't take it, it's a very difficult potion to make. Not many people are able to make it. Because of that, it's hard to obtain it.”

“Oh,” Rose looked up from her parchment, “I think that's all I need to know for now. I've gotten loads of information from books. Albus and I should be able to write the report now.”

Bill got up from his chair, “Good. Glad I could help.” He walked quickly out the door, Albus guessed he wanted to get back to the discussion about Jasmine Lamski's murder.

Albus and Rose left the room and went back up to Rose's bedroom. “Well, what do you think?” Rose asked Albus.

“I dunno. Maybe he's not able to get the potion?”

“Or he's allergic to it,” Rose suggested.

“But what about that whole emotions affecting the potion thing?” Albus asked.

“I'm not sure. Do you remember what Matt's been like every time he's gotten sick?”

“No. I mean, usually he's tired, but that's not really emotion. I'd assume he's nervous about it, but I bet all werewolves are nervous about transforming.”

“Probably. I guess we're just going to have to keep watching him,” Rose told Albus.

“I suppose. I wish he'd just tell us.”

“He's probably afraid to. Afraid we won't be friends with him anymore,” Rose said in a pained voice.

“Well, that's not true! We'd never abandon him like that!”

“I know, Albus,” Rose sighed, “I just wish there was a way to let him know that.”

[DucksRMagical]

Chapter 16: Willinson's Warning

Before Albus knew it, the Christmas holiday was over. The rest of the break was not nearly as eventful as the first few days. The day after Harry came home with the news of Jasmine Lamski's death, Bill, Fleur, Ron, Hermione, and the rest of Albus's cousins left to visit other family. Life at the Burrow became much calmer. James and Albus spent much of their time playing Quidditch outside. Harry had let Albus use his broomstick. James was able to help Albus practice his skills as a Chaser, and seemed pretty confident by the end of the holiday that Albus would make the team next year. Whenever Teddy wasn't working at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, he visited and played Quidditch with James and Albus. Lily often hung around while the games were taking place and would beg the boys to let her have a go on one of the brooms. Occasionally, one of them would take pity on her and lend her their broom. Eventually, James and Albus realized that they had neglected their homework long enough and had to spend the whole last day of break working on it. It took them much longer than usual, as they did not have Rose there to help.

Harry spent much of the last few days of break popping in and out of the Auror office. He left early in the day and came back late in the evening. He always came home looking tired, and Albus could tell that the investigation was not going well. His mum, grandma, and grandpa, seemed worried as well, although they tried not to mention details in front of the children. James and Albus had tried repeatedly to listen in on their conversations, but Molly was much more watchful of them ever since she caught them using Extendable Ears. She had a hard time keeping Teddy out of the conversations, though, because he was of age and out of school. However, Molly prevented Teddy from giving any information to James or Albus.

On his way back to Hogwarts, Albus found himself wandering down the corridor in the Hogwarts Express, yet again looking for a compartment. Only this time, he was in search of a specific one, the one that John, Matt, and Amanda were in.

About halfway down the train, Albus and Rose spotted their friends in one of the compartments. There was another girl in it, too. Albus recognized her as Matt's older sister, Amy.

“Hi!” Albus grinned at his friends as he entered the compartment and sat down next to John.

“Hi,” everyone greeted him and Rose.

“So, how was everyone's holiday?” Rose asked.

“Great!” John smiled widely, “Got a good load of presents. All my relatives were there at some point or another. Saved all my homework for yesterday, but somehow managed to get it done.”

“Mine was nice, too,” Amanda answered, as she reached into her bag, “But I've got to show you guys something.” She pulled out a small, rectangular object and opened it to reveal two screens, one above the other.

“What the bloody hell is that?” John asked, gaping at it.

“It's called a Nintendo DS,” Amanda answered, “I got it for Hannukah. It's something you play video games on.”

“Oh, I've heard of video games,” John said, “But I've never seen one before. Do you have any games for it?”

“I've got a few,” Amanda told him, “My favorite is Animal Crossing. You get to make your own town and animals are your neighbors. I've named my town Hogsmeade.”

“Awesome,” Matt smiled.

“I hate to tell you, but that's not going to work at Hogwarts,” Rose announced.

“Why not?” John looked at her like she was crazy.

“Too much magic around. Makes electronics not work right,” Rose explained, “It's in Hogwarts, A History.”

“Oh,” Amanda's smile faded as she put her DS away, “I guess I'll just have to play it at home over the summer. My parents thought I would like it and it's pretty fun. They weren't really sure what to get me. They couldn't get me anything to do with magic. It was quite strange, really, not being able to talk much about magic during break..”

“And how was your holiday, Matt?” Rose asked.

Albus turned to look at Matt. He was just now noticing how tired he looked. He also had some nasty looking partially healed cuts all over his face and arms. His arms were bruised as well, and he looked like he was about ready to fall asleep. Albus and Rose exchanged glances, but didn't say anything.

“It stunk,” Matt said flatly. He looked at his sister, who gave him a look.

“Why?” John asked.

“Well, I told you how I hate going to Australia. We spent the whole break there, at my grandparents house. They're so formal, I couldn't do anything fun.”

“How'd you get all those cuts?” John wondered, as he stared at a particularly nasty cut on Matt's forearm.

Matt shifted his eyes and once again looked at Amy, who nodded her head. “I fell out of a tree.”

“What?!” John exclaimed, “How'd you manage that?”

“Well, you know how clumsy I am. And I was outside, trying to have some fun, because my grandparents won't let me do anything in the house. I was up pretty high and I slipped. I fell all the way to the ground, hitting every branch as I went. Got knocked out halfway down. My grandma heard the noise and ran outside and found me unconscious on the ground. She freaked out, saying this is why I needed to stay inside and do homework all day,” Matt informed them. Everyone was staring at him, unable to think of something to say. “Anyway, my mum and dad came rushing out, and I wound up spending a few days in the hospital down there.”

“Whoa,” Amanda whispered, “I'm glad you're all right. That's scary, though.”

“Yeah,” John agreed, “Is that why you're so tired?”

“Nope, that's the jet lag,” Matt answered.

“The what?”

“Jet lag,” Matt repeated, “It's what you get when you fly to different time zones. Your sleep gets all messed up.”

“You flew to Australia?” Albus looked amazed, “Blimey! That's a long time to be on a broom.”

Matt laughed, “Oh, no! We flew in an airplane.”

“Wow!” John looked impressed, “But why didn't you just Apparate or something? Or Flooed?”

“The Australian Ministry doesn't allow out of country Apparition,” Amy said, speaking for the first time. “And our grandparents are Muggles, so we couldn't Floo.”

“That's pretty awesome,” Rose told Matt, “My grandpa loves all things to do with Muggles. One of his life's ambitions is to find out how airplanes stay up.”

Everyone laughed. The compartment door opened and Victoire walked in. “Hi, Amy! I've been looking for you.”

“Hey,” Amy greeted her, “Want to stay her with us?”

“Sure,” Victoire sat down next to Amy. She glanced at Matt, who was leaning up against the window. “Is your brother ok?”

“Yeah, he's fine. He just fell out of a tree over break and spent a few days in the hospital. That and the jet lag are why he's so tired,” Amy said quickly.

At that moment, the compartment door opened again to reveal the person Albus wanted to see the least. A smug looking Quinton Willinson walked in and and shut the door behind him.

“Something you want, Willinson?” Victoire stood up and stared at him.

“Oh, just a word with your cousin,” Willinson glared at Albus, “Mind if we speak in private?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact, I do,” Victoire growled, “Whatever it is, you can say it here, in front of all of us.”

“Fine,” Willinson turned to Albus, “Just thought I'd let you know that you'd better watch yourself, Potty.”

Victoire stepped between Albus and Willinson. “And why is that?”

“Oh, you didn't know?” Willinson smiled at her, “Baby Potty here put that Exploding Eclair on my plate at Slughorn's party. Him and his little posse here.”

“How d'you figure that?” Victoire continued to stare at him.

“I just know,” he answered, “So, you'd better watch out, Potty and friends.”

Amy got up and stood next to Victoire. “Is that a threat, Willinson? Because anyone who does anything to my little brother regrets it.”

“Oh, maybe it's a threat, maybe it's not,” Willinson sneered at her, “But I wouldn't worry too much about your baby brother. Looks like he's got enough damage already. Looks like he's been hit by a truck.”

In a span of five seconds, Amy had whipped out her wand and had Willinson pinned against the wall, holding her wand to his face. “Do not touch Matt, or you will learn to regret it. You understand? Do not do anything to him. I will find out, and you will wish you'd never even talked to him. Get it?” Amy let him go, but did not put her wand away.

“You wouldn't try anything with the Head Girl here,” Willinson gestured to Victoire, as he pulled out his own wand.

“This Head Girl does not care what Amy does to anyone, if they do anything to her family. And, I can add that if you do anything to my family, you'll regret it as well,” Victoire pulled out her own wand and pointed it at Willinson, “Now I suggest you get out, before we're forced to hex you.”

Willinson, realizing defeat, scowled and put his wand away. He opened the compartment door and with one last glare at Albus, he left.

“Wow,” Albus muttered, gazing at Victoire and Amy, “I've never seen him back down before.”

“When you've spent almost seven years in the same castle as him, you learn that he only does something when he has the upper hand. He'd never try anything when there are a couple people up against him. Especially people who are better witches and wizards than he is. He's really quite stupid, honestly. He brags, but I don't think he'd win a duel against anyone above third year,” Victoire told them.

“Every year, he picks a new first year to torment. We've never been able to figure out why he picks the one he does. Usually it's the smallest or most frightened one. I've got no idea why he's picked you, Albus,” Amy said, “He was picked on a lot when he was a first year. Ever since then, he's done the same thing to other first years. It's pretty low, if you ask me. If he's got to torment someone, he ought to do it to someone closer to his age.”

“It's because he can't win a duel with someone his own age. If he tried anything with anyone in our class, he'd be hexed so much you couldn't recognize him,” Victoire added, “But anyway, I would not put it past him to try something on you, Albus. Just make sure you're never alone in the corridors and you'll be fine. He won't try anything where there'd be witnesses or someone to stop him.”

Amy nodded in agreement, “Same with you, Matt,” she looked at her brother, but he'd fallen asleep. “And probably the rest of you, too.”

Albus nodded, “Who'd he pick on last year?”

“James,” Victoire said, “But after James pulled a few pranks on him, he gave up. It was quite funny, really. He tried picking on Ben after that, but I stopped him.”

“How?” Rose asked.

“He's got this weird crush on me. Has ever since second year. But I'd never go out with him, of course. He's such a git. Actually asked me to go to Hogsmeade our third year,” Victoire laughed, “But boy was he mad when I started going out with Teddy. Still hasn't given up. Somehow he thinks that with Teddy out of the castle, I'll decide to go out with him.”

“It's the Veela blood,” Amy told them.

“He's about the only one, though. Everyone else gave up once I started going out with Teddy.”

“Wow,” Rose said, “I just thought he didn't like us for some reason.”

“Well, he doesn't. But I don't know why. It'll be good for everyone when he's gone next year,” Amy stated, “But for now, just make sure you're never alone in the corridors.”

*******

Once the new term started, Albus and his friends found themselves up to their ears in homework. The teachers had already started warning them about final exams, despite the fact that they were months away. It wasn't only the first years that were bombarded with work. It seemed that all the students had more work than normal. The common room often did not empty out until past midnight, with some students falling asleep in their reading. The fifth and seventh years were spending more time than everyone else studying, due to the fact that their O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s seemed much closer from this side of Christmas.

Albus and his friends tended to divide their time evenly between the Common room and the library. They went wherever it was less crowded. Albus and Rose were finding it difficult to find time to research about whatever Hallows were, especially since they were rarely without John, Matt, and Amanda. Albus doubted whether James was getting any research in either, because Samantha Meyers had increased Quidditch practice to four nights a week due to the impending Gryffindor vs. Slytherin match.

One night, Albus and Rose did manage to find time to research because Matt, John, and Amanda were all doing detention with Filch. Filch had caught them dueling with Scorpius Malfoy and put all four of them in detention. The only reason Albus was not involved was because Harry had been speaking to Albus about his dreams. They had resumed once he was back in school, although they hadn't changed at all. Rose had been talking to Professor Patil about a homework she thought she had messed up on, but it turned out she had a gotten a 100% on it like usual. Albus had been trying to do a charms essay when Rose came up to him and asked him if he wanted to go research. Albus was all too eager, since his charms essay was not going very well. So, the two cousins made their way to the library.

“I suppose we could start by researching about the downfall of Voldemort,” Rose suggested as they browsed through the books, “Since we're pretty sure it has something to do with that.”

“All right,” Albus agreed, “That makes sense.” Albus bent down and picked out a book, “The Rise and Fall of Lord Voldemort, by Minerva McGonagall. Hmm, McGonagall, that sounds so familiar... Where have I heard that before?”

“Professor McGonagall,” Rose reminded him, “She taught Transfiguration when our parents were here, and our grandparents. She was in the last battle, so that'd be a good book to look at.”

Albus took the book over to a table and started reading it. Rose found another book and sat down next to him. Albus decided just to start at the beginning, as he had no idea where Hallows would come into the picture. The first chapter was about Voldemort's childhood. Albus already knew about that, so it was all basically review. But he read intently anyway, just hoping that he'd read the word 'Hallows'. However, as the evening wore on, and Albus grew steadily more tired, he did not find out anything new.

“Find anything yet?” he asked Rose.

Rose looked up from her book, which was entitled The History of the Dark Arts in Great Britain, “No, nothing I don't already know. And no mention of any Hallows.”

Albus sighed, “Me either. Curfew's soon. Why don't we just take the books out?”

“Sounds good to me,” Rose agreed. She walked over to Madam Pince while Albus followed.

Madam Pince glared at them as they handed her the books. She read the names and gave them a strange look, like she was wondering why they wanted to read them. Albus didn't meet her gaze, but he knew why she was staring at them. Why would Harry Potter's son need to read about the downfall of Voldemort? After she seemed satisfied with staring at them, she checked the books out and handed them back. “They're due in a month. Do not write in them or bend them or injure them in any way.”

Once they were out of the library, they relaxed, “She's a nutter,” Albus whispered.

“She's a bit strange, yeah,” Rose agreed.

“Acts like the books are gold,” Albus giggled.

“She thinks we're up to something, the way she stared at us like that,” Rose said.

“I know, but that makes sense.”

“Yes, I suppose it does. I just hope she doesn't tell your dad,” Rose told him as she walked up a set of stairs.

“She probably won't. I don't think they're particularly close. Dad got in a trouble a few times at the library.”

Rose laughed, “Oh, yeah.”

Albus and Rose continued their trek to the common room. Once there, Albus quickly went to the dormitory to hide his book before his friends came back from detention. But after an hour of waiting for them, Albus fell asleep. It was a restless sleep, as he had the same nightmare he usually had. Despite this, he did not wake up when John and Matt came in at midnight.

[*Riley*]

Great Work How many chapters will be in this story Duckie ??

[DucksRMagical]

Thanks, Riley! I'm not sure how many chapters there will be. I'm currently writing chapter 22. I'm guessing it'll be between 30 and 35 chapters.

Chapter 17: Scorpius is Suspicious

“That was brutal last night!” John groaned as he sat down next to Albus at breakfast the next morning. Albus had awoken early and couldn't get back to sleep. John and Matt were both sound asleep, so Albus had just gone down to breakfast with out them.

“I'll say,” Matt sat down on Albus's other side and winced as he did so, “I ache all over.” Matt was just starting to get back to normal after his tree incident over break. In the few days after returning to school, he had walked very slowly and Albus could tell that he was sore. Albus had assumed he had gotten a few broken bones from the incident, but never asked, as Matt didn't seem too keen on discussing it.

“What'd he have you do?” Albus asked while he watched Matt rub his arm.

“Clean Moaning Myrtle's bathroom,” John answered as he piled his plate with eggs and bacon, “It was torture. He had us do it the Muggle way of course. He had us doing it for 3 hours. We couldn't manage to get it clean the way he wanted it. And he made Matt scrub the floor, so he had to be down on his hands and knees the whole night. I could tell it was making his injuries from falling out of that tree hurt worse, so I suggested to Filch that I could do the floor and Matt could do the sinks, but Filch said no. He seemed to take delight in seeing Matt suffer. It was awful. Amanda had to do the toilets with Malfoy. He did something to one of them that made it regurgitate. That was gross. So she had to clean that one again and Matt had to re-scrub the floor.”

“Maybe you should see if Madam Pomfrey can do anything for you?” Albus asked Matt. Matt had only eaten a few bites of toast and was wincing every time he moved.

“You know she doesn't do anything for pain induced by Muggle cleaning,” John said disgustedly.

“Actually, I think I will go see her,” Matt mumbled and got up from the table, “I'll see you in Defense Against the Dark Arts.”

Once Matt left, John shook his head, “You know she won't do anything to help him.”

“I know, she probably won't if he says the injuries are from cleaning. But she will if he says they're leftover from that whole tree thing,” Albus reasoned.

“Hope so,” John agreed, “He was worse last night when we were doing the detention. Filch was horrible to him, told him to scrub faster. And Malfoy smirked at him every time he looked over from his toilets.”

“I really don't like that Malfoy kid,” Amanda added. She had come into the Great Hall and sat down across from Albus. Rose sat down in Matt's vacated seat.

“Detention's bad enough with Filch, but Malfoy kept muttering about Matt not even being able to Muggle clean. Filch didn't hear any of it.”

“Ugh,” Rose groaned, “I hope I'm never in detention with him.”

“You're never in detention,” Albus chimed in.

“I know. I never get caught,” she grinned. This was true. Albus knew she had pulled her fair share of pranks on the Slytherins, usually involving some kind of sweet from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes that turned various body parts into different colors. And there was no way anyone could pin it on her.

At that moment, the owls arrived with the mail. “Look, it's Patches,” Rose announced as a large tawny owl arrived at Albus's place. Patches was Rose's family's owl. “He's got a letter for you and James.”

Albus called James over and the two of them looked at the letter. Albus opened it and read it silently.

Dear James and Albus,
I hope the new term is going well. I imagine you
spending much of your time studying. I have managed
to secure an empty classroom for our Occlumency
lessons. They will take place in the Transfiguration
room on Tuesday and Saturday evenings, at eight o'clock.
We will start this Saturday. I'll see you then.
Say hi to Rose for me.
With Love,
Aunt Hermione

Albus looked at James, “Well, I guess we'll go on Saturday.”

“Yeah, I suppose. Blimey, I can't imagine this is going to be fun,” James responded.

“Probably not. But it's got to be better than the Occlumency lessons Dad had,” Albus reminded him.

“Yeah,” James agreed, “Well, I'm off to Potions. I'll see ya later.”

“Bye.”

“Occlumency, cool,” John said, “I wondered when you'd start those.”

Albus had told John, Matt, and Amanda all about the dreams and Legilimency shortly after they arrived back at the castle. “Guess we're starting on Saturday.”

“We'd better be off to DADA,” John reminded them. Albus got up and followed John out of the Hall, with Amanda and Rose following.

Matt never showed up in DADA. Albus doubted that he would because he looked pretty worn out at breakfast. Albus figured his dad must have known that Matt was in the Hospital Wing because he skipped right over his name during attendance. It was a good DADA lesson. They spent the majority of it practicing disarming each other. Albus and John had a good time doing so, as both of them were quite skilled with that particular spell. They were the few who were good at it. Most of the other students had a hard time with it, which was why Harry had them practicing it so often. He stressed that it was one of the most important spells to master. Amanda, in particular, was having a hard time with it, but she did manage to disarm Rose once during the lesson.

Charms, on the other hand, was another disaster. Professor Washbburn stormed into the room, and Albus immediately stopped talking. He was sitting at his usual back table with John, Rose, and Amanda.

Washburn quickly ran down the attendance list, stopping at Matt's name. “Where's Eckerton?” he barked loudly. No one answered. “Potter! Where's Eckerton?”

“In the Hospital Wing,” Albus whispered.

“Speak louder!” Washburn screamed.

“I said he's in the Hospital Wing, Sir,” Albus said.

“He's always in the Hospital Wing. What's wrong with him this time?” Washburn muttered to himself.

Albus chose not to answer that question and he sat lower in his seat.

“Well, we're going to have another attempt at levitation today,” Washburn growled, “But we're not levitating feathers this time. All of you who are somewhat skilled at this class have managed that already,” he glared towards the back table and his eyes rested on Albus. “You'll be levitating books, so don't hit anyone with them. Go on, get started.” The class all took out their books and wands, while Washburn took his usual seat behind his desk and glared at them.

Albus reluctantly muttered the incantation and his book moved an inch off the desk and fell back again. He looked at John, Rose, and Amanda. After a few attempts, Rose had managed to levitate her book, although she received no praise from their professor. John was able to do it after a half hour of practice, not receiving any praise either. Amanda was having a bit more trouble, but was still doing better than Albus.

With ten minutes left in the class, Washburn started making his rounds to all the students, and much to Albus's dismay, he stopped at his table.

“Well, Potter, let's see if you're better with books than feathers. Go ahead, levitate it,” Washburn sneered.

Albus muttered the spell quickly and his book managed to get a few inches off the table before falling back down.

“Do it again,” Washburn glared at him.

Albus did it again, this time making the book float a full foot off the table. Albus was so shocked that he jerked his wand and caused the book to start speeding towards one of the windows. Albus knew what was going to happen right before it did. The book flew right at the window, not stopping when it reached it, and soared straight through. The glass shattered and showered a few students with shards. They screamed as the glass cut their arms.

“Potter!” Washburn shouted, “Must you always make trouble in this class?!”

Albus did not say a word, he just stared down at his desk.

“Detention! Saturday night!” Washburn screamed, “You,” he pointed at the students who were showered with glass, “Go to the Hospital Wing. The rest of you, class dismissed.”

“Um, Professor,” Albus whispered, “I can't do detention on Saturday night.”

“And why on Earth not?” Washburn seethed, “I'll decide when you'll do detention.”

“I've got a meeting with my aunt.”

“Your aunt can wait.”

“No, she can't. I'm supposed to get, er, lessons from her,” Albus said, not wanting to reveal what the lessons were. “You can ask the Headmaster.”

“Fine. I'll do that, then,” Washburn told him, “Now get out!”

Albus ran quickly out of the room and managed to catch up with his friends as they were entering the Great Hall for lunch. “That was horrible.”

“I know,” John agreed.

“I hate charms,” Albus groaned as he sat down at the table, “I don't want to do that detention. It's gonna be worse now that he's got to put it off until after Saturday.”

“He definitely will,” Rose agreed, “Hey! Matt, you're back!”

Matt came over to the table, looking a bit better than he did that morning. “Yeah, sorry I missed two lessons. I heard about what happened in Charms. That Washburn's an idiot.”

“So Madam Pomfrey actually helped?” John looked at Matt in awe.

“Yeah, she did,” Matt told them, “And it's a good thing. I don't think I could have gone to any classes today if she didn't.”

“But why?” John asked, “Did you say the injuries were leftover from the fall?”

“Nope,” Matt responded, “She knew they were from detention. But she healed them anyway. I guess because I wasn't totally over the whole tree thing. She seemed pretty upset about the whole thing. Kept going on about how irresponsible Filch is and how he shouldn't have made me do all that cleaning. Said she was going to talk to the Headmaster about it and everything.”

“Blimey,” John looked at Matt warily, “I've never seen her mad about injuries from Muggle cleaning before. Always says we bring it upon ourselves.”

Matt shrugged and piled his plate with food and started eating, not elaborating on his trip to the Hospital Wing.

Albus had a strange feeling that there was more to the tree story than Matt was letting on about. He could tell that Matt was trying to cover something up, and he couldn't help but think about the werewolf research that he and Rose had done over break. There had been a full moon over the holiday and Albus kept thinking that the tree story was just a cover up. He saw how Matt had looked at his sister before telling the story and he seemed a bit leery on telling it in the first place. As Albus started eating his lunch, he decided to watch Matt carefully around the time of the next full moon, which was in two weeks.

Double potions with the Slytherins was after lunch that day. Albus thought the class went pretty well. Slughorn lectured on the Shrinking Solution during the first half and the second half was spent attempting to make the potion. Albus was partnered with John, and although their potion was a shade lighter than the desired color, both boys thought they did pretty well.

"What's that, Potty?" Scorpius Malfoy appeared behind Albus as he was putting his vial of Shrinking Solution on Slughorn's desk at the end of class.

"A potion, what else do you think it could be?" Albus answered flatly.

"Looks more like cat sick," Malfoy laughed as he put his potion, which happened to be the perfect color, onto Slughorn's desk. "Can't even brew a simple Shrinking Solution."

"At least I can disarm someone, which is a whole lot more useful than making potions," Albus retorted as he started to leave the room. Malfoy had extreme difficulty in disarming his partner during that morning's DADA class.

"As if I'd try disarming if someone were attacking me," Malfoy laughed. A few of his cronies giggled behind him. "A hex would work loads better."

"You know perfectly well that disarming works better than hexes, Malfoy," Matt had caught up to them in the dungeon corridor, "Professor Potter says that every time we practice disarming."

"And I suppose you're an expert on defense now, Eckerton? Judging by the way you looked last night, a five year old could beat you in a duel," Malfoy sneered at him. "By the way, rumor has it that Madam Pomfrey actually healed your injuries from last night's detention. That true?"

Matt froze and stared at Malfoy. "Yeah, so?" he whispered.

Malfoy smirked, "After I heard that I went up to see if she'd heal my injuries. My hand's been aching all day. She glared at me and told me if I should think about my hand the next time I'm about to break the rules, then she shooed me out and said to get to class."

"Good for you," Matt answered.

"Well, why? Why'd she heal you, but not me? What's so special about you?" Malfoy asked.

"I dunno," Matt glanced around at his friends.

"There's something weird about you," Malfoy stepped towards Matt.

"Why don't you just shut it?" John shouted and pulled out his wand.

"Gonna rescue your friend, Brickston?" Malfoy pulled out his own wand, "Or maybe you could tell me why he's always in the Hospital Wing."

"Don't reckon I can," John answered, "But I could make sure you spend the rest of the day there, if you like."

"Ooo, gonna duel me?" Malfoy turned to John, "Well, I dunno what's up with Eckerton, but I'm going to find out."

"What's going on here?" Amy came running up behind Malfoy, "What do you think you're doing!?" she shouted at Malfoy, once she realized that his wand was still pointed at Matt.

"Ah, Eckerton's sister! Maybe she'll tell me why Madam Pomfrey treats him special?" Malfoy grinned maliciously at Amy.

Amy stood between Malfoy and Matt and glared at Malfoy, "That's none of your business. And if you point your wand at him again, you'll regret it." She turned around, threw her arm around Matt, and dragged him away towards the stairs.

"Believe me, I'll find out," Malfoy smirked at John, put his wand away, and sauntered off towards the Slytherin common room.

"Blimey," John said, once Malfoy was out of earshot, "He's mad."

"Yeah, he is," Albus agreed, "He knows something's up with Matt, too. And I don't think he's going to give up until he finds out."

"Well, we can't let him find out, then," John stated.

"But we don't even know for sure!" Albus reminded him.

"True," John shrugged, "But I think we're right. And Amy's so protective of him. Did you see her face when Malfoy asked her to tell him?"

"She was seething. Just like on the train after break," Albus said, while starting to walk up the stairs to the Entrance Hall.

"We've got to find out for sure."

"He'll tell us what it is eventually," Albus insisted, "He'll realize that he can trust us."

"That's the thing, I don't know if he will, especially if it is what we think it is," John sighed.

[*Riley*]

Hey, Nice piece of work, but could I say something ??
Maybe try to put a bit more describing in there. just a thought..All in all the story is going VERY well and I hope it continues at this sort of rate.
Well Done.