Chapter Text
The pitch was alive with music, color-changing lights, and noises of excitement, and Scorpius made his dissatisfaction with Albus and Finn’s current fixation vocal. Albus ducked and pulled Finn down with him as a couple students milling in one of the courtyards cast a look their way, but Scorpius didn’t bother.
“Must we do this?” Scorpius asked, ignoring Albus’s stare of derision.
“What if Neville isn’t being suspicious later?” said Albus.
“Professor Longbottom is always suspicious! It’s, like, ingrained in his DNA!”
“We’ll be quick!” said Albus. “Promise!”
Scorpius’s face indicated that he didn’t believe Albus a single bit, but he regardless followed Albus and Finn down the hall, occasionally muttering about how much fun the girls were likely having.
The corridor leading to the North exit was cut off to funnel the students towards the Quidditch pitch, meaning the boys needed to exit to the west and trek back around the outside of the castle. “This shouldn’t be too difficult,” said Albus, peeking around the corner of the back entrance.
Professors McCaffrey and Ivcoch were standing a ways down the path to keep an eye on students entering and leaving the castle, but their position put the path to the greenhouses directly within their line of sight.
“It’s going to be hard to sneak off without them noticing us,” Albus said. “We just need to wait for a big group of people.”
“Who?” Scorpius asked, leaning against the inside archway with crossed arms. “Everyone’s down at the pitch.”
“Not everyone,” Finn whispered, tapping on Albus’s shoulder.
Albus turned to find a group of four Gryffindors coming their way, the same Gryffindors who hurled passive aggressive insults their way every class. Albus had learned that the gang leader’s name was Dylan Abbott. The boy had dirty blonde hair and an aura of pompousness about him, one that reflected through his casual attire comprised entirely of designer sweaters.
“What is it that you’re suggesting?” Albus asked, whispering to his friends as the other four came closer.
“Don’t worry,” Finn answered, nodding and giving his friends two thumbs up. “I’ve got this.”
“That’s not encouraging!” Scorpius hissed.
Finn turned and noticeably straightened his posture before walking towards the raucous Gryffindors.
“We’re going to die,” said Albus drily.
Finn stopped short in front of the Gryffindors, crossing his arms like a bouncer at the entrance to a club.
Abbott arched an eyebrow. “What the hell are you doing?”
Albus couldn’t see the expression Finn was making, but he pictured it as a knowing smirk. Albus couldn’t see Finn open his mouth either, but a sense of foreboding suddenly filled his chest as Finn leaned in and mumbled something.
Whatever Finn said had a profound effect on the Gryffindors, whose faces contorted in pure fear. Abbott backed away and slowly skirted around Finn, the rest of his cronies following.
“Y-you…” Abbott’s voice was shaky. “Something’s s-seriously wrong with you.”
His eyes wavered between Finn and the door, and as soon as he’d made it around, he bolted. Abbott’s friends were right behind him, though one of them seemed unfazed and shot Finn a nasty look before exiting.
As soon as the last Gryffindor turned out the door, Finn ran back to his friends. “Quickly!” he whispered. “Now’s our chance!”
Albus and Scorpius followed him, rather impressed with the diversion’s results. While McCaffrey and Ivcoch were busy watching the terrified Gryffindors run down to the pitch, the three Slytherins skirted around the outer castle wall, jumping a row of hedges and using them as cover to make a beeline to the other side of a small hill. They made it just in time, peeking back over the apex to watch the Gryffindors stop before the edge of the pitch and frenziedly ensure that Finn hadn’t followed them.
Scorpius, who had been trying to contain his laughter the entire time, nearly fell onto the grass. “Did you see their faces? Priceless, mate! What did you even say to them?”
“Not telling,” said Finn, deadly serious.
Scorpius shook his head. “I should have never doubted you, Finnegan.”
“Not my name.”
“I’ll figure it out eventually.”
“Guys, we’ve got no time to sit and make jokes,” said Albus. “We have a mission.”
“Okay, relax,” Finn said, putting his hands up. “I thought we were supposed to be having a fun goose chase, not a serious one.”
“Just come on,” said Albus.
Scorpius looked back at the Quidditch pitch. “But that looks like so much fun,” he griped, trying again to change Albus’s mind.
It almost worked. Helios had gotten his hands on an impressive assortment of both magical and Muggle carnival games, including a bona fide Ferris wheel that stood ten meters high.
“The quicker we figure out what Neville’s up to, the quicker we can return,” Albus assured. “Just follow me.”
“Last time I followed you, we stared at a statue for half hour!” Scorpius hissed. Albus ignored him and began half-running half-stumbling down the hill.
Their progress was slow but deliberate, as they had to round the entire North Tower and enter through the side gate separating the greenhouses from the rest of the grounds. They formed a train of sorts, with Scorpius sandwiched between Albus and Finn so he couldn’t run off. As the two boys scouted, Scorpius instead took the time to stare up at the castle, whose spires towered tens of meters into the air. The frosted windows glowed golden from the lamps, candles, and torches within, making the massive form of the castle stand out slightly from the darkness of the night.
“I don’t think there’s any place like this,” said Scorpius. Albus could tell from his tone of voice that he was smiling.
“It really is magnificent,” said Finn. He sounded different, more… wistful? “I’d always imagined what Hogwarts would look like, but seeing it so close is… something else.”
“Which of your parents went to Hogwarts?” Scorpius asked. Finn had briefly mentioned that he was a half-blood, but hadn’t elaborated.
“My dad,” Finn responded. “He… doesn’t talk about it much.” Finn’s mood seemed to deflate. He wasn’t paying attention as Albus came to a sudden stop, and he distractedly slammed straight into his back. “Ow!” said Finn loudly, his exclamation echoing across the grounds.
Scorpius and Albus both instinctively cringed. “Sorry,” Albus whispered, “but we need to stay quiet.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Finn patted Albus on the back awkwardly. “Sorry.”
The boys soon arrived at the path leading up to the side exit. The greenhouses were on a raised hill, and the premises was surrounded by a meter-high wall. The gate leading out towards the forest was normally open, but it was now closed and locked.
Albus drew his wand and pointed it at the iron lock. “Alohomora!” he whispered. The chains on the lock didn’t move. “Sorry, Scorp,” Albus said, turning to face his friends. “You aren’t going to like this.”
Scorpius took a moment to realize what Albus was suggesting. “Come on.”
Albus pointed his wand at the wall. “We can’t get in any other way. You guys can go first, I’ll give you a boost.”
“How will you get over?” Finn asked.
“I’ll figure it out—”
“Let me do it,” Scorpius interrupted. “I’ll cast a temporary Levitation Charm on your robes. It should be enough of a boost to get you over. I can get myself over.”
“You sure?” Albus asked.
Scorpius sighed. “You were the one who wanted to snoop in the first place. Don’t make any noise and it won’t be an issue. Who’s going first?”
Albus stepped back at the same time as Finn raised his hand. “I’ll do it,” said Finn.
“Did I even need to ask?” Scorpius muttered.
Finn stood with his chest against the wall, his hands reaching up to the edge. He jumped once. “Beam me up, Scotty!”
Scorpius paused right before swishing his wand. “What?”
Finn waved his hand. “Don’t worry about it. Let’s go.”
“Alright.” Scorpius prepared his stance again. “Jump on three. One, two, three!”
As Scorpius said “three,” Finn crouched and jumped remarkably high into the air. At the same time, Scorpius followed the time-tested swish and flick, muttering the Levitation Charm and boosting Finn. The extra upwards force proved to be a little too much, and Finn cleared the wall entirely, hitting the ground on the other side with a painful sounding thump.
“Shit!” Scorpius cursed. “Are you okay?” he whisper-shouted.
“Yeah,” Finn responded weakly. “Come on over.”
Scorpius put a little less force into Albus’s boost, hitting the sweet spot that allowed Albus to grasp the edge and climb over normally.
Albus landed on both feet and dusted off his hands. He moved out of the way just as Scorpius bounded over the wall in its entirety, landing on the ground softly.
Finn stared at Scorpius, who was casually examining his robes. “Are you part cat?”
“I used Ascendio,” said Scorpius. “It’s not usually taught until third year charms, but I do a lot of reading at home.”
Albus smiled softly. “You know, if you weren’t so quiet in class, you could be earning Slytherin more points than even Rose.”
The tips of Scorpius’s ears turned red. “I dunno about that, but thanks.”
The boys hung against the back wall for a moment to study the greenhouses. Some lights were on to simulate sunlight for certain plants, and that combined with the glazed windows made determining the greenhouse Neville was in difficult. They could only see four of the seven greenhouses clearly, so they formed up in the same line and continued around the wall, avoiding the small patches of light that eked out from the occasional half-open window.
“What if he isn’t even here?” Scorpius asked.
“He must be,” Albus responded. “If not, I’ll buy you sweets on the train home.”
“I’m holding you to that,” Scorpius said.
Albus abruptly stopped and held up his fist. “Someone’s up ahead.”
The lights in Greenhouse Two were off, but Albus could hear some shuffling and see a trail of smoke drifting into the air. His suspicions were confirmed when a silhouette stood and lit a small flame, examining something in their hand before waving the fire out.
Albus motioned for the other two to follow his lead. He snuck up to the side of the greenhouse and crouched beneath the window, peering in through the glass.
Inside, he noticed not one figure, but three. One person was splayed out on the bench, the back of their hand resting on their forehead. The other two were sitting on the floor, and one of them was bending down to tamper with some device between them.
“Pass it over,” said of the people on the floor.
Albus frowned; he recognized that voice. He noticed a head of orange hair as they reached out for the device, orange hair that was characteristic of one specific family…
The pieces clicked together and Albus suddenly stood, peeking into through the window. “Molly?”
Albus’s elder cousin jumped slightly, causing the device, a plastic beaker of some sort emitting that trail of smoke, to clatter on the floor.
“Shit!” she whispered, instinctively reaching out to steady the object. “What d’you think you’re doing here, Albus?”
“Albus?” one of the people on the floor said. They swiveled their head. “Go away!” It was Dominique, Victoire’s sister. Her silver hair that normally glowed in the sunlight looked greyer in the dark.
“Dominique? What are you two—” Albus stared at the beaker, which was now giving off a more profuse smell. “Are you guys smoking?”
“Who’s this kid?” the person on the bench asked lazily.
“Shut up, Dorian,” Molly muttered. “Albus, you should be down at the Quidditch pitch. What are you doing here alone?”
“He’s not alone,” Finn said, popping his head up. “Hi, I’m Finn.” He extended his hand down towards Dominique.
Dominique swatted his hand away. “Terrible time for introductions, mate.” Dominique had always been icier than her sister, and her sour attitude was amplified. “Don’t you dare tell anyone about this.”
“Why would we tell anyone?” Scorpius asked, standing up as well.
“Exactly,” Dominique said pointedly. “Now, you little arseholes, leave before I shove my fist right up your—”
“Dom!” Molly hissed. “They’re kids!” She looked at Albus apologetically. “Listen, please don’t tell anyone. You shouldn’t be out here either, anyways.” Her unspoken threat didn’t take a genius to decipher.
Albus sighed. “I won’t tell anyone.”
“Woah there, Albus,” Scorpius said, turning his head. “Are we sure we’re going to make a decision that quickly?”
“You’d better be sure,” Dominique said, her voice laced with venom.
Scorpius gulped. “Okay, yeah, no problem.”
Dorian pointed up at Finn from his position on the bench. “You’ve got good skin.”
Finn scowled, looking at his arms. “Is that meant to be racist or something?”
“Jeez, no,” Dorian mumbled. “I just like the color.”
“You are kind of starting to sound racist,” Molly admitted.
“I’m not a racist, bruv!”
“Shut up, Dorian!” Dominique hissed. She turned back to Albus and narrowed her eyes. “Leave. Now. And don’t you dare think about telling anyone.”
“But we need to check on something else—”
“No ifs, no buts,” Dominique said, cutting Albus off. “Go.”
Albus tried giving Dominique a similarly icy look but likely ended up seeming mildly constipated. He backed away from the window and turned to his friends. “I guess we’re done, then.”
“That really was a goose chase,” Scorpius muttered, returning back the way they’d come. “I bet Neville isn’t even here.”
“Whatever,” said Albus, feeling dejected. “Let’s just get back.”
“Don’t put as much force as last time,” Finn instructed Scorpius. “My bum stings.”
* * *
The boys eventually met up with Rose and Talia, who had evidently been enjoying the attractions. The Ferris wheel was likely a violation of every Muggle safety protocol, given that it had been enchanted to work without supports, but it was nonetheless an amusing experience. Scorpius proved to have a mild fear of heights, one that Finn teased him about during the entirety of their compartment’s circumvolution.
Albus spent an unhealthy amount of his time playing a modified version of cup pong where the cups rotated in random directions around the player. Of course, the water inside each cup was enchanted to refrain from splashing out, but the challenge proved to be extremely difficult considering that only Quidditch players had won any prizes from it.
After over a combined hour of waiting in line and over fifteen attempts before a success, Albus won a ball that came back to the owner like a boomerang whenever they threw it. It acted like a Snitch, sometimes exploring other areas before whizzing back to Albus.
As a test, Albus tried throwing the thing as hard as he could. The ball cleared the boundary of the pitch and went coursing past the one of the Ravenclaw stands. The toy came back with a vengeance, ripping through the checkered blue cover over the scaffolding and nearly taking off a sixth year’s head.
The five retired to their dormitories around midnight. Minghao, Barry, and Gore’s beds were noticeably empty.
“What d’you think they’re doing?” Finn asked.
“I dunno,” Albus said. “Maybe going around the Ferris wheel like a normal person.”
“Nice one,” said Scorpius drily.
“Oh, no, that was for him,” said Albus, pointing at Finn.
Finn pursed his lips and nodded, the sarcasm evident in his eyes. “What a useful insight, Albus. Ten points to Slytherin.”
“I’m going to bed,” Albus muttered. “G’night, you lot.”
Albus closed his eyes and listened to the other two settle in. He had had trouble sleeping for the first month at Hogwarts, but had finally developed something that resembled a normal sleep schedule. Albus had to force himself to move after waking up in the mornings, but actually getting to sleep in the first place was a whole other ordeal.
He often let his mind wander and drifted off, but the slightest noise could rouse him from the edge of sleep. This happened half an hour later, when the three other boys returned to the dormitory. The noise eventually died down and Albus crept closer and closer to sleep…
Until his phone started blaring.
The noise was so sudden, so loud that Albus found himself standing on his bed and holding his wand, which had inexplicably appeared in his hand. Scorpius fell out of his bed and onto the floor, and hit his head on his bedframe while trying to scramble back to his feet. Even Finn woke up, sitting straight up in bed like a possessed victim in a horror movie.
Albus smashed the heels of his hands to his ears as the noise droned on, drilling its horrid whine into his skull.
Scorpius was hanging onto his desk for dear life. “Turn it off!” he shouted, breathing heavily.
Albus staggered off the bed and towards his nightstand. He tapped the screen to wake the device, but paused and stared at the volume slider. He blinked, making sure sleep deprivation wasn’t getting to him. The volume was apparently all the way down, and his phone was on mute.
Albus grabbed the phone harshly and ran over to his trunk, trying to cover his ears with his shoulders. It wasn’t working at all.
Albus threw open his trunk and shoved his hand down to the bottom, past the Invisibility Cloak and the untidy stacks of books and clothes. The sheer amount of items mercifully appeared to be enough to stifle the noise to a deep, barely audible sub-tone. Albus withdrew his hand and slammed the trunk closed, and the sound completely disappeared.
Scorpius collapsed against the side of his bedframe, placing the back of his hand on his forehead. “You need to burn that.”
“We’ll see,” said Albus.
“We’ll see?”
Albus’s head pulsed, screaming at him to lay down. “Sleep, first.”
Scorpius turned to Finn, but he had somehow already gone back to sleep, his snores muffled by his pillow. “Something is seriously wrong with him.”
“Yeah,” said Albus, entirely unaware of what Scorpius was saying. Albus turned the intensity of his fan up to full blast before collapsing onto the bed.
“Are you two okay?” Minghao asked groggily, stumbling over from the other side of the room.
Albus sighed heavily and heaved himself up into a sitting position. “Yeah. Sorry about that siren. I’ve been trying to fix my phone, but it’s being a right prick about it.”
Minghao frowned. “What siren?”
Albus straightened sharply. “You mean… you didn’t hear that demon alarm?” he asked, making sure he’d heard Minghao correctly.
Minghao shook his head slowly. “Erm, no. I woke because Scorpius was screaming his bloody head off.”
Albus laughed incredulously. “Oh, okay then.”
Minghao backed away with a worried look on his face as Albus kept chuckling to himself. “Get some rest, mate. You’re loopy as hell.”
“I’m loopy?” Albus muttered, turning his gaze up to the ceiling. “Yeah, I’m the loopy one.”
Scorpius dragged himself up onto his bed, his panting slowing. “I should have known that consorting with a Potter with get me into some absolute bull shite mess.”
“Shut up,” Albus mumbled. “We’ll talk about… talk in the morning.” He closed his eyes and focused on his breathing, trying to bring his heart rate back down.
Scorpius watched Albus for a moment, feeling a bead of sweat drip down his back. He turned his attention to Albus’s fan on the other side of his bed, debating whether the shame was worth it.
As another drop of sweat rolled down his face, Scorpius snapped. “Bring that damned fan to this side of your bed, right now.”
Albus grinned, though the effort to raise the corners of his mouth was considerable. “I told you so.”