Lovely (a Scorbus story)

Part 15

"So...you and Albus..."

Scorpius looked up from his perusal of the Daily Prophet at the second-year who had approached him. "If someone asks me that one more time, I'm going to scream. Yes, me and Albus. I think that was made pretty clear."

"We knew from the beginning," Atticus said from his place by the fire. "It was just a question of when you would admit it to yourselves."

"Yes, yes, you called it, you're all geniuses," Albus said in a completely bored tone, stretching out his legs across Scorpius's lap. "Why don't you all just start forecasting the weather, hmmm?"

"So when do you find out the second task?" Polly asked, from where she was locked in a heated game of chess with Ian Thomas.

"Don't bother, I've been asking him that for days," Emma said in a mock-exasperated tone. "He's not supposed to tell, apparently."

"Well, I'm not!" Albus protested.

"Fine. I'll just have to ask Max."

"Max isn't going to tell you, either."

"Want to bet?" Emma challenged, eyes twinkling.

At that moment there was a splash from the window. As the Slytherins turned their heads, a section of the glass melted away and a sopping figure slid into the room.

"Max, you need to stop doing that," Emma said without looking up.

"I will not." Max mumbled a few words and her wand produced a stream of hot air, drying off her clothes.

"What's up, Max?" Albus greeted, flicking his dark hair out of his eyes.

"It's about the second task."

"How do you find out these things?"

"Madam Maxime tells Aury, Aury tells me, I tell you. It's a simple process."

"What's the second task?" Scorpius asked casually, pretending not to be very interested.

"I'm not telling you." Max narrowed her hazel eyes at him.

"I'll find out from Albus soon enough," Scorpius said indignantly.

"That's up to Albus, and I'm only telling him."

"Fine." With some difficulty, Albus swung his legs over Scorpius and stood up. Max followed him over to the corner, where it was more difficult for the others to hear properly, although not for lack of trying, as the common room went silent and every head was turned in their direction, Scorpius's included.

Shooting a glare at them, Max whispered something into Albus's ear. Albus's green eyes widened fractionally.

"That's...that's it? I mean...that shouldn't be too hard..."

"You say that now," Max muttered.

"And we can pick? We can pick someone to help us?"

"Yes," Max said thoughtfully. "I'll probably take...hmm, I know anyone from Ilvermorny would be interested. Maybe Zoe, or Shaylen. I guess Aurélie will probably choose Jaimee, they're inseparable. And..." She glanced at Scorpius with a knowing smile.

Albus flicked a glance in Scorpius's direction. "Yeah, yeah." Scorpius caught a glimmer of a smile.

"Just tell us!" Ian burst out.

"Nope." Max pulled out her wand, striding back towards the window. "See you guys later."

And with a wave, she swung back into the lake, shooting up towards the surface.

"How did she figure that out?" Polly asked as the window resealed itself, directing her knight towards Ian's queen.

"She's smart, that girl," Scorpius said. "There's not much that gets by her."

Scorpius picked up the Daily Prophet again, flipping to the next page.

"What's that?" Albus, resettling himself next to Scorpius, pointed to an article. "The Department of Mysteries—Revealed."

"Hmmm," Scorpius said distractedly. "Yeah, there's something in there about the Veil of the Preservation of Life."

"Let me see that," Albus said in an odd voice, stretching his hand out towards the paper. An image showed a man falling backwards through an old arch with a veil stretched across it. A look of shock stretched across his face.

"Where's the part about the veil?" he asked quickly. Alarmed, Scorpius pointed to the bottom of the paper. Albus's eyes flickered across it.

"He's alive," he mumbled. "Alive...he must be..."

Dropping the paper, he jumped to his feet. "Scorpius—can I borrow Greenie? It's urgent."

"She's in the Owlery," Scorpius said. "Albus, what's going on?"

Albus severed the clip with his wand. "I'll explain later—there might be—a chance—"

"Albus!"

But he was already tearing out the door.

"What was that about?" Emma asked.

"I have no idea," Scorpius said, putting down what was left of the newspaper. "But I'm going to go find out."