Soldiers and Serpents //Scorbus

24 Settlement

"Hi." Albus beamed as they door opens. Scorpius opened it wider to let him in. Missy meows in greeting, having never left the manor since Christmas. Since Draco was here more often due to the problems at work, he suggested that Missy stay. He could take care of her. And now that Scorpius and Raven were here because of the funeral and all, the feline was always there- receiving attention. "I brought notes from class." He picks up Missy to give her love, and she purrs. Scorpius closed the door.

"Sweet thanks. I did my part of the reading, I've had nothing else to do." Scorpius replies, gesturing to follow him up the stairs. On the way up Raven is coming down. "Where are you going?"

"To Ashton's actually." Raven says, looking at Albus and smiling softly, giving him a side hug in greeting. She was dressed up in her blue denim jeans, and a black top with small white flower print on it. It split down the middle with a little tie, so her stomach was slightly exposed. Hair was flattened in a way where it billowed around her as she walked, makeup was on. "You aren't the only one who needs school stuff. He went around to all my classes to get everything for this week, I just have to go pick it up."

"He's not at school?" Scorpius wondered.

"I saw him earlier." Albus offered.

"He left campus afterwards, like you." Raven told Potter. "Except he didn't ask permission." Scorpius shared a look with his best friend.

"Sweet, soft, never break the rules Ashton- left Hogwarts to meet with you? Someone is whipped." Albus sounded impressed. Raven smirked, flicking her hair over her shoulder.

"Thats rich, coming from you." Raven Malfoy passed them, walking down the rest of the stairs. Her wand, house key, and phone in one hand, the other balancing on the rail. When she's out of earshot Albus turned back to Scorpius.

"What does she mean?" He asked, setting the cat down.

"I have absolutely no idea." Scorpius mused, leading the way into his room. Albus takes his backpack off, setting it on the empty space on the desk. Scorpius runs his fingers through his hair which was slightly damp from his shower earlier. "How's school going?" He sat on the edge of his bed.

"It's weird. Daniel is popular. And not in a bad way. I mean like, girls fawn over him. He pretends like he doesn't even know me too." Albus sat at the desk, kicking his shoes off.

"No. I mean like, how's school for you. It's Thursday. A lot can happen in two days." Scorpius paused. "And Monday was cut kind of short."

"If you answered my calls I would've already told you." Albus points out, but then explained anyways. "Nothing exciting. I've been sitting with James at lunch. Or sometimes Christine will ask me to sit with her." Scorpius was a bit surprised. Christine? Didn't know that she liked Albus enough to initiate conversation. "Tutoring is good, gives me something to do after school. I avoid the dorms now that Daniel is back and you aren't there. He ignores my existence but it's still really uncomfortable." Albus leaned back in the chair, spinning it on the floors absently. "You were right, I do think Lysander is a Squib. He struggles to disarm people. And there's no reaction whatsoever. His wand doesn't even backfire. It's like he's a muggle."

"Well, I told you so." Scorpius tells him. "What about Aries? What kind of trouble has she gotten into."

"It's funny you ask, because she's managed to piss off every single Professor who has her. She's in detention. You know that she goes by Aries Camus, right? Not Carrow."

"Oh yeah. I know. She lied to get into Hogwarts. I should've told you but I wasn't thinking about it. Her dad isn't in Azkaban either, by the way." Scorpius tells him. Albus's eyes widen. "I know. She wouldn't tell me the details."