"You lot are a disaster," Ginny said, exasperated. "How is it that you can be so responsible and dignified during the week and then..."she trailed off. Scorpius guessed she was probably gesturing at the drunken seventh years (and Roxanne).

"Wasn't my idea," Evvie said at once.

"Yes, well, nobody was forcing you to chug firewhisky, either."

"I was, I was forcing her," Ben said. "Yeah—yeah. She didn't want to drink...she refused...you know, principles and morals and...stuff. But I said...I told her...drink this now or else I'll—never kiss you again, and then she grabbed the bottle, and it's all my fault, not hers."

"While your chivalry is adorable, I'm a bit insulted that you even thought I'd believe that," Ginny replied.

"I tried," Ben sighed.

"Roxanne, Ben—as your Head of House, I'm docking twenty points apiece. I'm docking thirty from James and Evvie because they are supposed to be model students. Twenty from the rest of you," Harry declared.

"Keeping alcohol where all ages can get to it...I ask you..." added Ginny.

"What about Lily?!" Roxanne demanded, outraged. "Doesn't she get points—oh, shit. Wait. She's a Gryffindor, too. What I meant to say was...it's all James's fault."

"Lily got twenty points docked from Gryffindor and detention every night for two weeks. Slughorn gave Caden detention every weekend for two weeks," Harry said. "I believe that might send a message."

"So we've lost...five hundred points today?!" Ben demanded.

"Might want to check over that addition, Chase," Evvie said.

"You also lost twenty from Aster. Would've been more if Hugo had agreed to drink, but it seems he's the only sensible Weasley..."

"Ouch," Roxanne said.

"Low blow, Uncle Harry," Louis complained.

The Potter parents said their goodbyes, warned the Sevens that their Head of Houses would be checking to make sure they returned to their dorms by nightfall, and then left. Scorpius nudged Albus.

"Albus."

"Hmm?"

"Did you hear all that?"

"Unfortunately."

"Should we go out there?"

"No way."

Scorpius was all right with that. He turned back to his book, but a loud knock a few minutes later made Scorpius lower it back own.

"Who's in there? Albus?" James called.

"YES," Albus yelled back, annoyed. "I'm sleeping! Go away."

"Brilliant! Oi, you lot—Albus is here! Albus, hey Albus, wake up and join us! Is Scorpius with you? Go get Scorpius! We've got some butterbeer left and some fancy stuff from Aunt Fleur's kitchen and you should come out here, yeah?! Come on!"

"Oh, Merlin," Albus groaned tiredly. "He really is shit-faced."

Albus clearly intended on ignoring James. James clearly intended on not being ignored. After a minute of silence, James began pounding out a rhythm against the door with his fist.

"AL-BUS, AL-BUS, AL-BUS," he chanted. Moments later, Ben's voice chimed in, and then Jacques's. Albus turned and pressed his face over Scorpius's heart.

"I think I hate my brother," he realized.

But five minutes later, they were hesitantly stepping out into the main room of the Sevens' headquarters. Albus had a blanket wrapped around his shoulders and he was exceedingly grumpy. It did not mesh well with James's drunk exuberance.

"Albus!" he cheered. He slung an arm around Albus's shoulders. "You're here! My brother! I love you, Al. I love you, man."

Albus grimaced. "That's...great, James."

Scorpius was sniggering, but that laughter stopped when James turned his attention to him. He beamed so widely that Scorpius noticed a dimple he'd never seen before. He let go of Albus and walked over, throwing his arm around Scorpius's shoulders this time.

"Scorpius! Malfoy Man Scorpius. How're you doing? Everything good?"

"Er...yeah. Yep." Scorpius caught a whiff of firewhisky. "James...how much did you drink?"

"We played a game," he responded sadly. "I lost."

Scorpius furrowed his brow.

"Okay..." he said. He heard a commotion from the other side of the room; Louis and Clementine were buried beneath what looked like hundreds of books from the now-empty shelf above them. How they'd knocked them down, Scorpius had no idea, but they didn't seem too upset by it. A little ways over from them, Sara and Bec were draped giggling over the sofa, an entire tray full of sweets in their laps. Roxanne and Jacques were dealing cards, Nora was curled up in an armchair, Ben was climbing precariously into a hammock, and Evvie was—coming towards them. Uh oh, what did I do?! Scorpius scrambled to remember if he'd broken any rules, but he hadn't come up with any by the time Evvie joined their small group.

"James!" she said.

"Evvie!" James shot back.

Scorpius had thought that she might actually be sober from afar, but now that she was up close, he realized that her eyes were a bit brighter than usual. Her cheeks were flushed raspberry pink, presumably from the alcohol. And he wasn't the only one who'd noticed. Scorpius could already feel waves of utter delight coming off of Albus.

"You're drunk," Albus said slyly.

"Am not," Evvie shot back. She pointed at James, but her aim was slightly off so that she was really pointing at the shelf behind him. "You will notgive alcohol to these boys!"

"What? There's so much left over!"

"They're fifth years! We're not going through this again!"

"So? We had parties when we were fifth years!"

From the other side of the room, Ben gave a sudden, gleeful hoot.

"Look at this! Evvie! Look!" he cried.

Evvie turned around and peered towards Ben. For whatever reason, he'd asked the room to provide a piano and was now standing beside it, beaming. Evvie looked up at the ceiling.

"Oh, God," she murmured. "I knew I'd live to regret showing him that."

While Evvie bemoaned whatever it was that she was bemoaning, James handed Albus and Scorpius opened bottles of butterbeers, something both Albus and Scorpius could drink. Scorpius took a sip as he watched Ben walked over to them. Ben didn't greet them once he'd arrived. He wordlessly took Evvie's hand and set back off towards the piano, literally dragging her along after him.

"No," she complained.

"Albus! Scorpius! C'mere! You have to see this!" Ben urged.

Scorpius shrugged and followed after Ben and Evvie. Albus followed after him. They arrived at the piano just as Ben was sliding onto the bench in front of it. He tugged Evvie onto his lap.

"Watch this," he told Scorpius and Albus happily. He rested his chin on Evvie's shoulder. They watched. And waited. Nothing happened.

"Evvie!" Ben complained. He reached into her lap, took her hands, lifted them, and set them on the keys. A loud series of disjointed notes broke through the air from the pressure of her hands. She pursed her lips and looked up at the ceiling stubbornly.

"Are we watching a battle of wills?" Albus guessed. "Because if so, I've got money on Evvie."

"No! Her dad—her dad's a Muggle pianist! Did you know that?!"

"Really? Nice!" Scorpius grinned.

"We did not know that," Albus confirmed.

"He—he's this bloody good pianist! And Evvie can—when she's not being stubborn—she makes the piano sing—please, Evvie?"

Her cheeks glowed brighter. "I'm...I'm not..."

"You're drunk," Albus supplied.

"No! I'm just—"

"Drunk," Albus said again.

"No! Ten points from Slytherin!"

"The drunk Head Girl just took ten points from me for...telling the truth?"

"Look," she said tersely. "I was on the losing team of a stupid game and—we never talk about this again, got it?"

"Got it," Albus said. "Never again." Evvie faced forward and leaned back against Ben's chest. "Until tomorrow," Albus murmured to Scorpius. Scorpius laughed.

"Please?" Ben whispered.

"No."

"Pleaseee?" he repeated, rubbing his cheek against hers.

"No..."

"Pleaseeeee?" he asked softly.

"Why do you want me to play the piano so badly?" she demanded, exasperated.

"Because I like it."

"Why?"

"It makes me happy."

"Why?"

"Because you're doing it."

"Oh..."

Evvie glanced back and met Ben's eyes. Scorpius let out an involuntary nervous giggle. He decided he did not want to be there anymore. He took Albus's hand.

"Let's go check on Nora," he said.

"Right," Albus agreed quickly. "Let's check on her."

She didn't need to be checked on. She and James were curled up into a tight ball together in the armchair, to the point that Scorpius was having a difficult time telling where Nora began and where James ended.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Nora was murmuring to James as they approached. She held James's arms to her like a child might hold a teddy bear. "I feel awful."

James kissed her hair. "Shall I carry you to the loo?"

"Not yet...maybe soon...I drank way too much."

"My poor Nora-bear..." James cooed. "I'll win the game for you next time, I promise."

"Ew, no," Albus said, stopping dead in his tracks, as if James had something highly contagious. "I'm not getting near that. Isn't there anybody sane in this room?"

"Doubtful," Scorpius admitted. "But the hammocks look fun. Swingy and cozy."

Albus took to that idea immediately, but then again, he was also still wearing a blanket and yawing between butterbeer sips, so that didn't surprise Scorpius. They crossed over to the side of the room with the hammocks, asked the room for a tall side table, set their butterbeers on it, and then clambered into a bright green hammock. Albus spread his blanket out to cover both them. Scorpius snuggled close and smiled into Albus's neck.

"I made a good choice," Scorpius said.

"You did," Albus agreed.

Soft, tender music reached their ears a few minutes later. Scorpius smiled.

"Looks like Evvie changed her mind," he whispered.

There was something about the sweet melody that left him feeling achingly nostalgic and tenderhearted. Those emotions seemed to fill him up and twist around his heart. He gripped Albus close and let the music fill his head until he was blissfully unaware of much of anything else. A long-forgotten memory came crawling to the forefront of his mind: his grandmother playing the piano with him held on her lap. He hadn't given it much thought in years, but laying there, the melody flowing through his brain, he could feel the softness of her lap beneath his legs, the security of her arms on either side of him, her pointed chin pressed into his scalp. Maybe she'd even been playing this same song. He remembered, too, his grandad coming in and rushing her to leave...he had always been in a rush when visiting Scorpius and his parents at their first home. He had never liked Scorpius's mum, and Scorpius never liked him for that reason. He remembered being so frightened of him as a small child, even though he had never so much as struck him. He had veered from his path, avoided greeting him and telling him goodbye. He'd decided early on, in that volatile, irrational way that children made judgements, that his grandfather wasn't to be trusted, and that had remained the same until his grandfather's passing. They'd moved into Malfoy Manor to be with his grandmother afterwards, but Scorpius realized he'd never heard her play the piano ever again.

Abruptly, he wanted Evvie to stop playing. His heart had taken on more weight than he was comfortable with carrying, and he didn't want to think about the people that he had lost any longer. That loss felt more powerful here as it intertwined and weaved with the piano keys. He was struggling to find a polite way to ask her to choose a different piece when the music broke off.

"What?" he heard Evvie ask Ben.

"I just said it's beautiful. Did you make it up?"

Evvie laughed. "Ben, it's Debussy."

There was a long pause.

"You...don't know what I'm talking about, do you?" she realized. "I forget that the Wizarding world has its own music."

"No idea, but I like watching your face as you talk about it, so carry on."

"Debussy was a composer in the 19th century. He did Clair de Lune."

"Yeah? Nice one. I bet she was fit. Most Claires are fit."

"No, it—oh, my god." Alcohol-induced giggles broke off her sentence. "He—he composed what I just played. 'The Girl with the Flaxen Hair'."

"Was Claire de Lune the girl with the flaxen hair?"

"...We're having a session on important Muggle musicians this weekend."

"Okay," Ben agreed at once. The grin in his voice was audible. A silence followed, and when Scorpius peeked curiously over the edge of the hammock, he saw Ben pressing a kiss to her cheek. He looked away as she smiled softly, feeling as if he'd just witnessed something deeply personal.

"I didn't know your dad was a Muggle," Roxanne suddenly said. Scorpius didn't dare look out again to see where in the room she was, but he could tell from the drowsy tone to her voice that she was probably lying down somewhere. Everybody seemed to have reached the sleepy stage of their drunk states at nearly the same time; that or Evvie's piano playing had urged it all along. Everybody was quiet and still.

"Yeah." She paused for a few beats. "My mum's a Squib."

"Seriously?"

"You never told us."

"Wicked!"

"Wait," Louis interrupted. "I thought your mum worked in the apothecary in Hogsmeade?"

"Yeah," Nora added sleepily. "I talk to her every Hogsmeade trip."

"That's my aunt," Evvie explained.

"What?! I thought that was your mum too, she looks just like you," Bec agreed.

"It's definitely not my mum. My mum is an engineer and she hasn't stepped foot in the Wizarding world since she turned eighteen."

"Damn, Evvie, what else are you keeping from us?" James demanded. "You can play the piano, your mum isn't your aunt, your mum makes engines...what next?! That's snaky, that is. All these secrets. We love you, why are you keeping secrets from us?"

"Sorry for not telling you every minute detail of my life outside of Hogwarts."

"Well, I'm just not ready to forgive you yet," James said.

"I know something else she's keeping a secret," Ben said slyly.

"Don't even think about it!" Evvie hissed.

"I know why she wouldn't go on a date with me! Why she tormented me for years!"

"Chase Wood!" Evvie scolded, clearly hoping to distract him from blurting whatever 'secret' he had planned. Ben didn't rise to the bait.

"Hazel. Her middle name is Hazel," he said wickedly.

"After a pianist with the same name!" defended Evvie.

"Hazel Wood. Do you get it, James?" Ben laughed. "She wouldn't go out with me because, if it worked out, she'd be Evvie Hazel Wood."

James succumbed to laughter at once and Ben roared along with him. After only a few seconds, Evvie's slurred giggles joined in with them. Scorpius's arm erupted with pins and needles from his position; he sat up and stretched his arm out. He glanced curiously in the Sevens' direction.

"Hazel...Wood..." James wheezed, their laughter continuing. Evvie and Ben were collapsed against each other in fits of giggles, still on the piano bench. James was laughing into Nora's neck. "Al's new wand is made of hazel wood!"

"Better than Chase Wood," Evvie shot back, but she was still breathless with laughter, so it didn't sound quite as cutting as it could've.

"You were named after a pianist, I was named after my mum's Quidditch position—I'm not saying it was meant to be—no, yes I am. It was meant to be."

"Well, that's that, he doesn't make the rules, Evvie," James said with a shrug. He threw his arm around Ben's shoulders a moment later and dropped a kiss to the top of his head. Ben ruffled his hair wildly in response and then smacked his stomach. James looked over towards Albus and Scorpius. "Hey, Al and Scorpius, do you want to play Exploding Snap with all of us?"

Scorpius wasn't sure about playing Exploding Snap while most of the people were drunk, but Albus shrugged.

"Sure, all right," he agreed.

Scorpius thought he probably found this a lot funnier than he was showing.

He also probably liked being the only Potter child who wasn't in trouble.

"I'm going straight to my mum and dad's," Albus declared. The Room of Requirement door disappeared behind them once Scorpius closed it. "I bet Mum will give me loads of sweets, she always does when James and Lily misbehave but I don't."

Scorpius nodded. "And I bet Harry would give us loads of House points."

"Ooh, yeah," Albus agreed. "And after the hit Gryffindor took tonight...yeah, let's go."

Albus reached over and grabbed Scorpius's hand as they walked. Scorpius smiled.

"So," Albus began. "Still keen on involving yourself with Potters?"

Scorpius thought back to their Exploding Snap competition, which had cumulated with James and Louis getting into an argument over who would win in a goblin versus centaur battle and wrestling it out atop the explosive cards. Nora and Clementine had still been mending the burns when Scorpius and Albus left. James took the burns—some of which that were located in very unfortunate areas—in stride; as he and Albus were walking out, Scorpius had heard James saying to Nora (about a burn located very, er, low): "No, that one is sort of shaped like an antler...let's leave it so it'll scar."

"Yeah," Scorpius said, fighting back belated laughter. "I'm sure. I'm ruined for any other families now. They'd just be too dull."

He was thinking fondly of his summer at the Potter household as they walked towards Harry and Ginny's living quarters. And then—all at once—he was thinking of nothing at all. He was light, free; every muscle was relaxed. There was nothing at all to worry or think about. Everything was right.

Look.

And he did. A girl—thick dark hair, unassuming yet pretty features.

"Hey," Albus said, but his voice sounded far away. "Iset! What are you—oh. Er. Are you...all right?"

"I'm...fine," she managed, her voice shaking. "I'm looking for...Nora and Evvie said their club is somewhere nearby..."

"Oh, yeah, it is. Do you want me to walk you there?"

Stay.

"Please. Please, thank you," Iset said.

"Yeah, no problem," replied Albus. He walked over towards her, a slight limp to his gait. "It's this way," he said. He started walking. Scorpius didn't. He stopped a few paces away. "Scorp?"

Stay.

"I'm going to bed," he heard his own voice say.

Albus frowned. Iset was staring at Scorpius, and that voice told Scorpius:

Imperius her.

For a brief second, he felt a sinking sensation in his stomach. But the discomfort passed. And nothing was really wrong, after all. He pushed his hands into his pocket.

"Why?" Albus asked. "What's wrong?"

Lie. You're tired.

"I'm tired," Scorpius said. He had his hand around his wand inside his pocket. Wait until their backs are turned. He waited.

"You weren't tired before," Albus said. He was beginning to sound uneasy.

Imperius him, too.

His heart fell in another quick swoop of terror. He was relieved when it passed, when everything was right again. Iset was looking at him strangely, and when he withdrew his wand, she had her own out in a