Evvie backhanded Ben's chest, but the corners of her mouth twitched. "They get it, Chase."

Ben looked sweetly at her as if she'd just kissed him, which was enough confirmation, in Scorpius's opinion.

"You're just protecting her honor!" Albus snapped. He pointed at the both of them. "And—you didn't do a good job fixing your hair; you still look thoroughly well-f—"

"Watch it," Evvie warned. "You don't want to swear at the Head Girl."

"Albus," Scorpius begged.

"Oh, fine," Albus said. "But I know you broke the rules, and I know you're lying, so I expect to get away with breaking the rules from time to time!"

Albus plopped down between Nora and Roxanne. Scorpius went to join him. He spotted Ben and Evvie quietly finger-combing through each other's slightly tangled hair as he did. Mmhmm.

Scorpius sat on Nora's other side. She smiled at him and held her hand out, her palm facing him. Scorpius stared, uncertain.

"High-five," she explained, after a brief silence. "For getting Keeper!"

"Oh!" Scorpius smiled. He smacked her palm with his. "Thanks! To be honest, though, I had no competition."

"That's because we—the Gryffindor Chasers—keep running off the competition's Keepers," Nora winked. She patted his hair. "I'll go easy on you. Rose and Ben, though...I can't make any promises on their ends."

Scorpius was feeling a little less enthused about being Keeper. He gestured towards the table in front of them. "What are all the charts for?"

"Oh, we're planning for our Halloween party," Nora smiled.

"Let's get their opinions," Sara Bones interjected. Scorpius and Albus peered towards her. She was sitting on the floor in front of the table methodically sorting the charts and diagrams with Jacques Stinton. "Here..." she produced a sheet of parchment. "What do you think of these ideas?"

Albus leaned forward and took the parchment. He and Scorpius looked down at it.

Halloween Party Ideas
Please add an idea as you come and go from the RoR – no idea is a bad idea
Please sign your name after each idea and return this parchment back to the table.
We will examine the ideas together weekly leading up to Halloween.

No House-specific garments allowed!– James & NoraFollowing from the previous idea, no admittance without a costume. It will help strengthen the bond of the party-goers and support the spirit of the holiday. – ClementineMuggle mystery dinner. Let's discuss if you don't know what it is! – BecHaving learnt what this is, I think this would be fun. However, because the party is after the Feast, it might be best to make this simply a theatre performance. Most attendees will be full from the Feast. – LouisWhat about a fake haunted house? -- SaraI bet the Room of Requirement could become a brilliant one if we asked. Somebody look into this—RoxanneHaunted Muggle strip poker is an idea -- BenNo, it's not – EvvieHow do you haunt a game of poker? – JacquesWe can get Nearly Headless Nick to attend – BenThere will be first years at this party. – ClementineI forgot Clem, my mistake. We'll save that idea for our Sevens party – BenI think, in light of what's going on in the school right now, a light-hearted party might be best. Music, food—no scares or tricks. – EvvieI agree – James, Nora, Ben, RoxanneSo no costumes or yes to costumes? – Clementine

Scorpius looked up at the Sevens. The amount of planning was exhausting him, and he wasn't even involved. He hesitantly voiced his opinions.

"Well...after the dementor thing...I think maybe it would be best to just...do a regular party," he said.

"Yeah, I think if you try to scare some of these first years so soon after last night, they'll actually pass out," Albus agreed.

"What if we did masks?" Evvie suggested.

"Er...like Death Eaters?" Roxanne asked.

"Of course not. Animals, fun designs—whatever. It would help encourage people to mingle without worrying about who is in what House, who has a reputation for doing what...like not wearing House-specific things; this takes it a step further."

Nora's face brightened. "I could make them, to make sure they aren't anything frightening, and we could have everybody grab one when they enter!"

"I really like that idea," Ben enthused. "And if we advertise that, it might even encourage people who wouldn't ordinarily come to join us."

"I like that, too," James said. He nodded. "Anyone disagree?"

"I don't particularly disagree, but I'd like to point out that anonymity can be a dangerous thing," Clementine said. "What if somebody tries to hurt someone, thinking they can get away with it because nobody can see who they are?"

"We could have Bec give the masks out," Sara suggested. "Bec never forgets a face. I bet she'd remember who had what mask, and it wouldn't be as obvious as writing names down."

"Yeah, I'd be all right with that," Bec agreed.

"Speak now or forever hold your peace." James waited, but everybody was nodding. "Brilliant. So we'll do a party with masks. Al, you and Scorpius are coming to the party, right?"

"Er...perhaps. Last time we went to a party, it didn't turn out so well," Albus answered. "We'll think about it."

Scorpius thought it was likely that the party would be fun, but he was positive staying in bed with Albus would be better.

The rest of the week went by in a blur of classes, homework, and Quidditch practice. Albus and Scorpius were both so busy that they could hardly find five minutes alone. The professors seemed determined to keep every student relentlessly occupied with assignment after assignment, Jacques Stinton seemed determined to cram as many practices into the day as possible without a time turner, and the faculty seemed determined to have eyes on the students at all times. It was rare now to ever be anywhere without a Prefect or faculty member in sight. They roamed the halls, stopping people at will to do wand checks. One more student had been caught by the new securities placed on the House entrances, but word had yet to spread on who it was. The dementors had remained off school grounds, save one brief instance with a singular one wandering onto the Quidditch pitch, but despite that, everybody still seemed on edge at Hogwarts. The closer Halloween got, the more the uneasiness spread throughout the air. And on Monday morning of the following week, Scorpius realized the true cause of that spreading apprehension.

"It's not Halloween that's making everybody nervous, Scorpius," his dad informed him. "It's Halloran Carrow's trial."

Albus and Scorpius were in Draco's new living quarters. They'd stopped by that morning to say hello on their way to Divination. Scorpius had voiced his concerns over the nervous energy of the school, but as soon as his dad corrected him, he realized that that should've been obvious. TheProphet had been reporting about the upcoming trial at least once every few days. It was a popular topic of conversation, because to many people, it would be a marker for determining what would happen next. Would the Ministry let off Halloran with a wrist-slap—implying that underage students could get away with Dark Magic if only they kicked up enough trouble? Would the Ministry come down hard on Carrow—implying there was still a very real bias against those associated with Death Eaters? The uneasiness wasn't due to the trial itself. The uneasiness was surrounding the knowledge that, very soon, something would happen to break the fragile peace of their society. It was possible that there would be a catalyst, and many people seemed convinced it would be the Carrow trial.

"I wish I didn't have to go," Albus grumbled.

"It's not fun," Draco agreed. "But be glad that you're alive to face and accuse him."

"Dad, do you think it will set them off? The trial? Will it set off whoever is doing all of this by making them hate the Ministry even more?" Scorpius asked nervously.

"No, I don't. Hermione has been preparing for this trial since the day after Albus was attacked. She knows precisely what's at stake. And if you can trust Granger on one thing, it's that she'll do her homework."

Scorpius glanced at Albus. He was already glancing Scorpius's way. Scorpius took a deep breath and gave it a shot.

"Dad, do you know who—"

"Scorpius," Draco interrupted, his tone firm. "As many adults have already told you two, we cannot tell you sensitive information discovered by the Aurors."

"We just want to know who sent the dementors—if somebody sent them!" Albus said.

"I know. And I wish that we could tell you. It isn't that we don't trust you; we don't trust the people around you. What we found out...we can't risk this spreading. You will get information when the public receives information."

Albus grumbled but didn't argue. Scorpius sighed in frustration.

"Dad..."

"I'm sorry."

Scorpius sighed again. "Don't be sorry, that'll just make me feel guilty."

"You two should get to class. Don't forget about dinner tonight."

Scorpius's stomach clenched with nervousness. Tonight, before dinner, his dad was giving his first official speech to the students about his new involvement at the school, and Scorpius couldn't remember ever feeling more nervous—both for his father and for himself.

"It'll be there," Scorpius reassured Draco weakly.

"Careful not to overwhelm yourself with all that excitement," Draco said sarcastically.

"Sorry, it's just...my classmates...they're sort of...awful," Scorpius explained. "I'm worried."

"Don't worry about me. I can take it. I've taken worse. Just watch out for yourself." He gestured towards the doorway. "Now get to Divination before your professor publically names three more of your future children."

"Dad!" Scorpius squeaked. Albus's face looked just as hot as Scorpius's felt.

"Relax," Draco dismissed. "She said James Potter would have twelve children, and I doubt any woman is going to want to—much less be able to—have a dozen children."

Albus laughed. Draco turned his pale eyes to him.

"What?" Draco asked.

"Er...sorry, it's just...have you met my brother and his girlfriend? They're like...disgusting. They're more married than any married couple I know. They sleep in matching pajamas. They made each other tea blends that they drink when they miss each other. They would absolutely have twelve babies. They'd have like seven or eight and adopt the rest. And they would name them really soppy things like Ginevra and Harry and Dean andSeamus..."

"You mean they would name them after people they love?" Scorpius clarified, amused.

"Yeah. Which is soppy rubbish. Don't get me started on this, please."

"Yeah, Dad, don't get Albus Severus Potter started on that 'soppy rubbish', please," Scorpius teased. Albus swung his newly recovered cane (Slughorn found it kicked beneath his desk in his office) lightly at Scorpius.

Draco was looking at them oddly.

"Dad?" Scorpius questioned.

"Class. Get to class, Scorpius," Draco ordered. He averted his eyes moments after. Scorpius shook his head as they left and headed towards Divination.

"I think remembering the war is making my dad a bit..."

"Overemotional? Yeah, I caught onto that, too."

They were greeted by an unexpected redhead when they entered Harry's classroom later that morning.

"What are you doing here? Don't you have another lesson to get to?" Albus asked Lily. She waved cheerfully at them from her place at Harry's side.

"Not yet," she told them mysteriously.

Albus, deadpanned: "Dad, what's she up to?"

"For once...nothing that I'm not aware of," Harry said. "Get to your seats please and get out your quills."

Albus stamped suspiciously over to his seat. Scorpius sat in his place beside Albus and the two watched curiously as Lily and Harry examined a stack of parchment. When the last student had fallen into their respective seat, Harry smiled at the class.

"Good morning. Before we begin our lesson, my daughter wants to say a few words. Please give her your attention and respect."

Claire Theva scoffed loudly. Harry walked over and sat in the seat behind hers in response.

"Hello!" Lily greeted brightly. She gestured at herself. "I'm Lily Potter—"

"No shit," Saul snorted. Claire fell into derisive giggles.

"That hair and those glasses, what else would you be?" Claire stage-whispered. "Tragic."

"Twenty points from Slytherin," Harry said. He was clearly trying to remain calm, but Scorpius noticed he was clenching his fists. "Next time it's detention. Try me."

They stopped giggling. Lily pulled her hair over her shoulder, glanced up to the ceiling, and took a deep breath, clearly trying to keep her temper in check. After a long moment, she exhaled slowly and gave the class a slightly-forced smile.

"Anyway," she said tightly. It appeared to be paining her to repress whatever swears she wanted to fling Claire and Saul's way, but she managed it. "I'm speaking to my dad's classes today to offer you all a great opportunity! Well...most of you. Well...the ones I like."

"Lily."

"...Mostly all of you. Except for you," she nodded towards Claire Theva. "You made fun of my hair. And my hair is phenomenal. So I don't trust your judgement and you're excluded."

Claire Theva scoffed in response.

"My mum and I are starting a school publication. It's come to our attention that there are many people who feel certain things—bad things—but won't or can't talk about them to people they know and trust. So we've created Hogwarts Help. It is a weekly advice column run anonymously and set up to help provide emotional support for—"

"Sorry, wait," Saul interrupted, baffled. "Let me get this straight. We're supposed to ask you, a thirteen—"

"Shut it, I wasn't done talking," Lily interrupted right back. She observed Saul coolly and unflinchingly until Saul looked away, visible uncomfortable beneath her intense stare. Lily rolled her eyes and looked back at the class. She smiled again. "I'm here looking for volunteers! My mum and I are just organizing and distributing; we aren't the ones responding to those who need advice unless we're specifically addressed. We're looking for people who might want to help. It won't be very time-consuming...I know everybody is very busy. But if you like helping people, it might be a good way to help change things. We've got a few experts on board already for specific questions relating to health or laws or Dark Magic, but we want fellow students who can help advise on the everyday stuff. So. Here's an information sheet about our first meeting..." Lily walked over and set the stack down in front of Rina Matthewson. She took one and began passing the stack down. "Are there any questions?"

"Yeah. How is this supposed to help? More Potter-run propaganda. Please. Spare us," Saul said.

"All right. You're spared, you whiny baby. Feel free to never touch a copy of our publication. Next?" Lily asked.

"He's got a point," Claire reiterated. "How is this different from the Prophet?"

Lily stared at Claire like she'd never seen anybody dumber in her entire life. "Do you even think at all? How could we be controlling the Prophet? TheProphet says awful things about my family all the time. Come on...you can do better than that. Be a woman, Claire. Next."

Claire flushed. "The Ministry is run and controlled by—"

"Oh, Merlin's hairy bollocks, here we go again!"

"Lily, language!" Harry sighed.

Lily swung her hair over her shoulder again. She pointed at Claire.

"First of all, you probably wouldn't even be alive if it weren't for my dad. You want to have revelations and reality checks? My dad gave up his life to do what was right! Nobody made him do that. Nobody forced him to do that. He could've said 'fuck off' to Voldemort and just stayed at Hogwarts to play Quidditch and snog my mum, but did he? No. He did what he did because it was right—he did it because he knew that if he didn't, people would suffer, and he didn't want them to suffer. So he suffered for them. And he was scared, but he did it anyway, and he fought anyway, and he won! And he's a hero—he's my hero! So you can shut your mouth! Because the people you defend, the people your friends defend, they hurt people for fun! They were fighting to rid the entire Wizarding world of Muggle-borns! They wanted to rid the world of Muggles! This is not an opinion! This is a fact! This is what you support—that's what you say is okay—"

"You stupid little girl—"

"Detention, Theva!" Harry barked.

Lily's face was red with anger.

"I am not a stupid little girl. And when all of this is over, history will remember you as the loser, and I'll be the winner. And that is a fact, too."

"Enough, Lily," Harry said firmly. He stood. "Has everybody gotten an information sheet?"

Heads bobbed.

"Brilliant. Thanks for speaking with the class, Lily."

Scorpius quickly began clapping loudly. Albus joined in. Most of the Hufflepuffs did, too. Lily curtsied.

"If anyone else wants to have a go at me, you know where to find me," she said. "I hope you'll consider volunteering. And Claire, I hope you'll write in; it seems like talking with an expert historian would do you some good."

Claire called Lily a word that made Harry take more points from Slytherin. Lily called her something rudely creative back, causing Harry to take twenty points from Gryffindor. It took a few minutes for the class to settle down after Lily's departure.

"All right, all right..." Harry finally said. "I know I was vague on Friday about what we'd be covering next. I was originally going to move onto Dark aquatic threats, but I've decided to move things around. I think a more topical lesson is the Imperius Curse."

Everybody focused fully on Harry.

"We're going to cover the logistics of it. We're going to cover how to tell if somebody you love's been Imperiused. We're going to discuss how to tell if you have been. And we're going to discuss how to throw it off. But before we do all if that...I want you to split into groups of four and get out parchment and quills. Go on. Groups of four."

Scorpius and Albus exchanged a hesitant look. Scorpius looked behind them and met Iset's eyes.

"Do you and Rina want to join us?" he asked hopefully.

She nodded. "Sure."

Rina and Iset pulled their chairs up to the ends of Albus and Scorpius's table.

"No, one sheet of parchment is enough," Harry called loudly, in response to a student's question. "All right. Looks as if everybody is ready. Now—working as a group—I want you to write down all you currently know about the Imperius Curse. Don't worry about being right; any conception you have about it, write it down. This will be marked for completion only."

Scorpius beamed. "Oh, I can help; I've read loads on the Imperius Curse!"

"I know it's an Unforgivable, it gives you control of another's body and mind..." Rina began.

"You can make people do things they wouldn't ordinarily be able to do," Albus added. "You