Chapter Eleven

Setting the Plans

Status: I've now acquired an editor and I'll be running the next chapter through her. As for the story, we're finally getting toward something deeper after ten chapters and twenty-thousand words. I'm not sure what to think of that. On a random note, I started writing this at 12:05. And I needed sleep. Why can't I be normal and write during the day?

FYI: I changed the name of the story to something more suitable. I felt a bit odd calling it First Encounters when that was just supposed to be the title for the first and only chapter. Also, if you're curious about what year everyone is in, you can find a handy link in my profile.

Also, I'm back in college starting tomorrow, but I'm going to be optimistic and say that updates should remain regular. Why? Well, because I need to write to relieve stress, and applying for Harvard is stressful.

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Al resisted the urge to shiver as he headed down a dark hallway Braden had told him was a shortcut up to the seventh floor. It had been hidden behind a painting of an old man with a pipe, and the man had told Albus off for his messy hair.

The hallway itself was a lot worse than the painting had ever been. Albus suppressed another shiver and tried not to glance to either side. Dark, musty tapestries covered the walls of the hallway, and the only breaks between them were for ancient-looking brackets holding lit torches. Spider's webs were rampant around the brackets.

Albus bit down on his lip as he noticed a particularly fat arachnid fall from the bottom of the bracket and spiral down toward the floor on a single strand of silk.

It wasn't that he was scared of spiders. Al was certain his life would have been more of a hell than it was if he had been. Every time James found something that bit or stung, he had a habit of throwing it at Al just to see how loudly he might scream.

No, Al wasn't scared of them.

They were creepy, though. Just like the hallway they made their homes in.

You're being a baby, Albus told himself pointedly, but he still couldn't stop himself from peering uneasily over his shoulder as the dull thud of his footsteps echoed through the enclosed space.

When nothing but dancing shadows appeared to be behind him, Albus let out a long, unsteady breath. Living with James had made him more paranoid than he had previously suspected. That, or he really was just a coward. What sort of Potter was he, though, to be scared of a shortcut? It wasn't even a proper secret passage, and he was already near wetting himself!

Albus shook his head slowly at himself and folded his arms stubbornly over his chest. He was almost starting to wish James would come from the other direction, just so he could have someone insulting his bravery that he could retort back at.

It was sort of hard trying to argue how brave you were when the guy saying you were a wimp was, well, you.

The sound of voices and laughter filtering into the gloom made Al pause for a moment, then hurry onward.

Al emerged onto a section of the staircase nearer to the sixth floor than the seventh. He didn't feel the need to complain, though, and instead allowed himself a relieved grin before starting up the staircase again, mindful of any invisible steps or movement from the staircase itself.

He passed several students on their way down to breakfast, and couldn't help but notice a few of the glances that were thrown askew at him. Al had thought that he had made his peace with being a Slytherin, but being this close to the Gryffindor common room he felt exposed.

A tall, pretty Gryffindor fifth year wrinkled her nose in disgust when she caught sight of Albus. Al's cheeks were already colouring even before she folded her arms over her chest and spoke. "Your commons is the other way, half-pint."

"I know that," Al muttered in return. Sometimes he really hated how he had inherited his mother's skin tone; it was really easy to see a flush against pale skin.

The girl lifted her chin to better stare down her nose at Al. "Well, you haven't got any business up here, have you? I just passed one of our Prefects – I can have Thomas escort you back to where you belong…"

For a moment Al didn't know quite how to respond. He had had some trouble in the first of the year with a few Slytherins, but until now he had escaped anyone from the other Houses saying anything to him.

He hadn't even done anything to deserve this. What was the point?

"Hey, if you're going to be a little blighter and just sit there, I'll get him right n--"

The girl stopped abruptly as someone bounding down the stairs behind her grabbed her arm and used it as a counterbalance for his forward momentum. All Al had to do was note the flaming red hair, the bright blue eyes, and the heavy smattering of freckles over the culprit's nose to know who it was.

"'lo, Fred," he said awkwardly.

"Geroff," said the girl, shaking her arm free.

Fred actually looked hurt for a moment. "You don't have to befoul, Missy. It'll hurt my feelings."

The girl frowned darkly, giving Fred's shoulder a push to unbalance him. "Bugger off, Weasley. Get in your gear. While you're in the commons, tell Potter to get off his arse and get down to the pitch." She gave Fred one final shove as he pin-wheeled his arms, then shot Albus a nasty look before continuing on her way down the stairs.

Just like that, she was taking a door on the next landing and disappearing from view.

But that only meant that he had traded one harasser for another. Al winced inwardly as he swiftly glanced back to Fred who was watching the door Missy had disappeared through intently.

Fred had never been one of Albus's favorite cousins.

Seeming to remember Al was there, Fred turned a wide grin on his cousin. "Finicky, isn't she? Brenton likes me, though. See how she didn't make a fuss about me using the nickname? She about punched James out when he tried to use it. Threatened to ban Roger from the team when he tried…"

Great. Albus frowned slightly as he judged the space he had available for getting around Fred. Fred talked nearly as much as the second year Hufflepuff girl Al had met a few weeks back, and he really didn't want to spend the time waiting for him to stuff it.

Also, he ran the risk of Fred deciding to turn as nasty as James if he stuck around. Fred was notorious for how quickly he could turn from a perfectly reasonable person, to the nasty prankster that he really was.

"Erm," Al tried, interrupting Fred as the older boy went into detail about the other reasons he was sure Missy Brenton liked him (and reminded Al terribly of how Scorpius liked to use him as a sounding board). "Have you, er, seen Vic? I needed to ask her about something…"

Fred took a moment to come out of the dreamy state he had slipped into, but when he did he simply lifted an eyebrow. Al winced. Hehated it when Fred had that expression on his face, but nevertheless he forced a strained smile into place.

"Sorry," Fred said, but Al doubted he actually meant it. "What was it you were wanting, shortie?"

Al forced another smile and tried not to look directly into Fred's eyes as he stepped past him. "Don't mind it," he said, his mind made up. "I'll find her eventually if I keep wandering around lost, I guess."

"Don't be such a girl." Albus didn't turn around, but he could feel Fred grinning. Fred was about like James in that aspect – it really put him in a good mood when he could tell that he was getting under Al's skin. "If you're looking for Vic, you can likely find her down in the library."

Al turned then, but Fred was already bounding down the stairs in the direction Missy had gone, chortling merrily.

This… was just perfect. The one place Al had actually been a little wary of going, and that was the exact place his cousin had to be.

o------o

"Oh, Al, there's not really anything to be scared of, you know. I'm sure Mister Bones is a lovely old man."

Albus made a funny sort of face halfway through fighting off an unconvinced laugh, and grimacing.

Rose frowned when she saw it and roughly elbowed Al in the ribs.

"Hey!" he protested, rubbing the sort spot. "What'd you go and do—"

"Because you're being stupid," Rose retorted immediately. She lifted her nose up in the air then, considering the matter closed as she quickened her pace.

They were already nearly to the library doors now. Al could see a few students going in and out even now.

"Sorry," Michael said from behind Al, putting a hand hesitantly on the shorter boy's shoulder. "You've got to be braver than even Hodgin to match Rose today. She's being scarier than usual."

"I can hear you," Rose tossed back over her shoulder.

Both boys winced and fell silent.

The three were still silent as they made their way into the library, but despite Rose's mood, Al was glad he had asked her and Michael to come. He didn't know if he would have been brave enough to go inside the place alone, especially after what James had told him about the librarian.

"Wicked," Michael said lowly, shooting Al a grin.

Al had to grin back once he followed the fair haired boy's gaze up and up at the towering shelves all around.

There were more books and bookshelves than Albus had ever seen. Thick, heavy tomes were stacked everywhere on the dark carpeting, and the shelves that the majority of the books were on were packed so close together that all sound had a strangely muffled quality inside the enormous room.

Al imagined that the strangely zig-zagging corridors the shelves formed would make for an intimidating maze if a person didn't know where they were going. The thought made Al grin a little to himself. Since James spent next to no time in the library, he imagined it would be interesting to lure his brother into the centre of the library, leave him, and then wait to see how long it took him to find his way out.

Michael swore, breaking Al free from his thoughts. Al glanced up just in time to see a large encyclopedia dive for his head from the ceiling, its pages rattling menacingly in the air flow.

"Move!" Michael called, jumping out of the way himself. Rose covered her mouth to muffle a shriek as Al did the only thing hecould do – drop straight to the floor and quickly lie flat as the encyclopedia whooshed by inches from his nose, flapping its covers to keep aloft. As they watched, it slowly settled to a stop, snapping its covers closed and sliding into a vacant spot on the shelf behind them.

"Merlin's pointy beard," Michael breathed, reaching out a hand toward where Al was still lying on his back.

Al took the hand up, and looked around uneasily once he was standing to see if any other books were looking to wallop them. "Is that the only…?" he asked. Al blinked slightly when he noticed the tremor in his voice and let his question trail off.

"Looks it." Michael lifted both eyebrows, looking around as well.

"There are a lot more books flying—" Rose said, but held out a hand when both boys winced and started to duck. "—but they're all a lot higher up. Go on. Have a look."

Al reluctantly did as he was told and immediately regretted it. The books were flying up near the ceiling and continually swooping down to replace themselves into the shelves. As if that wasn't bad enough, the books seemed to be traveling in packs.

Groups.

Flocks.

Whatever you called a great bunch of books flapping around together.

"I guess we were lucky it was only one," Al said, offering a shaky grin.

"No."

Al turned at the voice, his mouth dropping open as he saw who was speaking.

"You were lucky there aren't any exams close at hand, otherwise I'd have an ear from each of you for disturbing the quiet."

The librarian (for who else could it be reprimanding them on quiet in the library, Al thought) was everything James had warned. For once, it seemed that his older brother had not been lying through his teeth. Bones looked exactly how his name would suggest. Every inch of him that Al could see was bony and angular. The old man's hands looked as if there was barely anything left of them but bones with a thin layer of skin stretched over the top. Mister Bones' face even looked like a skull – an illusion that his lack of hair lent itself well to.

"Care to explain what you're doing in my library?" Bones asked, crooking one gnarled finger at the three one by one. Albus found his gaze transfixed by the liver spots and the too-visible veins that covered the old man's hand.

Rose was the first to speak. "We were just… just…"

"Just walking with our friend here," Michael said, jumping in to the rescue. Rose shot him a thankful little smile.

"And…" Al felt his throat close up when Bones' sharp blue eyes focused on him, but he plowed on. "…I… was here to look… something… up for class."

Bones considered them for a long few moments, and Al felt almost certain that they were about to get detentions. His stomach was already starting to tie itself into unpleasant knots at the idea.

Finally, Bones laid out his verdict. "You two," Bones nodded sharply to Rose and Michael. "Out. The boy doesn't need moral support in a library."

He turned his gaze on Albus then, and Al found himself wondering if Bones had suddenly gotten a lot taller, or if possibly he was melting from fear. "As for you… you get your business done and get out, boy. The founders forbid you make another peep in my library, though."

After Rose and Michael left, Al had never felt more relieved in his life to see his eldest cousin's long blond hair.

Victoire looked up from the paper she had been bent over and smiled as Al sat down across from her. "Hullo there, Al," she greeted, reaching across the table to ruffle his hair fondly. "How're you holding up?"

Al knew that she meant more along the lines of how he was holding up in Slytherin rather than how he was holding up in his first year at Hogwarts in general. It still made his stomach clench a little when he thought about what the rest of the family might be thinking. James and Fred he could figure out easily enough – they still thought he was a good ball to kick around and hadn't really had it sink in that he'd been Sorted into Slytherin. As soon as it really hit them, Al was prepared to deal with their sneers.

He still didn't know about the rest of the family, though. Almost everyone else would lie if they didn't really like where he had ended up and say that they didn't think any differently about him.

"Al?" Victoire was frowning in concern now. "Are you okay?"

Al blushed as he realized he had been staring down at the table in silence, thinking things through. "I'm just tired," he lied.

Victoire's frown didn't disappear, but she nodded. She was going to accept his answer for now even if she didn't believe it. "Alright, then. Do you need help with homework, or did you just stop by for a chat?"

"A question, actually," Al said, and hurried to pull the map from the pocket of his robes.

o-------o

While Albus was talking to Victoire, Rose and Michael had needed to leave for Ravenclaw tower to get the books for their next class. The shadows outside were starting to lengthen when Al finally managed to meet up with Rose and Michael again to let them know what he had found out.

In Eric Lepine's words, Scorpius was still being a bit of a nosy git. When Albus had gone to their dormitory to drop off his books, the pale boy had invited himself along.

"Oh," Rose said, the grin dropping from her face as she noticed Scorpius' walking along behind Al.

Michael quickly jumped in to smooth things over. "Malfoy! You decided to join up for this weird adventure, too?" He glanced to Albus, quirking an eyebrow. "We are going on a weird adventure, right? Your cousin didn't think it was some sort of joke, did she?"

Albus shook his head. "Vic said it looked like Teddy's writing." She had also said that Al was lucky she liked him well enough not to tell anyone he was going to try out a secret map, but he wasn't going to tell Rose that. What he did need to tell Rose was going to be bad enough.

"I wonder where your secret map leads, then?" Rose asked, putting a finger to her bottom lip and frowning. "Teddy really should have sent more instructions…"

"Maybe that would spoil the fun of it if he wrote anything else," Michael suggested, lifting one shoulder.

Rose nodded, accepting the point before she shifted her gaze to Albus again. "Okay, so do we go have a look now? It'll be curfew really soon, you know. And we mustn't still be looking around by then, or Caretaker Filch will have something to say."

"Something to cackle, more like," Michael muttered under his breath. "The foul git."

Rose glared.

"Well…" Al began.

Scorpius snorted, tired of how slowly the conversation was going. "Potter thinks we should go after hours. We'll meet outside the infirmary at one in the morning."

Albus shot his friend an incredulous glance. "That's what you said we should do," he tried, but Scorpius was still talking.

"Unless neither of you want to see where it goes, that is. I suppose I really couldn't fault you if you weren't brave enough…"

Michael laughed softly at the expression on Rose's face. "I'm in."

"I. Am. Not. Scared," Rose ground out, her eyebrows knitting together. "You said one, right? We're leaving at half past, Michael."

Albus blinked, watching in amazement as Rose seized Michael's arm and marched him off.

"What did I tell you, Potter?" Scorpius drawled, a small smirk on his lips. "I don't see why you were so worries about asking them to come. Though, really, I don't see why you want the both of them around, but that's your decision…"

Silently, Al shook his head. He had been almost convinced that Rose wouldn't approve of breaking the rule about not going out after curfew. Sometimes he thought it was a little scary how Scorpius always seemed to know just what to say to get people to do what he wanted.

Oblivious to Al's thoughts, Scorpius nodded to where he could see the Charms professor coming down the grand staircase on his way to the Great Hall for dinner. "God, I wish he would show a little more decency, don't you? He spends an entire day harassing the class about turning in the homework in time in order for him to have time to get it graded, and then he goes down to dinner early." Scorpius shook his head in disgust.

Albus let Scorpius continue talking on the subject of his least favorite class on their way into the Great Hall where Michael and Rose were already seated, but he didn't actually listen – he was trying to work out just what he was trying to prove by using the map.

His parents wouldn't care if he did anything particularly brave in school. They really wouldn't. For some reason, though, it just didn't seem right to not go and do anything daring after his brother had had so many adventures.

And his dad! His dad had had adventures that not even James could come close to.

Albus bit his lip. Yes, he would follow the map. It might not lead to anything interesting (he hoped it wouldn't lead to anything interesting), but at least he could say that he had done something. It would make him feel a little better.