3 Months Later

So here's the final chapter! :D Sorry it took a while to get it up. (I know most people write James with red hair, but I imagine him with black, so I wrote it that way :D)

Albus and Adessa spent as much of the months following their kiss in the Library together as they could, although in the run-up to the OWLs they were forced to steal brief moments between classes and revision sessions. To Albus' dismay he never seemed to look his best whenever he met Adessa in the corridors; his hair was always more untidy than usual due to the amount of times he'd run his hands through it in frustration, his skin was pale from being stuck inside revising so often and there were deep shadows under his eyes from lack of sleep.

Although Adessa often appeared strained and exhausted, her eyes always lit up whenever she saw him, and the fleeting moments they managed to spend together were enough to wipe any exam worries from both their minds. It was becoming increasingly frustrating, too, that various members of Albus' family kept discovering them hidden in niches, behind tapestries concealing corridors or in seemingly empty classrooms.

"Can't you choose somewhere more private to have your little sessions?" Rose asked, irritated, after coming across the two of them huddled together behind a pillar in the courtyard one evening. "That's the fifth time, Al!" They were sitting at a table in the Gryffindor Common Room, straining their necks to see each other across the tottering pile of books between them.

"It was private until you came butting in!" Albus retorted angrily, "And it's not just you; James, Lily, Louis…you're all at it!"

Rose laughed. "Yeah, because we all hide, waiting for just the right moment to jump out and embarrass you." She seemed to think to herself for a moment before saying, "well, actually, that might be true for James, but it obviously isn't for me. Just…find somewhere better next time."

Their conversation was cut short at this point as Albus was deluged in a cascade of books which had just collapsed on top of him; Rose jumped to her feet to help and once all the books had been rearranged into two neat piles, there was nothing more to be said, and they both buried themselves feverishly in their revision once more.

***

The OWLs came upon the fifth years with the force of a stampeding elephant, and so it was that Albus sat in the Great Hall on a particularly hot afternoon, scratching his chin with the tip of his quill, his forehead furrowed. The exam paper swam before of his eyes; flecks of dust were drifting in front of him, glittering gold in the light pouring in through the high windows. Professor Towler walked slowly up the aisle to Albus' left, his boots echoing noisily off the stone floor, his long shadow falling over Albus' parchment. Albus found the sounds of his footsteps particularly distracting.

Laying down his quill Albus pressed his hands over his eyes for a moment; the blank darkness was a welcome relief from the dazzling sunlight. Opening them, on the pretext of shifting in his seat to sit more comfortably, he looked surreptitiously to his right. Rose was sitting three seats ahead in the next row, her head bent so low over her parchment he could not see anything apart from her thick red hair, but he knew she would be writing ferociously. She's probably filled four sheets by now, Albus thought anxiously. He was determinedly avoiding peeking around for Adessa; he didn't need more distractions.

Letting out a long, low breath, Albus glanced up at the giant hourglass at the front of the hall. Not long to go. Turning his attention back to his Transfiguration paper, he picked up his quill again and began to write, glad that this was, at least, his last exam.

***

Albus spent the afternoon after their final exam by the Lake with James and Rose, James bewitching water bombs to pelt themselves at any first years that were passing, much to Albus' amusement. Even Rose, relaxing after the stress of the exams, found it difficult to suppress a grin every so often.

A group of fifth year Ravenclaw girls were sitting on the grass a few feet away (Albus recognised two of them as Adessa's friends), their heads together, clearly discussing the Transfiguration paper in anxious voices. Both Albus and Rose preferred not to go over exams once they were finished, and blocked out their voices by talking loudly of the last Quidditch match of the season, Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw, which was scheduled for the next day, Saturday. Albus and James were both on the team; Seeker and Chaser respectively. Rose loved Quidditch, almost as much as books, but there wasn't much that could be said for her talents on the Pitch, although James and Albus were both careful not to mention this to her as they needed her to play with them during the holidays.

"We've got the best chances," James said confidently, nodding, "no doubt about it. Especially now Lily's on the team too; she's got really good!"

"Yeah well, no wonder," Albus grinned, "now mum's been giving her 'special lessons'…"

James looked at up at him, confused, stretched out on his front on the bank of the Lake. "'Special lessons'?"

"Yeah, she's been teaching her all her moves during the holidays," Albus laughed at the expression on James' face.

"That's so unfair, she never gave us lessons! Neither did Dad, he just said we had to 'find our feet' on our own or some crap like that…I knew about the 'special lessons', I just thought they meant cooking or whatever – something women did…"

Rose, who had been listening to the conversation and looking amused, scoffed. "Oh please, 'something women did'? Men cook too you know!" Her freckled face clouded over and she glared at James, who waved a hand dismissively.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, sorry. I just didn't know they meant Quidditch lessons…I'd wondered where she learnt that Macaskie Manoeuvre…" he stared darkly out over the Lake, apparently thinking to himself.

A few silent minutes later James stood up and leant against the beech tree which was providing them with shade, casually running his hands through his dark hair as he watched three sixth year girls cooling themselves off in the water. Albus smirked and turned to Rose, ready to continue the Quidditch conversation, but was interrupted by the arrival of a smiling Adessa.

"Hi, Albus," she beamed, "can I talk to you?"

"Sure," Albus grinned back at her, ignoring Rose's knowing expression. He allowed Adessa to lead him away to the shade of another tree, where she took him aback by pulling him into a passionate kiss.

"That was what you wanted to talk about?" Albus raised his eyebrows when they broke apart but couldn't hide his laughter.

Ignoring him, Adessa wrapped her arms around his neck. "I've been waiting to do that all day…"

Spurred by her words and feeling suddenly reckless, Albus looked down at her slyly. "Fancy a midnight stroll tonight?" he winked, reminding himself forcibly of James.

"A midnight stroll?" Adessa pretended to ponder the thought for a moment, "Sounds…intriguing. Where to?"

"It's a surprise," Albus whispered, leaning down for another kiss.

***

At five to midnight, Albus found himself crouched behind the banister of the Marble Staircase, peering round for Adessa. He kept checking his watch edgily; what if she didn't show up? But sure enough, only minutes later he heard footsteps on the Staircase and as she stepped into the Entrance Hall, Adessa looked around cautiously, her arms folded tightly as if it were cold, though it was one of the warmest nights of the year so far.

Deciding to throw caution to the winds, Albus jumped out from behind the banister; almost immediately he realised he'd made a mistake. Sensing movement behind her, Adessa had spun round and let out a small scream, her hand flying to her wand. Diving forwards Albus clapped a hand over her mouth to prevent her from screaming anymore and pulled her down behind the banister with him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Adessa hissed when he had taken his hand away from her mouth, "I could have woken the whole castle!"

"Yeah, but not if you hadn't screamed!" Albus whispered, his hand clutching the sleeve of her robes.

"And whose fault is it that I did?" Adessa glared at him. Albus didn't answer; they simply looked at each other for a moment before bursting into silent laughter.

"Come on," he said in an undertone when they had gathered themselves together, tilting his head towards the oak front doors, which were resolutely closed.

"Where are we going?" Adessa murmured, grabbing hold of his hand as they crossed the dark Entrance Hall, their footsteps reverberating frustratingly loudly on the flagstones.

"You'll see," Albus muttered, giving her warm hand a reassuring squeeze; grasping the great iron handle of the front doors, he gave a hearty tug and they began to open slowly, tediously. Once there was a gap large enough for the two of them to slip through Albus paused, listening hard. He didn't know what he had expected. Alarms? Teachers to come running? But there was nothing. The Entrance Hall remained as perfectly still as ever; the only change a thin strip of moonlight filtering in through the gap, cutting a narrow silvery line across the shadowy floor.

Stepping out into the moonlit grounds, Adessa close behind, Albus closed the doors and breathed in the fresh, perfectly still night air. The leaves on the topmost branches of the trees in the Forbidden Forest waved ever so slightly in the almost non-existent breeze. Hagrid's hut was in total darkness; it was nearly impossible to discern it from the thick tree trunks behind it, which stood so closely together they were just a wide expanse of black. Turning to Adessa, whose pale skin and fair hair were lit up in the light from the moon hanging above them, Albus whispered, "ready?"

"Ready," Adessa breathed, and allowed him to lead her down the stone steps and onto the sloping lawn, towards the Whomping Willow. Feeling slightly conspicuous walking directly in the remaining light from the castle, they veered slightly so their figures were in shadow.

Adessa didn't speak until she realised where they were heading; she pulled Albus' hand back involuntarily, staring at the Willow. Albus hesitated, waiting for her to say something. "The Whomping Willow?" she asked incredulously, "are you mental?"

Shaking his head, grinning, Albus made to continue walking, but was forced to stop again as Adessa refused to move. "The Whomping Willow, Albus…" she said as though explaining something to a small child. "…'Whomping' being a key word here."

"Just come with me," Albus pleaded, attempting to pull her along, but she dug her heels into the hard earth, her face set. "Please…trust me."

She relaxed her grip on his hand slightly and let out a long breath. "I can't believe I'm doing this," she shook her head and started to walk, "you are insane, Albus Potter. Completely and utterly insane. If my parents found out…"

Albus raised his eyebrows, "would you care?"

Adessa's mouth fell open and she blinked. "No!" she laughed, and sped up.

As they stepped into the shadow of the motionless Whomping Willow, Adessa looked expectantly at Albus. "Now wh-aaagh!" she started to speak but it became a scream as one of the tree's lower branches took a vicious swipe at her legs. She ran backwards hurriedly, watching disbelievingly as Albus bent down, picked up a long branch from the base of the tree and reached forwards, prodding a large knot on the trunk with the end of the branch.

Adessa gaped as she watched the Whomping Willow's branches slow, creaking slightly, and become as still as the branches on the surrounding trees. Now only the leaves were moving in the light wind, whispering. "Whoa…" she breathed, "where did you learn that?"

Albus grinned and said simply, "James."

"I'll say no more," Adessa held up a hand and approached the tree apprehensively.

"Down here," Albus gestured to a gap at the base of the trunk, through which they could see nothing but darkness. He was now rather regretting this plan; well there's no turning back now.

"Where does it lead to?"

"Do you really think I'm going to tell you? It'll spoil the surprise," he winked again, wondering to himself why he insisted on acting so much like his brother. Adessa crouched down by the entrance to the tunnel and squinted, trying to see passed the dark mouth.

"Lumos," she lit her wand but the faint light hardly penetrated the darkness at all, "well I suppose there's only one way to find out where it leads isn't there?"

Albus grinned, "Yep." Adessa shifted to the side so he could enter first; putting out the light at the end of her wand, she stowed it away in her robes and followed behind him. The light from the grounds disappeared almost immediately, so they were plunged into total darkness, feeling their way along the wide tunnel with only their hands to guide them. An earthy smell filled Albus' nostrils and he felt soil crumbling beneath his fingers as he crawled along on his hands and knees. The passage narrowed and began to slope steeply downwards; he had to duck his head to avoid hitting the roof of the tunnel.

"How much longer?" Adessa asked slightly breathlessly after they had been crawling along for a while. A sharp pain was shooting up Albus' neck and he grimaced as he turned slightly to reply.

"Not much further," he panted, hoping he was right, and sure enough, after another minute's scrambling, the tunnel began to move upwards and opened out into a shadowy room. Pulling himself out of the passage, Albus stood up and brushed dirt off the front of his robes and out of his hair. He leant down to help Adessa to her feet; her robes were tangled around her and her long, blonde hair had become straggly after their journey, but her pale cheeks were flushed an attractive pink from the effort of pulling herself along the passageway and Albus couldn't help noticing how beautiful she was, though her face was half in shadow.

"Albus, are we…are we in the Shrieking Shack?" she said in a hushed, slightly panicky voice.

"Maybe," Albus laughed; her eyes widened in alarm.

"But…what about the ghosts?" she whispered, looking terrified.

Albus remembered the last time he had been here; it had been his second year and James had told him he had something exciting to show him, and, being the foolish twelve year old he had been, he'd followed his brother out to the Whomping Willow, had crawled along the hidden passage after him and emerged into this room. It had looked exactly the same as it did tonight; just as dark, just as dusty. Then James had led him to an upstairs bedroom and said he had to go and fetch something. Albus remembered him leaving the room, closing the door and hearing the lock click; he had called his brother's name and heard him laughing as he made his way back down the stairs. Albus had had to stay in that bedroom all night, waiting for the infamous ghosts to come. But they never had, and the next day, when James had come, laughing, to let him out, he had been forced to admit that maybe there were no ghosts after all.

"I don't think there are any ghosts," he grinned at Adessa, whose look of terror turned to one of scepticism, but she didn't say anything.

Her eyes observed the room they were in; most of the furniture lay on its side, legs and arms broken or hanging by splinters, deep gouge marks in the wood which looked like they had been made by claws – sharp claws at that. Albus assumed there were floorboards under their feet, but they were buried beneath a heavy layer of dust. Thick velvet curtains hung over the boarded up windows; it was impossible to identify what colour they should be in this darkness, but Albus couldn't imagine being able to tell anyway; they looked as dust-covered as the floor. The whole room had a musty smell; a mixture of mould and mothballs. The gaps in the wooden planks over the windows were too thin to allow any moonlight to pass into the room, so Albus had to squint to guide Adessa over to an old-fashioned chair which looked at least a century old; it's arms and legs were carved into lion's claws and the faded leather seat had slashes in just like the ones in the wooden furniture, through which yellowing stuffing was poking out.

Albus tripped over an old desk lying on its side, which he had not seen in the darkness, and fell into the chair, pulling Adessa with him. Laughing, she curled herself, cat-like, in his lap and entwined her fingers with his, staring around at the mildewed furniture; Albus could barely see her eyes in the dark.

"I wonder what did that?" she said in a low voice, pointing to a table leg with three long claw marks running down it.

"I dunno…a cat?" Albus shrugged, not particularly bothered by the mysterious marks or whatever animal made them. Adessa laughed and looked at him, eyebrows raised.

"It must have been a pretty angry cat," she said, sounding amused.

"Maybe it was!" Albus retorted, grinning. Not waiting for her reply, he pulled her towards him and kissed her. He felt his heart pound as she ran her fingers through his untidy black hair, felt his fingertips tingle when he placed his hand on the back of her neck, felt something fiery erupt in his chest…and then she pulled back, breathless but smiling.

"This was a good idea, Albus," she breathed, brushing his fringe back from his eyes.

"What was?" Albus could hardly pay attention to what she was saying; his eyes were too fiercely locked on hers, which seemed to be burning with the same fire that was blazing in his chest.

"Coming here…no interruptions," she laughed, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, I'm getting sick of it. I don't think there's much chance of being found here, do you?" Albus cringed at the thought of what James would say if he knew he was using his infamous hideout for this.

In reply Adessa grabbed the front of his robes and pressed her lips hard against his. And they were kissing more passionately than they had ever done before…Albus was sure the fire would burst from him; his very skin was burning; his hands gripped Adessa more tightly…

"Al?"

Albus and Adessa jumped apart so violently that Adessa fell from his lap onto the floorboards; a cloud of dust blew upwards, making Albus cough and momentarily blocking the newcomers from view.

"J-James?" Albus choked, as the dust cleared and he saw his brother staring at him, his mouth hanging open, his eyebrows having vanished right into his dark hair. He was holding the hand of Rachel, the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain, who was looking rather awkward.

"What are you doing here?" Albus asked, regretting it almost immediately.

"Erm…" James titled his head towards Rachel and grinned sheepishly. Albus stared down at his shoes and then glanced up at Adessa, who had turned scarlet and whose eyes were focused determinedly on the wall behind Racheal.

"Maybe we should go back to school?" Rachel whispered to James, who nodded and glanced at Albus.

"How about we…er…don't mention this to anybody?" James asked, half-laughing. The question, however, was completely unnecessary; Albus had absolutely no intention whatsoever of mentioning their encounter to anyone.

They crawled on their hands and knees back along the passageway to Hogwarts, ducking their heads so as to keep their hair clear of soil, Albus still flinching at what had just happened. In spite of himself, his mind trailed back to the kiss he had shared with Adessa and his heart began to pound again. Maybe it wasn't such a bad plan after all.

The End

The end! I really hope you enjoyed it, and please, please review!!