XVI. Flying Spiders

All Rose wanted to do was come up with a decent strategy for Ravenclaw's next Quidditch match. That was all she wanted. Just this one, tiny, simple, very important thing – but apparently that was far too much to ask for.

Albus was distracting her again. He wasn't even saying anything and he was still managing to distract her. He was currently sitting right next to her on the sofa… though maybe 'sitting' wasn't quite the right word for it, as Albus was currently upside down, staring intently at the pictures in his Care of Magical Creatures handbook and trying to stop his glasses falling off his head.

No, not his glasses – Scorpius' glasses; Albus had stolen them again. He didn't even need glasses himself, and Rose didn't want to ask why he was so intent on borrowing Scorpius' all the time. If she did ask, she'd probably be treated to some stupidly long discourse about how glasses helped to ward off Blathering Bumblemice – or whatever Albus' latest imaginary creature was. She couldn't be bothered to listen to him right now; she had to concentrate on Quidditch.

As if on cue, Albus spoke.

"Why don't we get giant flies?" Albus said, closing his textbook.

Rose groaned; the only type of 'fly' she wanted to think about was flying. As in Quidditch. As in Quidditch strategy so Ravenclaw didn't lost the match.

"I don't even want to know what you're talking about, do I?"

"Well, we have Acromantula, which are giant spiders," said Albus as he began to fiddle with Scorpius' glasses.

"I know that, Albus," Rose snapped, hoping that Albus didn't break those glasses. Scorpius would kill him if he broke yet another pair.

"So why don't we have giant flies? I mean, giant spiders can't exactly survive off normal sized flies, can they?"

"Acromantula don't eat flies, birdbrain. They eat centaurs, unicorns, humans – anything and anyone careless enough to wander across them, really. Which is why I keep telling you and Scorpius not to go into the Forbidden Forest, but will you listen to me? No. Because you're too preoccupied with stupid daydrea…"

She stopped. Albus obviously wasn't listening. He'd sat up straight and grabbed Rose's Quidditch notes.

"Albus Severus Potter, if you ruin my Quidditch plans I will kill you until you are dead!" Rose almost shrieked, snatching the parchment away from him.

Albus was either ignoring her threat or was actually as oblivious as he seemed.

"I wonder what would happen if you put an acromantula on a broomstick?"

Rose considered pointing out that a. you'd never find a broomstick big enough, b. giant spiders were completely the wrong shape to ride brooms and c. you'd get eaten before you'd coerced one into going anywhere near a broom, but she decided not to; getting an acromantula to fly was a lot more plausible than ever being able to talk sense into Albus.