Albus Potter and the Cursed Legacy | Scorbus

43. What Lies Ahead

"I will," Matthias offered with a raise of his hand, "I remember her subjects and I have a vague idea of her timetable." 

"I can help," Scorpius nodded,  "We can cover more ground if we split up."

"Meet us back at the broom cupboard at half-past, yeah?" Ophelia confirmed with them.

Albus watched them as they disappeared out the portrait hole. It was an entirely weird feeling seeing Matthias and Scorpius work together. But at this point, Albus would accept any help he could get. They were on the same side now and that's all that mattered.

"So, this whole 'flying to wherever' plan," Ophelia turned to him with a concerned look, "Do you think it will work. Even brooms only travel so fast."

Albus didn't want to doubt himself, knowing it would only lead to more anxiety but he couldn't lie either, "I don't know for sure. But I have to at least try." 

"Do you think we'll be able to make it out of the castle?" Her face scrunched with worry. "I reckon we'd look rather suspicious if we move in a pack with the school's broomsticks when we're supposed to be in lessons."

He tried to come up with the good excuse, "We um...say we're having a sporadic Quidditch match" It was a horrible excuse but as Albus caught sight of a familiar figure emerging from the staircase to the dormitory, he got a better idea, "Or, we don't have to make an excuse at all!"

Without further question, Ophelia followed Albus as he darted over to the stairs. Albus leapt in front of the person coming down the stairs to stop him.

"Bloody hell, what are you little snakes doing up here?" James stumbled, almost tripping over the last step in surprise. He appeared to do a double-take, not sure if he was seeing things correctly. "The Gryffindor common room is the last place I'd expect to find you, Albie." 

James tried to give him a playful punch to the shoulder but Albus managed to dodge it. He rolled his eyes at the childish nickname. It was only ever used by his family when they wanted to tease him.

"And Ophelia, what a pleasant surprise," He planted his hands on his hips, eyeing her up and down with a quirk of his eyebrow, "Finally come to your senses and realised you want to join the superior house Quidditch team?" 

Ophelia let out a laugh, crossing her arms with a defiant smirk, "You wish, Potter. But I'm a Slytherin, through and through. And we're planning on taking the cup this year and breaking the tie." She quipped back, making a swiping motion with her hand like she was stealing the Quidditch cup from him. Albus may not have attended any matches but that didn't stop him from having to hear about the constant rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin who'd been fighting each other back and forth for the cup for the past four years. 

"Oh yeah? Well, we'll see if you change your mind when we face-off in our match come February."

"I wouldn't place your bets too high," Ophelia shot back.

Throwing his hands out in frustration, Albus interrupted, "Okay, there are more important things to worry about than Quidditch right now."

"What could be more important that Quidditch?" He asked in a typical James fashion.

"Um, perhaps our dad's life?" Albus' voice came out more harshly than he'd intended. He winced at the reality of the situation. He'd hardly taken the time to process that this was actually happening and so few people were aware.

The jesting smile was quickly wiped from James' face, "Is that meant to be some sort of joke? Because it's not very funny, Al."

"I wish it was."