ass_tea | Recent Entries

of-gunmetalgrey.livejournal.com

Where: The Library
When: Mid-February, 2022 (Fifth Year)

( Wizards are from Mars and Witches are from Venus. )

of-gunmetalgrey.livejournal.com

Where: The Slytherin Dungeons
When: Late January to Early February, 2022 (Fifth Year)

It was quite a bit before the morning bell when Scorpius woke up, blinking his eyes in the darkness of his dormitory room. His left arm was numb from the shoulder down where Alby's head was nestled, and there was a little wet puddle forming in his pajamas just below Alby's open mouth. He gave Alby a gentle push and managed to ease his numb arm out from under his boyfriend, who smacked his lips and rolled over, taking a significant portion of blanket with him. Scorpius smiled and placed a small kiss on the back of Alby's shoulder before reaching under his pillow to retrieve his wand. He parted the curtains of his bed, squinting to see clearly as he dimly lit the rest of the room with a spell. He spotted his bag, which was sitting near the foot of the bed, where he'd dropped it the previous night. Scorpius wondered if he ought to get out of bed to retrieve the text he wanted to read--but the room was rather cold--or risk a spell. He decided on the latter.

"Accio book," Scorpius whispered, and his Muggle Studies studies text came flying at him. He caught it before it smashed him in the face, and propping himself up on his pillow, reached for his glasses, and began reading by wandlight.

It was at least another hour before the morning bell rang. He heard Alex and Joe stirring in their beds, groaning as they parted their curtains and stared off into space blearily. Closing the book in his lap, Scorpius gave Alby a gentle shove. "Alby," he said quietly, "the morning bell just rang."

Scorpius, already awake for a while, managed to get dressed first, and had already washed his face and brushed his teeth by the time the rest of his mates were shuffling around half dressed. Scorpius and Alby made their way up into the Great Hall after it was mostly filled with the bustle of the students' morning chatter. The Slytherin table quieted when they approached and took their usual seats with the fifth years. Since Alex and Joe had had their fight, their usual seats across from Scorpius and Alby had instead been filled by Ellimere and Saffron who dropped their forkfuls of pancakes to stare.

Scorpius sat down and was busy serving Alby some eggs when he noticed that the silence had stretched on unusually long.

"What?" he said, more irritably than he'd meant.

Ellimere and Saffron shared a significant look.

"What?" Scorpius said again.

Ellimere raised an eyebrow. "Is it true you and Alby are sleeping together already?"

Scorpius paused, remembering Alessandra and Rogir's words of warning the previous night. He glanced in Alby's direction quickly, hopefully not too significantly.

"Of course not," he scoffed, reaching under the table to put a hand on Alby's knee and give it a squeeze. "What gave you that idea?"

n3xt-in-line.livejournal.com

Where: Slytherin Boys' Dormitories
When: Late January, 2022 (Fifth Year)

It was decently late in the evening when Alby and Scorp returned to the Slytherin dormitories. Classes had begun picking up again, and the two had retreated to the Chamber of Snogs for some studying and a bit of… other extracurricular activities. Alby grinned a bit to himself, thinking how wonderful it was that he and Scorp had a place like the Chamber to be alone in. He bet that any other couple in the school would kill for the ability to have a place where they knew they wouldn’t be interrupted. And it wasn’t as though Gilbert and Serge would tell on them.

As they approached the door to the fifth year boys’ dormitories, however, Alby paused. There were noises coming from within – kind of a scuffling, along with voices, though they weren’t saying anything intelligible as far as he could tell. Alby glanced at Scorp worriedly, frowning a bit. Was someone fighting? He hadn’t thought any of the dormmates had been having issues…

He pulled away from Scorp a bit and hurried the last few steps to the door. If there was a fight going on, it would be best to put it to a stop before things got serious. They all had to live together, after all, and fights were not something Alby liked. Especially not among his friends. He pushed the heavy door open, stepping into the room. At first he didn’t see where the sounds were coming from. Then his eyes fell on Alex’s bed, upon which were Alex and Joe. But they weren’t fighting.

They were kissing. Rather heatedly, in fact – Alex had pushed Joe most of the way onto the bed, one hand tangled in the other’s tie. Joe’s hair was a bit unkempt, and his hands were on Alex’s shoulders; for a moment Alby couldn’t tell if he was pushing or pulling at Alex. For that matter, he suddenly couldn’t tell if the kiss was passionate, or just sloppy.

“… Uh,” he squeaked, coming to so abrupt a halt that Scorpius nearly bumped into him from behind. He suddenly got the feeling that maybe they ought to back out of the room. Quickly.

But it was too late. Alex and Joe had obviously noticed them. Alex glanced up, breaking the liplock with Joe a few seconds later, turning his head to them with a half-chagrined grin. “Think it’s about time the two of you stopped having all the fun around here,” he said cheerily. “Don’t suppose you might’ve thought to knock?” Below him, Joe’s cheeks were beginning to turn as pink as Alby’s probably were.

[OOC: Okay, so hopefully that sounds decent. XD If there’s anything that you think needs changing, just let me know. I think this was the setup we originally had in mind, though? We may want to skip some time after a while, since I think Joe and Alex end up fighting and putting Alby and Scorp in the middle of it or something? I think that might’ve been the plan… Anyway, I think I lose at writing Alex, so. ^^;; I can make some changes if you have any preferences~ :D;]

of-gunmetalgrey.livejournal.com

Where: Malfoy Manor, Wiltshire
When: December 31, 2021 (Fifth Year)

( Scorpius was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet... )

of-gunmetalgrey.livejournal.com

Where: The Potter Residence, Godric's Hollow
When: December 23, 2021 (fifth year)

( Scorpius had never understood why his Grandma Cissy fussed over clothes so much... )

n3xt-in-line.livejournal.com

Where: King's Cross Station, Platform 9 3/4
When: The first day of Christmas holidays (late December), 2021 (fifth year)

Alby didn't think he'd stopped grinning all afternoon. He sat with one side pressed to the window side of their compartment, the other side kept comfortably warm by Scorpius; their fingers were intertwined as they stretched out across the seat. Alex and Joe took up the bench on the other side - they'd grown mostly accustomed to Scorp and Alby's (usually tactful) displays of affection, and Alby and Scorp didn't hide them much in front of their dormmates anymore. Or their housemates, really - but then, ever since they'd started using the Chamber of Snogs for their more... intimate study sessions, things had gone much better all around, Alby thought.

He'd firmly put all thoughts of the fact that when the train pulled into King's Cross Station he'd have to part with Scorp for the holidays. He'd also have to face his parents, which was also not high on his list of things he'd like to do, even after the short letter they'd sent him after James and Lily had both written home less than a day after he and Scorp had gotten together. His mother and father seemed all right with the situation on paper, but there was still the possibility he was going to get an earful from, if not them, at least one of his other family members. Uncle Ron had never been too fond of the Malfoys, and Alby was worried what Grandma Molly would say when she found out he was gay. But all of that would come later, and Alby had tried to stick by the creed that there was no point in worrying about things he couldn't control. Even if he did still worry, a little.

As the day wore on and the scenery outside the window changed, though, he grew a bit more thoughtful. He had a plan that he'd been hatching for a few weeks now, and it was going to be time to put it into motion soon enough. He'd rehearsed what he was going to say and how he was going to say it, and now all that was left was finding the right moment. Snuggling back down between the darkening window and Scorp, Alby hoped it would go off as well as he'd planned.

of-gunmetalgrey.livejournal.com

Where: The Chamber of Snogs
When: Saturday, December 11, 2021 (fifth year)

It was blizzarding outside, snow falling thick blankets, the winds howling as they swept past the castle. The views from the windows on the first floor of the castle were dark grey, flurries quickly fading into the snowstorm so thick it was even difficult to see parts of the castle itself. Locked inside for the weekend, the Slytherin common room was filled to the brim, the fire in the fireplace burning cheerily as students sprawled across the floors, crowded the couches, and squeezed around tables together, books open and heads bowed as they studied for their midterm exams. Scorpius and Alby had gotten up early and reserved themselves an armchair, displacing its pillows and pulling up an ottoman, snuggling together and dozing off until the rest of the Slytherin had rolled out of their beds to prepare for their tests.

Scorpius had found his studying time halved pressed this close to Alby, his arms around his boyfriend as they held their Potions text between them, quizzing each other on ingredients, techniques, recipes, and rewarding each other with kisses when they got questions right. It was only shortly after lunch that they had moved onto History of Magic, which had of late, been so boring that even Scorpius found himself nodding off during class, that mid-snog, they noticed the sound of shuffling fabric at the foot of their chair. Scorpius looked up, one hand still wrapped around the back of Alby's neck.

"What?" he asked, mildly annoyed that he and Alby had been interrupted.

It was Joe standing in front of them, looking a bit anxious, his hands at his sides, playing with the waistband of his sweater.

"Look Scorp, Alby...it's not that we don't appreciate that you guys are together now, but can you guys get a room?"

n3xt-in-line.livejournal.com

Where: Slytherin Dormitories/Hogwarts Courtyard
When: Sunday, November 28, 2021 (fifth year)

Alby woke slowly, feeling oddly content, followed shortly by slight confusion as he realized there was a warm mass in the bed beside him. He briefly wondered if Lily had somehow crawled into bed with him, like she used to at home when she'd had a bad dream, but as soon as he had that thought it dispelled - the person beside him was too warm and too large to be Lily. Alby blinked in the greenish darkness of the enclosed bed, waking further and realizing that this wasn't his bed - and suddenly remembering it was Scorp's. And the person beside him was none other than Scorpius Malfoy himself - Alby's best friend and, if he hadn't made up what he remembered of last night, now his boyfriend.

Memories of last night came flooding back and Alby couldn't help it - a wide grin split his face as he disentangled himself carefully from the bedsheets and looked up at the bed's other occupant. Despite the fact that Alby had obviously moved and gotten a bit tangled in the bedclothes throughout the night, Scorp seemed to be lying in mostly the same position he'd been when they'd fallen asleep - on his back, but now his head was pillowed on folded arms and despite the fact that his eyes were closed, his glasses were perched on his nose, though a bit farther down than usual. Alby chuckled silently and, feeling a bit giddy, slipped up to lean over the blonde and simultaneously slid the glasses properly up his nose and leaned down for a soft, lingering kiss.

"You're already up, aren't you?" he murmured, barely suppressing the urge to run fingers through Scorp's hair and just collapse onto the other and wrap arms around him and never let go. Something about waking up like this made him happier than he'd ever felt, and the thought that it was only the beginning seemed almost too exciting to bear.

[OOC: I was going to have them start with waking up and heading over to get lunch, but then I was thinking we can skip through the meal and get them out to the courtyard so James can be his stupid self. :D; I'm also assuming Scorp is likely just dozing, since there is no way Alby woke up before him? Let me know if that wouldn't be the case and I'll rewrite, though!]

n3xt-in-line.livejournal.com

Where: Slytherin Dungeons
When: (Saturday) November 27, 2021 (fifth year)

Alby shifted again on the couch, glancing over the top of his Charms book at Scorpius, who was dutifully taking notes on a piece of spare parchment as he looked over the chapter they'd reviewed today in class. Unable to pay attention to the words on the page before him, Alby sighed quietly, biting his lip. His stomach shifted, feeling fluttery and uncomfortable. They'd been studying for an hour, now - well, more like Scorp had been studying for an hour. Alby had been shifting and squirming and turning pages in his book for an hour, but he hadn't leared a single thing except there really was no way to get around what he needed to do. And every day since the "incident" with Scorp and Isabella (that Scorpius had still not mentioned, and it had been last week) only reminded him that he was a coward. Harry Potter's son was a coward, who couldn't even tell the single most important person in his school life how he felt about him, because he was afraid of what would happen. And Alby had to admit, he was getting really sick of living in fear.

Anything had to be better than this... this not knowing what would or could happen. Not knowing if he'd accidentally mess something up, say the wrong thing, glance the wrong way. Alby had never been good at concealing things, and every day he grew more afraid that he was going to slip up. If Scorpius was going to find out that his best friend was gay and, what's more, had a hopeless crush on him, Alby would much prefer it came from his own lips. Even if that was the scariest thing he could imagine right now.

Shifting again, he glanced over at his friend and decided that today was the day. Now was the moment. He'd been thinking about it all week, trying to plan out what he was going to say, and now it was late enough that Joe and Alex had given up studying and wouldn't miss them. He might not get another chance for a while, and while half of him said it could certainly wait as long as it wanted, the other half needed resolution badly enough that it spurred Alby to finally set his book down, willing himself not to blush as he coughed a bit to get Scorp's attention.

"H-hey, Scorp, I... wanted to talk to you." Except here was bad - there were still students sprinkled about the room working on various essays and reading, and even if there hadn't been, it was far too public. This was not something Alby wanted public - not yet, especially not if Scorp decided that he was the most disgusting thing on Earth and slammed the proverbial door in his face. "Can we... come on, somplace else. It won't take long." It might be over all too soon, he thought, as he stood, taking Scorp's hand and pulling, gently. There were loads of classrooms in the dungeons that weren't likely to be occupied this late at night, nor were they likely to be interrupted.

n3xt-in-line.livejournal.com

Where: The corridor outside the Great Hall
When: Very early November, 2021 (fifth year)

( Mum told me to look after you, but I can't do that if you're acting all funny and I don't know what's wrong! )

of-gunmetalgrey.livejournal.com

Where: The Ancient Runes corridor, fourth floor
When: November 23, 2021 (fifth year)

( Yes, of course, Isabella, you are cute, intelligent, and a bit boyish looking so I will go out with you. )

of-gunmetalgrey.livejournal.com

Where: The Library
When: late October 2021 (fifth year)

( Yes, I am single and it would be absolutely fabulous to date someone with an ice-cold reputation like Scorpius Malfoy. )

n3xt-in-line.livejournal.com

Where: The Slytherin Dormitories
When: ~Mid-October, 2021 (fifth year)

Albus was standing with his back to the wall of the Slytherin common room, the cold from the stones seeping through his jumper and accentuating the temperature gradient from his back to his front, which was quite warm, given that he was pinned between the wall and the person before him, whose warm mouth was covering his own, robbing him simultaneously of breath and the strength in his legs.

Alby, of course, was finding that he didn't care about breathing or standing at this point, fingers catching in the other's jumper as a groan tried to escape his throat, only to be swallowed by the other's lips and teeth and tongue. Then the mouth pulled back just a bit, allowing Alby to take a breath, drawing enough air to push one labored word past his swollen lips.

"Scorpius," he breathed, as long pale fingers brushed over his own jumper now, his skin prickling at the touch even though there were two layers of clothing between Scorp's hands and Alby's chest. Somehow this seemed so right, that Scorpius was the person pinning him to the wall, kissing him like this, that it wasn't Alby doing the pinning or the kissing and that the the other person wasn't any of the girls that Alby had ever tried and utterly failed to date. This was Scorp and there was no one in the world Alby would prefer to be this close to, ever again. They had the whole of the common room to themselves - the whole of the castle to themselves, he felt. It was dizzying. It was what he wanted, what he wanted all the time and now that he had it, he wanted to stop time so he wouldn't ever have to think about parting.

Alby's eyelids fluttered open as the other's mouth touched the corner of his lips lightly; Scorpius looked down at him, flashing a calm, demure smile that did nothing to hide the strong undercurrent of possession that Alby could practically feel rolling off the taller boy in waves, and suddenly his hands slid back down Alby's front to his waistline and below, pressing firmly right there and Alby gasped -

"S - Scorp!" Alby jerked awake, heart racing; he blinked in the darkness of his enclosed four-poster bed for only a few seconds before he realized two very important things, neither of which boded at all well. First, he'd actually been calling out for Scorpius, because he could hear shifting outside the curtains of his bed as though the other had woken at his cries.

The second was that he was rather painfully - and quite obviously - hard.

Oh, fuck -

Alby hand't had one of these dreams in weeks - it had been one small stroke of luck, when everything else had gone wrong for a while, but now that things had finally almost gotten back to some semblance of normal, Alby realized that, as the shuffling beyond the curtains of his bed grew more distinct, they were about to take a turn for the decidedly suicidal. He scrambled desperately for the coverlet - he'd thrown it off in the midst of his dream, and he desperately scrabbled for it, bunching it over his midsection before whoever was out there - oh God it probably was Scorp - opened the curtains and saw.

of-gunmetalgrey.livejournal.com

Where: The Hogwarts Express
When: September 1, 2021 (fifth year)

"Bye Dad, bye Mum!" Scorpius hugged both his parents quickly, trying his best not to pull away too soon as his mother kissed him on both cheeks.

"Remember what we talked about, all right?"

"I know, Mum," Scorpius said, pulling out of his mother's embrace and poking his head over the crowd to see if he could spot the cluster of Weasleys and Potters that usually came to send off their children.

Scorpius had been distracted all summer, sleep coming rather uneasily to him despite the late hours. He'd finished all his summer reading and all his essays the first week he'd been home, which meant that he'd run out of excuses to avoid martial arts lessons from his father by the end his third week, which was only relieved once Delphina had come home, fresh from graduating from the Mount Emei Girls Academy. She had been at the top of her class and awarded honors in almost every field she'd studied, which made their parents proud to no end and finally let Scorpius have some time to himself as she continually pestered their father to teach her more techniques and spells.

There was a part of Scorpius that itched to go back to Hogwarts, and a part that also dreaded it. He'd been thinking about Alby all summer and had been trying to construct something akin to the casual correspondence they usually kept up all during the holidays, but failed miserably to write anything that didn't, upon a second inspection, look terribly childish, boring, or lovelorn, or all three. His mother had advised him to tell Albus about his feelings, to which his immediate gut reaction was to recoil in horror. He was not particularly good at telling anyone his feelings, and had absolutely no experience in the type of confessions that his mother had suggested. Moping about the house for the last week, Scorpius had reluctantly decided he was going to pretend that everything was normal, that Alby didn't mean anything special to him, and that the preservation of their friendship was the most important thing.

Scorpius spotted a cluster of red-heads of all ages, possibly even the dark hair of Harry Potter himself, and decided that rather than face all the Potters and Weasleys, he'd better make a run for the train and save a compartment. He knew there was no way that he was going to be able to greet Alby's siblings without looking guilty about something, and the last thing he wanted was for Alby's overbearing older brother, James, to think that something was up.

He grabbed his trunked waved a hasty goodbye to his parents and pushed the crowd aside, heading for the doors of the train. Most of the compartments were already taken by the time he was onboard and looking around. Suddenly thinking that perhaps it would be a better idea for him to sit with some familiar faces from his house (the thought of being left alone with Alby for the entirety of the ride filled him with fear), by a stroke of luck a compartment door opened, and an arm grabbed his sleeve.

"Hey mate," said Alex with a grin, "we saved you and Alby a seat."

n3xt-in-line.livejournal.com

Where: A tea shop near King's Cross Station, London
When: Sept. 1 (I think?), 2021, fifth year

"Make sure to cause plenty of trouble, you hear?" George commanded, and Alison rolled her eyes and tried to suppress a grin as Freddy nodded and George ruffled his hair, before she was hugged around the middle once more with a quick, "Bye, Mum!" and their son was off, short red hair bobbing through the crowd as he pulled his trunk behind him towards the train.

"You're lucky his mother doesn't mind him getting into trouble," she told George slyly, to which he just grinned and ruffled her hair, as she swatted his hand away and waved to Hermione and Ron, who had just seen Rose and Hugo off as well and were heading towards the exit as the train began to blow off large amounts of steam, signaling that it was getting ready to leave. There was a rush of last-minute goodbyes and the last few students rushed to board the train; then, with a cheerful whistle, the scarlet engine began to pull out of the station, gaining speed as it finally rounded a bend in the tracks and was gone.

"Ora!" she called, spotting her friend with her fair-haired husband not far from them on the platform, turning to head back now that the Hogwarts Express was out of sight. She waved wildly, still not really having the height to be spotted easily, pulling George behind her through the crowd as Ora stopped and turned towards the sound. "Ora, Draco, hello!" At least if Ora didn't see her, she'd see George and stop, hopefully. She hadn't had a chance to catch up with Ora last year before her friend had left King's Cross, but she had been hoping to find her this year, and hoping that she'd have a bit of time as well. "Do you have a bit?"

[OOC: Alison's cut her hair (I'm actually thinking of having her do it sometime in the Snogs RP, later on :D;) and it now looks like this~]

n3xt-in-line.livejournal.com

Where: The Potter household: Alby's room
When: Shortly after the previous log, the same night (mid-summer 2021)

( Part Two: Sometimes messes work out for the best, in the end. )

n3xt-in-line.livejournal.com

Where: The Potter household
When: Mid-summer 2021 (between fourth and fifth year)

This wasn't exactly how I'd originally envisioned this going, but James got all D< on me. And then it started getting long, because Ginny wanted in, but I have to stop and go to bed in a bit. XD; But I felt like posting this up, so here's the first bit and the second will come later.

( Part One: Don't tell me you do want to ask some guy out. )

of-gunmetalgrey.livejournal.com

Where: The Malfoy/Yang household, Zhongnan Mountain, China
When: Mid-July 2021 (between fourth and fifth year)

( How was he supposed to go back to school and pretend that everything was the way it used to be when it clearly wasn't? )

of-gunmetalgrey.livejournal.com

Where: Hogwarts: Sixth Floor
When: end of May 2021 (fourth year)

It was a quiet Saturday near the end of the year, the kind where students were busy studying for their exams. Scorpius and Albus woke up to find the Slytherin common room completely hushed, as students lounged on sofas with their books open and crowded in groups on the rugs, reviewing lessons in hushed tones. Even the breakfast hall that morning was strangely quiet, the attendance far less than usual--the Ravenclaw table was almost completely empty, save for a few students who only came into grab food to carry back to their tower.

"Why's it so quiet in here?" Alex Moran said, taking a seat at the Slytherin table and reaching for a muffin. "Where is everybody?"

Joe Wenlock just shook his head, not even bothering to answer.

"It's called studying, Alex," Scorpius said, swallowing a bite of pancake and washing it down with some tea. "Might want to try it sometime. It's for those test things we do at the end of every year."

"Ha ha, very funny, Scorp. You're a bloody comedian."

Joe suppressed a snicker. Alex shoved him, and Joe shoved him back again.

The rest of breakfast passed rather uneventfully, and the library was crowded with studying students when they arrived with all their books, managing to find a couple spots with a table full of Gryffindors in a dim corner. Scorpius looked up from his Charms book when after a couple of hours, he saw Alby begin to get a little bit antsy, and they retreated to take a small study break in between some rows of bookshelves.

"I can't believe the library's this full," Scorpius complained. He was sure it wasn't this crowded at the same time last year, or maybe it could've just been that last year he had less work. "There's no room in our common room either." Scorpius frowned, annoyed. There was something infuriating about studying next to a group of Gryffindors--maybe it was the fact that they talked all the time, even in quiet voices it was a distraction and their chatter had nearly driven Scorpius insane.

Scorpius wracked his brain for good, secluded, places to spend the rest of his afternoon. "I guess we could always go outside," Scorpius said, thinking out loud, "but it's pretty windy today." He'd tried studying outside a few times before, but again, there were too many distractions outside, not to mention that the wind kept wanting to steal his notes.

"Hmm..." Scorpius adjusted his glasses, a habit he'd developed when deep in thought. "There is one place my mum's mentioned to me..." He paused and took a look around to make sure nobody else was within earshot.

"Hey Alby, have you ever heard of a room called the Chamber of Snogs?"

n3xt-in-line.livejournal.com

Where: Hogsmeade
When: ~Oct 2019 (third year)

Quick link: Map of Hogsmeade

The weather was cold, but it felt incredibly good to be outside, Albus thought, as he was herded alongside Scorpius in a group of twittering third-year Slytherin students down the path and into the town of Hogsmeade for the very first time. Though the weather had been growing steadily worse, that only meant Alby felt increasingly more restless, pent up within the castle walls. Now Alby was looking forward to actually being able to burn off some of that excess energy outside today, and he was sure that Scorp would probably be thankful as well. Alby was never sure whether his overly bouncy nature really got on Scorp's nerves more than the other was willing to let on.

Casting that thought aside, Alby looked around excitedly as the first buildings came into view on the main street. There was so much he wanted to see and do in the small village - of course he'd never really explored it himself, other than the train station where the Hogwarts Express stopped every year, but his mother, father, and James had all told him countless stories about what there was to do in Hogsmeade, and Alby was more than eager to experience it for himself. The first building up on the right was the Three Broomsticks - a cheery little pub that served butterbeer at a good price. Alby was definitely planning on a stop there today. Further down the street, he knew, were shops that sold everything from joke merchandise (though he was kept relatively well-stocked by his cousin Fred and Uncle George) to every type of candy imaginable. There were also more cafes and pubs, including the famous Hog's Head pub Alby had heard numerous stories about. If he squinted, he could even see the Shrieking Shack up to their left, away from the main street as the huddle of boys finally stepped into the town proper and began arguing loudly about what to do first. Ahead of them, older students from various houses had already arrived and were laughing and talking as they made their way towards their favorite stop.

"I want to head over and get a couple butterbeers," Alex Moran was saying; Joe Wenlock rolled his eyes, but it was clear he'd follow his best friend to whichever pub he chose. Alby supposed butterbeer was okay - it was rather cold outside - but he didn't know if he was ready for one just yet. There were more important things to do!

"What about the Shrieking Shack?" he asked, pointing down the path and bouncing on his toes; Zach Sawbridge made a face and said, "You know it's not haunted, Alby - that myth's been out of date for decades." Alby just made a face - of course he knew! He knew exactly how the "haunted house" had got its name - as well as a number of other important things, only compounding the number of reasons he wanted to go. But then, he didn't exactly expect most of his yearmates to understand. He glanced at Scorp, frowning - he supposed he'd better hear what his own best friend wanted to do, before he started making plans.

[OOC: I think it wasn't exactly public knowledge about the Marauders using the Shrieking Shack for when Lupin changed? Or that Snape died there, etc. I'm thinking Alby would know because of Harry - if you think any of that should be different, though, let me know and I'll rewrite! They also don't have to head there first thing, if you'd rather they went somewhere else first. ^^]