Scorpius woke up in the morning, and something was wrong. Where is his best friend Albus? He usually had to wake him up. He usually did not go anywhere alone. When he didn't show up for breakfast, Scorpius was already paralysed by fear. He didn't want to report him to the teachers immediately to avoid further trouble, but he suspected he couldn't do anything alone.
He thought hard about where Albus could have gone. He discovered that he had taken the invisibility cloak – so it was a planned action. He remembered that in Divination class, they had discussed the superstition that whoever drank water from a well in the Forbidden Forest at midnight under a full moon would be granted their greatest wish. The full moon! Scorpius knew that there were no werewolves in the forest at the moment, but he was still crazy with fear. Albus had been acting strangely the past few days. He looked sad and avoided Scorpius. He blamed himself for not talking to him. Albus had some unfulfilled wish that he was really worried about, and he didn't help him at all. He would do anything for him.
If his assumption that Albus went to the Forbidden Forest is correct, he could ask Hagrid for help.
Scorpius knocked on the door of his hut and reported what had happened.
"By Merlin's beard, if it is as you say, he is in great danger! How could he go to the Forbidden Forest alone!"
Hagrid noticed the distressed look on Scorpius's face and immediately began to comfort him.
"Don't worry, I know the forest like the back of my hand, I'll find him in no time!"
Hagrid set off quickly, Scorpius was following him. Even during the day, the forest looked spooky, let alone at night. It was dark and dense. They had to watch out for tree roots and various tendrils. Strange noises were coming from everywhere. What was bothering Albus so much that he was willing to come here at night?
Hagrid strode straight to the well. And there they saw him, curled up in a ball, crying, shivering with cold. Albus's legs were bound by the tendrils of a climbing plant called fairy snare, related to the devil's snare. The well will not give away its treasures for free, and the intruder must be punished.
Scorpius took Albus in his arms and draped his cloak over him.
"Al, are you okay? I was terribly worried about you. Don't ever do this to me again. If something happened to you... I can't live without you, I love you so much..." Scorpius sat between tendrils and hugged Albus, caressing him and kissing his hair.
Albus looked at him tiredly.
"I think I got my wish granted," he whispered.
"Wish? What was your greatest wish?"
"I wanted you to like me," Albus admitted. "Because I want to be with you."
Scorpius couldn't say a word, just held his Albus tight.
"Well, you two, it's time to get out of here and leave the forest free of uninvited guests," ordered Hagrid.
Scorpius nodded and stood up. He helped Albus to his feet as well. A miracle happened – the fairy snare released its chains, and Albus was suddenly free.
"What happened? It didn't want to let go of me at all, and now it's crawled away on its own," Albus didn't understand.
"That's simple," grinned Hagrid. When someone grants you your greatest wish, the snare loses its power. But beware, boys, that fairy snare has bound you forever, so you must never leave each other!" he added warningly.
Scorpius and Albus hugged each other even tighter to make it clear to the fairy snare that they definitely didn't plan to.
