Illicit Affairs

ONE

On the first day of September, as the new term beckoned the students of Hogwarts, the train departed King's Cross at the stroke of 11. Hours meandered by. Albus Potter reclined in his seat, raven locks cascading over his brow. He peered at Matthias Hastings, seated opposite him. In time, Potter craned his neck out of the compartment, searching for his chums, the newly minted prefects, Scorpius Malfoy and Kira Black, who had earlier slipped away to the prefects' meeting.

"Blimey, they've been out for a good half hour. What on earth could they be nattering about at that Prefects' meeting?" Albus mused, tidying his tousled hair.

"Do you reckon I'd have the foggiest, Al?" Hastings exhaled. "By the way, did you catch wind of Peakes naming Kira as the new captain?"

"She's earned it, hands down. She's smashing, so perhaps we'll outplay James this year. Fingers crossed, eh?"

Potter's gaze drifted to the window, the pastoral scene unfolding. Trees swayed in the breeze, animals dotted the fields.

"Reckon I stand a shot at making the team this year, Al?" The question, posed by those cerulean eyes, interrupted his reverie.

"Well..." Albus began, "You're acquainted with my brother, aren't you? He plays a tough game, and he's a captain too. It won't be a walk in the park to make the cut. More so since you're tight with me, with us, Matt. But show your mettle, and you're in with a shout, mate. And that's not just chinwag."

As Black and Malfoy remained absent, Matt and Albus patronized the Trolley witch. They snagged Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Chocolate Frogs for themselves and for Kira and Scorpius, exchanging galleons with the crone. Each bean they sampled painted their faces with expressions of either revulsion or pleasure—vomit and green apple eliciting the most vivid. Albus grimaced at the lemon-flavored bean.

"How. Much. Longer. Must. We. Wait?" Albus proclaimed, thumping his head against the chair's back with each syllable. "Honestly, why can't Scorp pop out a tad earlier, so we can gab about Kira's impending birthday bash?"

"Speaking of revelations, have you spilled the beans to your folks yet?" Matthias's inquiry was cut short by a gentle jab from Albus.

"Ease up, mate. I'm itching to tell them, but I'm at sixes and sevens about it, and you're the only one in the know."

Just then, a chorus of giggles echoed from the corridor.

"Talk of Old Nick," Hastings quipped.

"Or a pair of them!" Albus chimed in.

The compartment door swung open, and in barreled Scorpius and Kira, towing Rose in their wake.

"Hiya, lads!" greeted the ginger-haired lass, her Prefect badge gleaming on her school uniform.

"Rose Minerva Granger-Weasley, out with it!" Albus declared, his smirk broadening. "Where've you been since we upped anchor from King's Cross? The Prefects' Meeting's only just wrapped. You're not keeping secrets, are you?"

"Actually," Kira interjected, her eyes twinkling, "Rose has got someone she's dying for you blokes to meet. Step up, Rose."

Rose playfully rebuked Kira.

Matthias ventured, "Is it a lad?"

"A lass?"

"Someone with a pulse?" he ribbed.