Albus woke up in the chair he had fallen asleep in. He hadn't felt tired at all... He had just...fallen asleep. He stretched then looked around. There was no one else in the Common room, and the fire was out. Albus glanced down at his watch and noted it was time for breakfast, which was probably why no one was in the Common room... Albus got up slowly. He wasn't in any hurry. He knew that by going through the day like nothing was wrong would be a lie... But he knew he had to.
Albus entered the Great Hall and sighed. Only two people were missing from the teacher's table. Hagrid and Professor Longbottom. Albus slumped over to the Griffindor table and slid into the seat next to James.
"Hey, little brother." James said, smiling at him. Albus nodded and took a waffle off a nearby plate and plopped it onto his own. "How'd you sleep?" James asked, trying to start up a conversation. Albus merely shrugged again while poking at his waffle.
"Hey, Albus!" Albus swallowed hard and turned in his seat to see pale little Scorpio Malfoy standing behind him, wearing a small smile.
"Oh, hello, Scorpio..." Albus said slowly while looking away.
"Um, where's Andrea?" Scorpio asked, looking around the Griffindor table. Albus reviewed the story in his head before answering.
"She tripped on a root that she didn't see and scratched herself up REALLY badly. She's in the hospital wing right now, but there's a curtain around her bed because her face is all scratched up and she's kinda embarrassed about how it looks, so you probably shouldn't go see her."
"I don't care how she looks, I just want to talk to her." Scorpio replied. Albus couldn't tell if Scorpio bought the story or not.
"Well, she's not in the best shape for talking if you ask me." James interjected. "Right, Sam?"
Samantha stopped chewing her bacon and glared at him.
"Right..." Albus said, looking slowly away from Samantha.
"Why isn't she in the best shape for talking?" Asked Scorpio. He evidently hadn't bought the story, Albus decided. Albus opened his mouth to reply when the owls all flew in, soaring over the heads of the students.
"Look! Mum and dad must have sent us a letter, Derek!" Holly cried, looking up. A auburn colored owl swooped down and dropped a letter and a small package in between Holly and Derek. Holly picked them up gingerly and handed the letter to Derek. It had his name on it. The package had Holly's name on it. Albus turned to watch as Holly opened the package. Anything to use as an excuse to look away from Scorpio was good for him.
"Oh!" Holly exclaimed, an excited smile appearing on her face. She pulled out a piece of thin rope that was tied at the back to make it a circle. Holly put it around her neck and looked at the small medallion hanging off of it.
"That's a pretty cool necklace, Holly. Did your mom or dad get it?" Asked Samantha with a smile. Holly pulled a small note out of the box the necklace was in and read it.
"It's from mum." She said softly. "Says it's a charm to keep the nargles away." Holly smiled and fingered the charm fondly. "I've been wanting one for ages."
Derek shook his head while all of the others stared at her like she was insane.
"I'll see you later, Albus." Scorpio said softly as he turned and walked away. Albus sighed and James thumped him on the back.
"Good job, Albus! That just about sounded like a true story!" James said more loudly than Albus would have liked.
"Yeah, brilliant job of LYING." Samantha said, glaring in Albus's direction.
"I don't feel good about it, all right?" Albus said glumly, looking down at his food. He had suddenly lost the little bit of appetite he had left...
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