Chapter 12

                                    

                                          
Scorpius and Albus had woken early, despite having stayed up most of the night. Scorpius oversaw Albus writing his letter to his father, the famous Harry Potter. He could hear his fathers voice sneering as he thought those words. 
                          
It was a simple letter. They had decided that was best. More like a note.
                          
Dad,
                          
Delphi is here. She's hiding in the shrieking shack. 
                          
Albus
                          
Despite it being such a short letter, it had taken them several drafts before they decided getting straight to the point was for the best. No need for the hows or whens just yet. 
                          
As soon as they were finished they rushed up to the owlery, and the letter was off.
                          
They were some of the first to arrive in the Great Hall for breakfast. Rose was quick to follow them. It seemed she had also had an early morning.
                          
Instead of heading to the Gryffindor table, she walked over to them. "Hey," she said in a soft voice. "I just thought I would tell you two - since we didn't get much of a chance to talk... I sent an owl to my mum."
                          
"I sent one to my dad," Albus replied. 
                          
Scorpius felt weird that he was the only one who hadn't sent a letter to his parent. 
                          
"Thanks," Rose said to both of them. "I think we've all done the right thing." She gave a seductive smile to Scorpius, which made him briefly forget everything that had happened. He beamed back at her. 
                          
Halfway through breakfast, Professor McGonagall approached Scorpius and Albus. She told them they needed to come with her. Then she swiftly strode over to the Gryffindor table and fetched Rose. 
                          
She led them to the entrance of her office. "Banana Tarte," she said to the Gargoyle, and it moved aside revealing the spiral staircase that led to the office.
                          
They ascended the staircase. They all had a good idea why they were there.
                          
As they had suspected, their parents were waiting for them in McGonagall's office. Even Draco Malfoy, Scorpius's father. He was standing off to the side. Hermione, Ron, Harry and Ginny were all eagerly awaiting them, worry painted all over their faces. 
                          
"Albus," Harry said. "Tell us what happened." 
                          
Albus was silent. He turned to face Scorpius and Rose. He seemed to be asking with his eyes whether or not it was okay to tell the truth.
                          
"I snuck out after dinner and went to the shrieking shack," Scorpius said.
                          
There was a moment of silence.
                          
"Scorpius," Malfoy hissed, "tell the truth."
                          
"I am," Scorpius said. "I had heard about a tunnel leading from the whomping willow to the shrieking shack and wanted to check it out. That's when I heard Delphi."
                          
There was a sound of scurrying up the stairs. Professor Longbottom barged in, panting and looking bedraggled. 
                          
"Hello Minerva," he said curtly. And then with more excitement, "Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, great to see you all." And then added, "hello Malfoy."
                          
"What is it Longbottom?" McGonagall asked.
                          
"I saw these three along with Hugo and Lily standing around the whomping willow last night. I sent them all to their common rooms." 
                          
"And  you didn't deduct points or let anyone know?" McGonagall asked sharply.
                          
"Well, I just thought they were kids having a bit of fun, you know? It didn't seem like they were up to much."
                          
"Tell us again," McGonagall said to Scorpius, "what happened."
                          
"I made him do it," Rose almost shouted. 
                          
"What?" Harry was looking dumbfounded.
                          
"I remembered you two," she gestured to her parents, "telling me about the tunnel to the shrieking shack. I used Wingardium Leviosa to push a rock into the knot of the tree, and brought Scorpius with me."
                          
"Why?" Ginny asked, sounding utterly confused.
                          
"Well," Rose stammered. "Me and Scorpius had been on a... on a date. Hugo interrupted. We were in Hogsmeade standing outside of the shrieking shack, and I just thought it would be a..."
                          
"A nice place for a date?" Harry roared. "Are you kidding me? Oh yes, a nice night out in the shrieking shack?" He was shaking his head, looking disappointed. "And what about you, Albus? How do you fit into this story?"
                          
"Hugo and Lily were trying to..." He trailed off.
                          
"They don't like me," Scorpius said coldly. "They don't trust me with Rose and wanted to find us so they could tell Rose how she couldn't go off with me because I'm a Slytherin." There was malice and resentment in his voice. "Albus was trying to stop them. He saw them following after us, and wanted to let us have some time alone."
                          
There were a few moments of silence before Hermione spoke. "Listen," she said. "The most important matter at hand is the fact that Delphi could very well be nearby, and broken out of Azkaban. All else is a personal matter that we as parents will deal with, and Professor McGonagall as headmaster. For now, I think we should focus on the possible imminent danger that we are facing." 
                          
Everyone seemed to agree with this, although reluctantly. Ron was looking positively horrified at the thought of his daughter dating a Malfoy. 
                          
"What did you hear?" Hermione asked.
                          
Scorpius and Rose retold all they had heard her say. All of their parents, and the professors looked dark, turning to each other periodically to exchange concerned looks.
                          
"Right," Hermione said. "I will return to The Ministry at once. I will have the shrieking shack as well as Azkaban investigated as to the whereabouts of Delphi."
                          
They all began turning toward the fireplace. Harry was last, and before going to use the floo network approached the three of them.
                          
"Be careful," he said in a hushed tone. "Don't go looking for trouble."
                          
"Gee, haven't heard that a million times dad," said Albus.
                          
"I'm serious," he said. "You've already seen what Delphi is capable of. Just..." He put his head down. "If anything happened to any of you," he said raising his head, making eye contact with all three of them. "I'd never be able to live with it." He seemed to pause longer to look at Scorpius, as if to tell him that he meant he cared about him too. Scorpius had a sudden urge to cry, but he didn't. He had never had acknowledgement from the Potter family, and this was like he was finally being accepted.