Soldiers and Serpents //Scorbus

2 Confrontation

As the boys approached Slughorn's office in the dark, Scorpius used his wand for light, extending his arm in front of his body. Albus followed behind him, which Scorpius kept track of from the footsteps on the stone floors. When they stopped outside the door, the Malfoy boy knocked twice, waiting for a response. When there wasn't any, he concluded the professor had simply locked up and left for the night. "Alohomora." The charm is whispered and the door unlocks. Scorpius pushes the door open and gestures for Albus to go in first.

When inside, the Malfoy closes the door behind them and tucks his wand into his pocket. Since it was a particularly longer wand, the majority of it stuck out on one end. The office was quiet, particles of dust flew in the air as Albus walked over to his desk and opened it up. "Why did you come with me?" The Potter asks, opening up drawers and peering inside them. Scorpius walked over to a file cabinet, reading the labels. Student files were sorted by years.

"Why not?" Scorpius replies, answering a question with a question, like always. He could feel the other boy rolling his eyes without even seeing it.

"We aren't friends. Why act like it?" Albus inquired more directly, pulling out a small wooden box from one of the desk drawers. Scorpius opened up the drawer from his father's graduating year, thumbing through the folders until he sees his name. For a kid who was subconsciously trying to still gain his fathers approval, he didn't even think about any other person's information to look for.

"Every question you ask can get the same answer." Scorpius snorts, opening his father's folder up curiously. When the Potter didn't reply, Scorpius looked around the file cabinet to see him reading pieces of parchment. "What did you find?"

"Letters." He answers, and frowns. "But they don't mention any names. Probably to keep nosey students from deciphering them." Albus adds with a note of disdain, setting the paper down. "What about you?" Scorpius looks down at the file in his hands, school pictures of his father were there. A scribbled drawing of the dark Mark was in his folder as well. Along with newspaper clippings from the time of Voldemort. It was rather a full folder compared to other students. It would take Scorpius awhile to go through it.

"Nothing interesting so far." Malfoy shrugs, and turns back to the file cabinet, opening the drawer of this year. His blue eyes scan the names, pausing when he sees Daniel's. Scorpius tucks his father's file under his arm and grabs the Slytherin boy's. He was about to shut the drawer when his eyes spot his own folder. Internally debating whether to take it or not, Malfoy finally pulls his out and opens it.

To his dismay, it was completely empty.

"What is it?" Albus's voice touches his ears, having come up beside him. "Is that yours? Why is it empty?"

"Well..." Scorpius trails off for a moment but then puts on his face. "When one's got nothing nice to say, right?" He closes the empty folder and puts it back, holding out Daniel's file for Potter to take. It didn't make much sense. Scorpius was in Quidditch- up until this year- he was a tutor for Herbology last year. That kind of stuff should be in a school file. Even his marks should be there. Yet it was incredibly barren from any grade report. All the trouble he's gotten into- that should be there too. "Did you get what you wanted?"

Albus holds onto the wooden box and Daniel's file, shrugging. "Hopefully."

Scorpius gestures to the door and they silently exit the office, locking it up behind them. The Slytherin dungeon common rooms are empty when they return. Scorpius takes a seat on the couch and opens his father's file back up, starting to look through it. Albus does the same with Daniel's, sitting at the opposite end of the couch. The brunette boy brings his feet up to sit criss-cross.