The Forgotten Zodiac

"Hey!" James dropped his arm away from Albus' head and jabbed at his ribs. Apparently, physical violence was his love language. "I didn't forget; I just didn't immediately remember. There's a difference."
"I'm sure you're brilliant." Scorpius commented, feeling the need to say something before the conversation left him behind. He skeptically evaluated James and wrapped one arm around his plate. "Don't touch my food."

"Don't worry about that, Scorpius," Albus said, smiling slightly. "We've got that whole library of curses as Slytherins, right? I bet James wouldn't dare cross you," he said. He had let out a small yelp and jerked away as James jabbed him in the ribs. Pulling out his wand, Albus reciprocted in kind, trying to poke James' face.

Ewan chuckled as he watched the familial interaction. "That's true. Besides, I know from experience that it's impossible to steal one person's food and hassle the someone else, and James seems pretty intent on hassling Al."
"I suppose." Scorpius agreed reluctantly. He kept his arm around his plate, however, and maintained a steady glare at James, who was not helping his own case. Trying to catch your brother's wand in your mouth while poking said brothe rin the eye did not radiate maturity.

Albus was grinning away as he thought that he was winning, before flincing as James actually suceeded in poking him in the eye. "Ow, James! Lumos!" he said. Since his wand was already close to his brother's face, the simple wand illumination spell might actually prove effective in getting his brother to back off.

"Hey!" James shouted and fell backward. He recovered his balance just before falling off the bench by grabbing the table and his brother and using them to pull himself up. "That's not fair, Albus. You can't cheat just because you're a Slytherin. It's not fair." Still scowling at his younger brother, he straightened up and stole a strip of bacon off his brother's plate. Apparently stealing wasn't wrong, just cheating.

Albus scowled at James, but decided that a cease-fire might prove beneficial... that is, until he processed the dig at his new House standing, and the fact that James had just stolen from him. He gripped his wand, trying to remember the spell he'd been studying in preparation for Transfiguration today, before recalling it and flicking his wand at the bacon in James' hand.

"Lapifors!" he commanded, watching as hair grew all over the bacon. After a couple seconds, a distinct pair of rabbit ears emerged as well, and the "bacon" began to wriggle in James' hand.

Well, it wasn't perfect, but he hadn't expected it to be, and the look on James' face was well worth it.

"Hey!" James, who had been trying to take a bite when the bacon began its transformation, grabbed a napkin and spat into it repeatedly, trying to wipe the taste from his tongue. "Hey!" The Potter pulled out his wand and pointed it at Albus' plate. "Avifors!" Again, the spell was only partially successful; but the transformed plate coated any food that didn't fall to the floor in feathers. "Jerk."

Albus scowled at his plate, but he had been pretty much done eating anyways. As it were, he just crossed his arms and stared at his brother. "Anything else you wanted?" he asked, considering them even now.

James appeared to think for a moment, then shrugged. "I guess that's it for today. You made me ruin all the good food over here anyway." He stood up and stepped away from the table, slapping the back of Albus' head again. He stopped four or five strides away and turned around, calling a last message back to his younger brother. "Oh, by the way, Al, I'm writing Mom and Dad the end of this week, and, if you haven't told them by then, I'll do it myself." That threat delivered, James rushed off to reunite with his friends at the Gryffindor table. Some of them might have leftover bacon.

Albus' scowl at being whacked on the back of the head morphed to a much more serious frown at James' threat, and he turned back to the table looking a bit worried. His plate covered in feathers had vanished - he suspected House Elf magic was behind it - so he rested his elbows in the place it had previously occupied and sat his chin in his hands, waiting for Ewan and Scorpius to finish with their meal.

Ewan and Scorpius finished surprisingly quickly, and they made up for time lost that morning by finishing breakfast earlier than most others. The latter rose almost immediately and looked around. "Shall we go get our books? Yesterday, there were Gryffindors in class before us four times, and we only beat them twice, so we have to beat them at least twice today just to break even."
Ewan stood up shortly after Scorpius and laughed when he heard his friend reveal their class arrival stats. "Why would you keep track of that? It's not that important, so long as we get better grades than they do. Time of arrival doesn't matter."

"I brought my book with me," Albus said, pulling the thick Transfiguration book out from under the bench. "I thought that if you guys didn't entertain me enough at breakfast, I could at least learn a few more spellwords." Albus shrugged. "You guys said you didn't want to lose any time, so I figured that this is what you meant. You didn't bring your books?" he asked with mock horror. "The Gryffindors are going to beat us."

Scorpius turned, continuing to walk backward, delivered the Malfoy sneer and scoffed at Albus. "We were hurrying to get to the food. It's not our fault you had us in such a rush we weren't ready to go to class." He spun around again and marched out of the Great hall, pretending to be annoyed with Albus.

Scorpius' act was quite believable, as Albus found himself with a sinking feeling in his stomach. "Hey, wait, I'm sorry!" he called, chasing after the other two Slytherins. "I'll come with you, if you want," he offered.

Ewan also believed Scorpius' act; he chased after the other Slytherin until they were side by side and then slowed down slightly so Albus could catch up. "C'mon, Scorpius! Don't freak out; he didn't mean it. He was just joking." The boy glanced back and forth between his two friends, hoping to see one of them relent.
Scorpius did immediately after he realized that Albus had no idea he was faking it. As fun as it might be to control Albus that way, it might also start a feud, and he didn't want to start a fight this early in the school year. "I was joking, Albus. C'mon, let's just go get the books."

It was with immense relief that Albus smiled as Scorpius confessed to just be joking, but he wanted to be sure. "You mean it? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to put us behind," he repeated, still looking slightly worried that Scorpius was still upset. But the dismissal of his worries seemed real enough, so he said, "Don't do that again. It was way too believable."

"Sure, sure, whatever." Scorpius dismissed Albus' concerns and increased his walking speed. They reached the Slytherin dungeons quickly, and the conversation ceased while Scorpius and Ewan scrambled for their books. The books were easily located, so it was less than five minutes before they were on their way toward the North Tower and tranfiguration classroom.

"Sure, sure, whatever." Scorpius dismissed Albus' concerns and increased his walking speed. They reached the Slytherin dungeons quickly, and the conversation ceased while Scorpius and Ewan scrambled for their books. The books were easily located, so it was less than five minutes before they were on their way toward the North Tower and tranfiguration classroom.

Albus waited for the other two in the Common Room, looking out into Black Lake as he did and thinking about James' reminder that he still hadn't told his parents about how he'd been sorted into the wro-- into Slytherin. He frowned slightly, wondering if his dad had truly meant it when he'd said he would be proud of Albus no matter what, when--

Ewan and Scorpius had come back downstairs, and Albus' thoughts were interrupted as he hurried with them to class.

"What's with you, Albus?" Ewan demanded suddenly. "Scorpius has been freaky and quiet the whole time he was here, so that's normal, but you talked all day yesterday. Why the sudden quiet?" He hadn't been paying much attention to James' conversation with Albus to realize that they were probably related.
Scorpius looked over at Ewan and frowned slightly, unsure if Ewan was joking or being serious, then unsure if he was offended either way. "I talk when I have things to say. I just don't have to talk all the time, like some people feel the need to."