It was the day of the feast. All of Jacob’s friends were completely busy in the arrangements of the surprise party. James had informed all the Gryffindor students. Albus had decorated the common room just as it needed to be during Midnight and he had also bewitched the Common Room in such a way that the decorations wouldn’t reveal themselves until Midnight. Rose, Vanessa and Gabrielle had each bought tons of candy from Honeydukes, and had specially requested the elves in the Hogwarts kitchen to send a Birthday cake for Jacob. Everything had been finalized and Jacob didn’t have the slightest suspicion. It was Scorpius’s job to make sure that Jacob doesn’t enter the Common Room before midnight.

That night after supper, all the students went back to their dormitories except the Gryffindor students. Some of them chose to go to sleep instead of coming for the party, while others were glad to help Albus, Scorpius and James organize the party. Scorpius and Jacob went to the library, as Scorpius forced Jacob to accompany him to the library.

“It’s important for both of us to go together. We both need to do the transfiguration homework together!” Scorpius kept on saying.

“But why together?” Jacob asked, puzzled.

“You’ll see”, Scorpius replied, suppressing a smile.

Both of them spent a lot of time over the homework. When it was just five minutes to 12 `o’ clock, Scorpius pretended to yawn. “Hey Jake, how about we finish the rest of the thing tomorrow? I’m too sleepy to go on. After all, we have to submit it by day after. We’ve got enough time,” Scorpius said.

“I’m confused now! You just said it was important for us to do this together. I still don’t see why! You’re the one who wanted to do it right now, and now you’re saying that we’re not in a hurry! What is wrong with you today?” Jacob asked, half shouting.

“You’ll see,” Scorpius said peacefully. ‘Let’s go back to the Common room now.”
Scorpius gave the password to the fat Lady and Jacob and Scorpius stepped inside a dark common room.

“We’re here!” Scorpius muttered as a signal to the others who were waiting for him and Jacob. He grabbed Jacob’s arm and whispered, “Don’t move!”

“But why?” Jacob asked, amazed.

“You’ll see,” Scorpius said for the third time that night. That very moment, the room was fully lit and everyone burst into a “Happy Birthday” song. That definitely took Jacob by surprise. He hadn’t expected a surprise midnight feast and moreover, he hadn’t thought so many people would be there. Michael Sanders, the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, Barbara and Maria Meyers, the American twins. Jacob thanked everyone for the party. Everyone enjoyed the Honeydukes candies, and the scrumptious cake sent by the elves. They deserved special rewards for the cake.

The party went on for about an hour and everyone went to sleep after that. Scorpius was happy for his friend, but his own worries were haunting him day and night. His parents still hadn’t replied to his letter. He was getting a feeling that they were furious with him. They were ignoring the letter on purpose. However, he did not let his feelings show on the outside. He acted normally and cheerfully around everyone.

One day, when Scorpius and Albus were looking for Scorpius’s green jumper that his grandma narcissi had knitted for him, he saw Scram flying towards the Gryffindor tower with another letter. The reply! Scorpius immediately forgot about the jumper and snatched the letter out of Scram’s beak. In his anticipation, he even forgot to reward Scram with some owl snacks. He hurriedly tore open the envelope and started reading the letter.

“My Dearest Scorpius,
I am deeply saddened by the fact that you lied to your father the first time. I hope you know how much we both love you. What have we done that caused you to lie to us? Haven’t we always taught you that honesty lies ahead of everything else? Haven’t we always taught you that truthful people are always one step ahead of the rest because their heart is pure? Moreover, haven’t we always taught you that you should not discriminate between houses? No house is better or worse than the other. I still do not understand why you felt the need to lie. We never put you under any kind of pressure regarding what house we wanted you to be in.

Your father was a brave man. He faced a lot of troubles while he was in school. He didn’t want you to make the same mistakes as he had made. He didn’t want you to have an opinion about something at Hogwarts which had been influenced by him. He wanted you to find yourself, that’s why he never told you what house he wanted you to be in. Even after all this, he forgives you because he is proud of you. He learned what Gryffindors could do while he was at school. After graduating from Hogwarts, your father developed a great respect for Gryffindor as well as the other houses. That is how we tried to raise you.

I hope you understand what I mean by this. Remember, we will still be proud of you because you are friends with Albus potter. Don’t let your father’s past affect you. Have fun at school. And of course, we are not angry at you, and we hope that you won’t lie to us again.
Your Mother. “

Scorpius almost jumped up from his seat with joy after he finished reading the letter. Tears of happiness started streaming down his cheeks. He quickly wiped them away and folded the letter back into shape. Albus, who was still in the room looking for Scorpius’s jumper, when he noticed Scorpius jumping around the room, laughing. Shocked, he confronted Scorpius.

“Scorp, buddy, are you okay?” Albus asked.

“Oh Al, I’m happier than ever! My parents are not angry at me for lying!” Scorpius replied. He startled Albus by hugging him tightly.

“Uh… great, but you’re choking the breath out of me!” Albus panted. “I’ll go tell Rose.”

Scorpius released Albus and he went to call Rose and the others. Scorpius was alone in the room, not looking for his jumper, not writing a reply to his mother, just sitting and smiling to himself. After about a moment, he decided to go to the lake.

As Scorpius was sitting by the lake, all by himself, he realized that he was thinking about Rose. How he had liked her since the beginning, how she had helped him get over his fears, how she became his friend. Just then, he heard Rose’s voice behind him.

“I’m glad they weren’t mad!” Rose said quietly. She came and sat beside Scorpius.

“I’m glad too. It’s all because of you! You were the one who told me what I should do. I can never thank you enough,” Scorpius replied. He noticed that she was blushing.

“You don’t have to thank me, Scorp. I wanted to help you,” Rose said, smiling. She stared at Scorpius for a while, and then she leaned over and planted a soft kiss on his cheek. “Come one, we’re late for Charms!”

Rose got up and started walking back towards the castle. She knew that she was going to do well here. Scorpius was sure that he was going to enjoy his life at Hogwarts. As for Albus, he was hoping that his friends would stay happy forever. That was enough for him to be happy.


The End!