Rhyming with Wendy (Lysander/Albus)

Of all the shops in Diagon Alley, Flourish and Blotts was his least favourite. It wasn't because he disliked reading, oh no, he loved that. It was more because of the sheer enormity of books; it made it hard for him to choose. Plus, his pocket money wasn't very much and restricted him to the cheaper section, which was all "Freddie Frog's Grand Adventure" and "Rhyming with Wendy!" which he didn't like, because it didn't rhyme. Plus these books were belittling. He was nine, after all. He didn't need Wendy's help to compose a poem.

However, every now and again, Albus had to go into the bookstore and hunt around in the reduced items for some quality novel. On the rare occasion he had found something interesting, he would share it with his best friend, Lysander, which was what he planned to do today. Sure, he hadn't asked his Mum yet, but how hard could it be, sneaking round to the Scamander's with a bit of Floo?

"Dears, I will be back in half an hour," Luna Scamander told her sons, kissing both their foreheads. "Look out for the nargles, and don't talk to people who look like they don't want to talk," and with that she left. She had to go to the Newt's Eye, because they needed some new ingredients for the Potion they used around the house to keep away the nargles. Lys hated the Newt's Eye, since it was smelly. Lys hated smelly places, they made him sick. So, he and Lor could stay at the bookstore until their mum was finished. Lys grabbed his brother's hand and pulled the other inside with him.

Lys loved the bookstore, because he liked the silence and the smell of the books. He released his brother's hand. "I'm going to look there, you'll find me right?" he said, pointing to the left of the shop. Lor nodded and Lys made his way there. He knew that he probably wasn't able to buy all those books, but looking couldn't hurt.

Lys reached an aisle that seemed interesting, and darted inside. The titles of all the books were particularly strange. The nine year old reached the aisle next to the old one, and when he looked up he spotted someone he knew. He hadn't even known his friend was here! "Al!" he said, not too loudly of course, and he tackled his friend into a hug.

Albus looked up just as he was tackled.

"Ooft!" he exclaimed with a laugh. "Lys! What've you been eating?"

Nevertheless, he ruffled his friend's hair as he sat himself upright. "What are you doing here? I thought I'd have to read boring kid's books by myself again," he said, pouting.

"I'm not that heavy!" Lys said with a pout. He really wasn't, if anything he was a bit slender. He pushed himself off of his friend and upright, so he was leaning against one of the bookcases.

"Mum had to buy something in the Newt's Eye and dad had to work. She didn't want to leave us at home but I didn't want to go to the smelly shop. So she brought me and Lor here," Lys explained. He waved towards the other end of the shop; "Lor's there, or somewhere," he said with a nod.

"And you, are you here alone?" Lys asked. He immediately looked around to see if he could spot someone of Al's family. He just hoped James wasn't there, he didn't like his best friend's older brother that much.

"No, I kid, I kid," Albus said with a grin. "You aren't that heavy really." He rolled his eyes.

Running a hand through his dark hair, Albus looked around the shop. "I'm not sure where anyone is," he admitted. "Well, Dad's probably working. Mum's probably chatting to someone who cares about the Holyhead Harpies. James is probably somewhere doing something I don't want to know about. And Lily... Lily's probably having a tea party with some flowers or something." He shrugged. "So I came here."

He poked Lysander. "How are the Nargles these days?"

Lys let out a relieved sigh when he heard James wasn't here. He wondered if Albus came here all alone then? Lys would never dare to do something like that. Maybe with Lor, but not on his own. He would be way too scared to get lost or something, or not being able to get back home. No, Albus was probably a lot braver than him.

"Well, I haven't seen much of them lately, to be honest. I think it is because of the potion mum makes to chase them away. Even if it isn't there, they already think that it would be there, so they don't even try," Lys said. "Do you know if I left my mum's nargle glasses at your home last time? Because I can't find them anywhere," he asked, running his hand through his messy hair. "If they are not in your house, I think the nargles took them. Maybe they don't like to be looked at," Lys pondered.

"Hmm," agreed Albus with a small smile. "I think you might be on to something there, Ly."

He stood up and brushed the front of his jeans. "I tell you what, maybe you should read up on them." He scavenged through a pile of books, looking for something to keep his best friend entertained for a while.

His finger came across a book with the name Scamander on it. "Hey!" he called over to his friend. "Is this a relative of yours? Newt Scamand-" He was cut off as the book his hand had closed around slipped out and the tower of books toppled over like a Jenga tower.

"Whoops."

When Al got up Lys decided to just stay seated for a while, he didn't want to get up yet. Usually when Lys said thinks about nargles and other things that didn't sound completely normal, people made fun of him. Albus never did though, that was why he was Lys' best friend. He had been ever since they had met. He was almost just as close with Al as he was with Lor, and that said something, since the Scamander twins were nearly inseparable.

Al walked over to a pile of books, and Lysander wasn't really listening to what the other said because he just knew the pile would... It fell. Lys quickly jumped to his feet to see if Al was okay and to help him clean the books up again. You couldn't just leave them on the ground.

"You were saying?" Lys asked, picking up two books off the floor and starting to built a new tower.

Albus grinned as Lysander helped him to restack the books. "I was asking you if this was some relative of yours. Newt Scamander. He might be, you never know."

He twisted his hands together and leant back against a wall. Nargles were a common topic between them; Lysander had a very astute interest in them and Albus was more than willing to listen to his theories. He didn't even need to be told by his parents to be polite; he was genuinely interested in everything his friend had to say.

"Lys?" he asked curiously, "What do Nargles actually look like?"

Lys looked up at the mention of that name. "He is, actually. Newt is my dad's grandfather, so that makes him," he thought for a moment. "My great grandfather I think," he then said. Lys could remember his father talking about Newt Scamander before, but he couldn't actually remember what he had said. "I never met him though," he said as he picked up the last book to complete the pile they rebuilt. It was probably more stable than the last one, but a bit more chaotic.

Then Al asked what Nargles looked like and Lys stared at him a bit puzzled. "They never look the same, but they never look different either," Lys said, chewing on his lower lip.

"They're colorful and there is never just one of them, always at least three. They're pretty too, but mum says I can't go near to them. You can borrow my glasses, if you want? When I find them again. So you can see them for yourself?" he said, releasing his lip again before his teeth would pierce the skin.

"Wow, yeah," Albus said with a grin. "And then you can show Auntie Hermione and she'll have to believe that they're real."

He grinned. "Nargles sound like a lot of trouble. I'm not sure if I'm glad I've never seen one or not though, I'd quite like to look at them. I don't know if James or Lily have ever seen them though. I bet they have. They always know more stuff than me." He pouted.

He sat down cross-legged and sighed. "I really want an ice cream."