Garbled Parsletongue

I've decided that it would be fun to cause some problems for the boys, and so this one's going to continue. Apologies for this very brief bridge chapter. This part should really have just been added to the end of the last one, but I didn't want to just  drop it in there, and risk confusing anyone who's already read that part, back when it was just a one-shot. Thanks in advance for your forebearance!

“What do you mean, imminent conversations?” Albus repeated dumbly.

“There’s less than two weeks now until break,” Scorpius pointed out unhelpfully. “I would say that qualifies as imminent.”

“I don’t understand how that has anything to do with telling our parents about us,” Albus yelped.

Scorpius frowned. “Well...we’ll be home, then,” he said, as if that explained everything.

“That explains nothing,” Albus retorted. “What does us being home have to do with telling them things?”

“Because we’ll be able to speak to them face-to-face,” Scorpius replied. He had gone very pale. “So we can...can tell them, you know, things. Us. Everything.”

Albus started. “Are you mental?” he yelped. “Why would we tell them that?”

Scorpius stared at Albus, and his grey eyes were suddenly chill and distant. “I see,” he said coolly, and stood up. Without another word, Scorpius walked out of the dormitory, leaving Albus alone behind him, gaping like a landed fish.

“Scor, wait!” Albus cried, and took off after his friend, but if Scorpius heard, he did not listen. When Albus clattered into the common room, it was empty, the heavy stone wall sliding shut with a hollow silence that reverberated like a gong in the pit of Albus’s stomach.

He swallowed hard and, much as he wanted to chase after his friend, Albus found that he simply could not move.