The entire Great Hall was silent. Everyone was looking at the doors, listening to the loud crashing that could be heard from beyond.
Bang!
"OW THAT HURT!"
"THAT WAS THE IDEA, DUNG BRAIN!"
Another bang sounded and the doors to the great hall slammed open. Scorpius Malfoy and Albus Potter came tumbling through the doors, and fell to the floor with a resounding thud.
"Stupefy!"Albus yelled, his wand aimed at Scorpius.
As Scorpius was hit with the spell and knocked backwards, Albus was dragged along with him and it became clear that someone had magically attached Scorpius' left ankle to Albus' right one. The boys landed in a heap a few feet from the doors and scrambled to get up, kicking and clawing at each other.
"You idiot!" Scorpius yelled, knocking Albus over and himself in the process.
"What is the meaning of this?" the boys heard a stern voice ask. They looked up to see Minerva McGonagall, Hogwarts Headmistress, looking down at them impatiently. Both Albus and Scorpius began yelling explanations at the same time, making it impossible to understand a word either of them was saying.
"My office this instant," McGonagall stated, waving her wand and freeing the boys' ankles.
Albus and Scorpius got up and muttered insults at each other as they trudged towards McGonagall's office.
...
"Explain now," Headmistress McGonagall said, trying her best to sound patient.
"James jinxed our legs together and wouldn't let us go!" Albus yelled, "I was just trying to get to the Great Hall, where James was, to get him to break the jinx."
"And the whole way there he kept hexing me, and hitting me with stuff, and dragging me along!" Scorpius added angrily.
"I will talk to James later about jinxing you together," McGonagall said, "But right now, it is you two who are in trouble not James. You are in your sixth year, and you still bicker like children. Why haven't you learned to get along by now?"
"Because he's a stupid Hufflepuff," Albus muttered, glaring at Scorpius.
"What does me being a Hufflepuff have to do with it?" Scorpius stood up and towered over Albus, "And while we're at it, there is nothing wrong with being a Hufflepuff! It's better than being a damn Slytherin!"
"Language!" McGonagall cut in, but it did no good. Albus and Scorpius were yelling too loudly to hear her.
"Slytherin is a great house!" Albus said, "I'm proud to be a Slytherin!"
"And maybe I like being a Hufflepuff!"
"That's why in our first year I heard you crying about how scared you were about telling your mum and dad where the sorting t put you," Albus huffed.
"I don't care what my dad thinks! And anyway, he's wasn't too upset about it…" Now six years later, Scorpius actually laughed at the idea of seeing his father read his letter stating that he was a Hufflepuff. "He told me it doesn't matter what house I am as long as I make him proud."
"You're such a daddy's boy!" Albus said.
"Coming from the guy who writes his mum every week right?"
Albus blushed. "Shut it."
"Boys, stop arguing!" McGonagall said loud enough to get their attention, "Next time I find you two fighting, with or without wands, I will give you both a month of detention. For now, 10 points from each of your houses. Now leave my office."
"Yes, Headmistress," the boys said in unison. They left the office and as soon as the door shut, they began hurling insults at one another.
"Listen, I don't care what you have to say right now. At the moment, I'm going to go kill my brother," Albus said, storming off towards the Gryffindor Common Room.
Scorpius stared at Albus as he rounded the corner, then turned around and walked towards the Hufflepuff common room.
...
"How dare you jinx me to Scorpius Malfoy?" Albus yelled, aiming his wand towards James.
"Easy there," James said, "I was only trying to move your budding romance along."
"Budding-WHAT?" Albus' wand lowered a fraction as he registered what his brother was accusing. "I'm not into blokes."
"Sure you're not," James said, rolling his eyes, "The way you and Scorpius argue, you might as well already be married."
"Shut up!"
"At least Scorpius can admit that he likes blokes," James said, sitting in a chair by the fireplace.
Albus muttered a string of profanities and stormed up to his room, slamming down on the bed with such force that for a moment he was afraid it would fall apart.
"What does James know?" he muttered angrily, "I do NOT like Scorpius Malfoy!"
...
"This is getting quite old," Lily pointed out to James as they listened to Albus and Scorpius arguing as they all sat outside when classes were out.
"I agree," James nodded, "I think it's time we get serious about getting those two together."
"But Albus won't admit he likes Scorpius. He won't even admit he likes blokes."
"Excuse me, baby sister. This is James Potter you're talking to. I always have a plan."
"That usually end in detention…" Lily added.
...
"LET US OUT!" Albus screamed, banging on the locked door desperately.
"Shut up, will you?" Scorpius hissed, "It's no use."
"I will not shut up," Albus said, "I am going to kill James when he lets me out of here. I don't see what he thinks locking us in a closet together will accomplish. Unless he wants one of us to die."
"Well it's not going to be me," Scorpius said, pulling out his wand.
Albus pulled out his own wand and aimed it at Scorpius. "You couldn't jinx me if your life depended on it."
"Impedimenta!" Scorpius uttered, causing Albus to hit the wall behind him. The closet they were locked in was very small and didn't allow much movement, but Albus reacted quickly and sent a Jelly-Legs Jinx at Scorpius, who immediately fell to the floor.
"Avis!" Scorpius said, followed by "Oppugno!" and the single bird that had materialized from his wand attacked Albus before bursting into a pile of yellow feathers.
Before Albus could retaliate, Scorpius waved his wand and the Jelly-Legs Jinx disappeared. He stood up quickly and pointed his wand at Albus' face. "Obscuro!" he said confidently, and a blindfold appeared around Albus' eyes.
"Hey!" Albus yelled, swinging his hands around and making contact with Scorpius' cheek.
"I'm sick of fighting with you!" Scorpius exclaimed, "It's getting rather old and I'd prefer if we just ended it!"
"And how do you suppose we do that?" Albus asked, still flinging his hands around, hoping to hit Scorpius again.
In one motion, Scorpius held Albus' hands at his side and moved closer to him, kissing him. For a moment, Albus struggled to back away, but was trapped against the wall. After another moment, Scorpius felt Albus return the kiss and they both sank to the closet floor.
Scorpius pulled away and smiled smugly.
"How about like that?" he asked.
"I- I-" Albus stuttered, "Scorpius, I-…"
"So does that mean you are into blokes after all?" Scorpius asked.
In response, Albus found Scorpius' lips again and kissed him harder.
The closet door opened and because Albus and Scorpius had been leaning against it, they fell to the floor next to each other.
"I don't hear any screaming," James said, looking down at the pair, "Does that mean you've decided to quit arguing every time you see each other?" He noticed the blindfold on Albus and raised his eyebrows. "Do I even want to know what you two were doing?"
"Let's just say your stupid plan to get us together worked," Albus said, finding his way to his feet. "Now get this thing off me."
"About that…." Scorpius said sheepishly, "I don't know the counter jinx."
"YOU WHAT?" Albus yelled.
Scorpius silenced him with another kiss, but when he pulled away Albus kept yelling. "SCORPIUS YOU IDIOT YOU BETTER FIND A WAY TO GET THIS BLINDFOLD OFF OF ME!"
"I guess in love or not, you two will never stop arguing," James laughed, covering his ears and leaving the arguing couple in the middle of the empty hallway.