Chapter One: Making A Date
Scorpius Malfoy walked into the Great Hall with his best friend. "Hey Al, d'you reckon I could get your cousin?" he asked the taller boy, "Al? Albus? ALBUS POTTER!" The other boy jumped and quickly pushed his glasses further up his freckled nose.
"Sorry Scorp, I was daydreaming," Albus grinned and lightly punched the blonde's shoulder. "What did you ask?"
Scorpius rolled his eyes. "I asked you if you thought I'd have a chance at getting with Rose. Y'know, your favorite cousin?"
"Probably," Albus squinted over to the Gryffindor table and waved at his large family. James, Lily, and Hugo waved back right away. He grinned. This was their custom, the three of them would wait for his wave, then make Rose look up from whatever book she was reading to wave to Albus. He waited patiently and sure enough, there was another quick movement as Rose lifted her head to grin at her favorite cousin.
Scorpius waved sarcastically at James behind Al's back. Everyone knew that Scorpius and the eldest Potter didn't get along. Albus wanted them to become friends, but both rivals knew it would never happen. Scorpius would never miss a chance to taunt Potter, and James would never pass up an opportunity to try and humiliate Scorpius. It was a way of life, and both boys were happy with it.
"Is it just me, or does this term seem like a breeze compared to last year?" Albus asked as he reached for a piece of toast.
Scorpius considered the question as he ate a bite of eggs. "It's not as bad as OWL year, definitely, but it's not like the work has gotten easier. The professors just aren't pushing us as hard now that we've gotten through our OWLs."
Albus nodded, "Maybe I was exaggerating." He took a bite of bacon, chewed slowly, and stuck out his food-covered tongue.
"Gross! Put that thing away!" Scorpius laughed and pushed his friend sideways. Albus pushed back, and soon enough they were in a shoulder war, neither of them noticing the brown-haired 7th year watching them silently from the other end of the Slytherin table.
"Oi! Potter and Malfoy! Quit that, or I'll give you detention!" The brunette boy shouted quickly from down the long table. Albus and Scorpius stopped pushing each other at once.
"Yes, Ryan," they called back in unison, grinning.
Albus reached his head down and whispered in the blonde's ear, "Crisby's so full of it, isn't he?"
Scorpius nodded and quickly shoved his last bite of toast into his mouth. "Well, we'd better be off. We wouldn't want to miss an opportunity to study with your dear cousin in the library, now would we?"
Albus watched as Scorpius picked up his bag and muttered sarcastically to himself, "Of course not, why miss a chance to court Rosie?"
Scorpius glanced at his best friend, "Did you say something?"
Albus shook his head quickly and stood up. "Well? Are we going to the library or not?" Scorpius rolled his eyes at the taller boy and started walking to the doors with Albus right behind him.
Scorpius glanced over his shoulder at his friend and called, "Hurry up, aren't you excited for study time?"
" Thrilled," Albus grumbled as he trailed behind the blonde, "Look, no offense, but you are being obvious beyond belief."
"Only in front of you, silly. When I'm around Rose, I'm a true Slytherin. I hide everything. By the way, could you find out who she likes for me?"
Albus nodded wearily and jogged a few steps to catch up with Scorpius. "So, what's your plan to get my cousin?"
"Oh, that?" Scorpius raised an eyebrow at his friend. "Isn't it obvious?"
The blonde smiled at his friend's blank expression. "The only subject she has trouble with is Potions, right? Well, Potions is my best subject. I'll offer to tutor her. It's the perfect plan. It gets us alone, and in close contact. See my brilliance?"
"Oh, forgive me for ever doubting your plotting abilities," Albus shot back sarcastically.
Scorpius pushed him into the wall and ran off, laughing madly. Albus pushed off the wall and dashed after his friend.
He promptly ran around a corner into Professor Longbottom. "Careful there Albus," his godfather said, "You don't want to hurt someone by accident."
"Of course not Professor," Albus said quickly, "I'm just trying to save Scorp from doing anything more idiotic than usual. I'll see you in Herbology!"
Neville chuckled to himself as he watched the miniature Harry run down the corridor to a patiently waiting miniature Draco. He often wondered how the boys dealt with their families ideas about each other. He supposed that with true friends, other opinions didn't matter. He soon forgot his pondering however, as he returned to Greenhouse 3 and had to rescue a Mandrake from being strangled by a Venomous Tentacula.
-Scorpius and Albus slowly walked into the library and paused, looking around.
"Where d'you reckon she is?" Scorpius muttered out of the side of his mouth as he scanned the cavernous room.
Just as Albus opened his mouth to answer, they heard a voice call out quietly, "Oi! Albus! Malfoy! I'm over here!" They looked in the direction of the voice and saw a pair of brown eyes framed by a book and a mess of frizzy orange hair.
"There's your answer," Albus grinned as they walked over to Rose's table. "Hullo Rosie. Mind if we sit here?"
Rose shook her head and smiled at the pair as they sat down. "You two seemed to be enjoying breakfast. At least, what you didn't knock onto the floor with all that shoving going on." She eyes twinkled as she teased them.
"Oh, hush up Weasley, you're just upset we didn't ask you to join in," Scorpius drawled as he sunk back into the plump chair.
Rose wrinkled her nose, "Because I'd really want to take part in something that would get food all over my robes. And here I thought you knew me…" She sighed dramatically and looked back down at her book.
Scorpius winked at Albus before leaning closer to Rose. "I know you're getting D's in Potions," he whispered into her ear.
She turned to glare at him so quickly he could've sworn her head had Apparated. "How the bloody hell do you know about that?" she hissed.
Scorpius smirked. "I know everything that goes on here, Weasley, just ask Albus." They both looked over at him and he shrugged.
"It's true. He just… finds out about things. I dunno how." Scorpius looked back to Rose and grinned.
"Do you want me to tutor you? Or would it be too degrading for a Gryffindor to accept help from a lowly Slytherin? I happen to be the best in our year at Potions, in case you'd forgotten."
Rose studied him silently for a minute. Then she looked at Albus. Finally, she turned back to the blonde. "Fine," she sighed, "But you aren't going to tell anyone about this. We'll meet in the Room of Requirement tonight. 6 o'clock. If you don't show up by 6:15, I'll leave. I hope we understand each other about this."
Scorpius grinned lazily and waved his hand through the air. "Certainly Miss Weasley, certainly."
"Good," she snapped before she began reading again. Albus and Scorpius looked at each other quickly and exchanged a small smile, before they opened their bags and pulled out their Transfiguration essays on Vanishing.
Half an hour later, Albus rolled up his parchment and stretched his arms.
"Done already?" Scorpius stared at him in amazement.
Albus shrugged and replied, "It's my best subject. It's really quite easy when you understand it."
"Well, seeing as you and Weasley here are the only ones that do understand, would either of you care to assist me in my writing?" Scorpius smiled sweetly at them.
Albus and Rose exchanged a glance before looking back at Scorpius. "No," they replied at the same time, before bursting out into quiet laughter. Scorpius grumbled quietly and flipped open his textbook to the chapter on Vanishing spells. The bell rang as soon as he dipped his quill into his his ink.
Scorpius fumed silently as Rose and Albus laughed at his half-finished essay. He shoved his books and essay into his bag and stood up. "Are you two going to come to class, or sit there all day like a pair of lumps?"
"Morons," Scorpius thought to himself as he watched them slowly collect their things. They finally stood up and gestured toward the door. Rose walked faster than the two Slytherins, probably the only person alive who was ever excited to go to History of Magic. Albus and Scorpius slowed down until the bushy-haired girl was out of ear-shot.
"That went well, don't you think?" Scorpius said quietly to his friend.
Albus nodded. "Except for the bit where you got angry," he replied, grinning.
Scorpius shoved him and jogged a few steps to get ahead of him. "Let's hurry up, we don't want poor old Binns to miss his favorite students, do we?"
Albus grinned and caught up to his friend so they could begin to plan a new way to disrupt the ghost teacher's class.