Diddle: Hey everyone, I'm really sorry about what you had tried to read. I haven't uploaded in a while and didn't know about the double spacing format that the site has now (I do paragraph and very well at that). The reviews also didn't go to my email and if they had I would've checked sooner. I apologise, but thank you for not saying 'this sucked ass learn to write' and other things like it's better now, do give it another shot. And please review, I love hearing what people think about my writing.
Malfoy had been minding his own business quietly re-shelving the books in the library as requested, sighing heavily as the next volume of some Herbology related nonsense floated up to it's place on the shelf. Scorpius liked the library when he was in a good mood, all you could ever hear was the slight scratching of quills on parchment the flipping of pages and the quiet curse word or groan from the odd student having difficulties with their essays. He was turning his back to the isle to pick up a stack of books left by another student. It really bothered him how people couldn't seem to clean up after themselves. As he bent down to the bench top, his shirt rose up around his hips and then something-or rather someone-was clasping cold, very cold fingers around the protruding bones.
"Cold hands!"
Scorpius arched up and gave a very undignified squeak at the freezing touch and the suddenly very loud voice ringing in the isle, dropping his stack of books unceremoniously to the floor. He turned sharply long blonde hair whipping over his shoulder as he did so.
"Albus!" he levelled the taller boy with a glare. Grey eyes piercing green as he pouted. The messy black head of hair bowed with chortles of laughter.
"Interesting noise that one, Scorp." the Slytherin blushed at the name, an action very noticeable on his pale skin.
"Don't call me that." Albus simply grinned at his friend's empty threat. He'd done it a million times and loved the reaction Scorpius Malfoy gave him every time he used his little pet name for the teen. He hoisted himself onto the wooden bench like table that ran the length of the book shelves in every isle and levitated some of the fallen books back up next to him. Scorpius muttered his thanks as he bent down to retrieve the others, Potter admiring the view unabashedly.
"Say, Al? Shouldn't you be in class?" the blonde inquired glancing over his shoulder after gathering the books back up again and moving down the shelf, his friend sliding from the counter top to follow him. Albus pulled a face.
"Arithmancy is boring, Scorp. Besides, why would I want to be there when I could be in here with you?" Scorpius shook his head with an exasperated sigh.
"You're a twat, Albus." the black haired teen faked a hurt look then smiled wickedly throwing his arm around his companion and touching every possible appropriate part of the Slytherin he could."Aw, you don't mean that." Scorpius was about to make a sarcastic remark about personal space when something caught his eye. Something very annoying. The blue and white tie around his friends neck was crooked. Again.
"You're tie is crooked." Albus grinned, moving away so they were face to face. Only inches apart.
"Hm, so it is. Fix it?" very well aware of how close they actually were, Scorpius did it anyway. He loosened the tie, then snaked his arms around Albus's neck, gathering the material at the back and pulling it even. He looped it through and tightened the knot. A difficult process with hot breath on his neck. he looked up, almost colliding with the Ravenclaw's face as he did so. Scorpius's breath hitched at the look in those green eyes. Girl's practically through themselves at his friend's feet to get even a second glance from these eyes and here they were, looking straight through him. He swallowed thickly. Very tempted to close the inches of air between their lips, but he pulled back finally releasing the tie from his grip.
Bugger, Scorpius thought as Albus did his annoyingly attractive habit of biting his lip, why does doing such mundane things like that for him turn me on so much?
"Wanker."
Albus just smirked."All right, I'm leaving. Just remember that it's not my fault you're OCD." On his way out, he lightly brushed Scorpius's shoulder, it was only after he had gone and the blonde looked back over the shelves that he realised exactly what Albus had done. All the books he had previously replaced were all moved one space over. They weren't in alphabetical order anymore. Clucking his tongue and shaking his head in irritation, Scorpius set about reordering them. He would just have to lecture Al later.
"A cheese grater." Scorpius snapped his head towards his friend at the obscene comment. They were in the middle of Potions, a class Al was actually good at and he still insisted on saying random, pointless things to distract Scorpius from their current task.
"What?" Albus smirked at him, dropping the next ingredient into their cauldron and stirring.
"It grates cheese, Scorp."
"Don't call me that. And I know what it does, I just want to know what it has to do with Amortentia." the blonde shot him a look before cutting the next item listed with precision.
"Nothing really. I was just thinking of lunch and then cheese and then I forgot what the name of that particular thing was." the black haired teen absentmindedly looked to the roof whilst reciting this though process. Scorpius shook his head and glanced down at the potion, it was an odd purple colour. It wasn't supposed to be purple. He panicked a little. It also wasn't supposed to bubble like that.
"Um, Al..?" the Slytherin couldn't help the slightly worried edge to his voice as he tugged on his friend's sleeve lightly to get his attention. Albus leaned over, pressing his chest over Scorpius's back to peer into the cauldron. The blonde blushed lightly at the contact.
"Oh, wow. What did you do?"
Scorpius pouted, he'd always found the way Albus didn't sound angry or really worried when he did small mistakes like this kind of endearing, but also kind of annoying. He looked up and saw that Slughorn was approaching their table, albeit rather slowly.
"I was just stirring. Hm, I'm sure I counted right..." the blonde worried his lower lip as Albus chuckled, the vibration going through Scorpius as well from where they touched.
"If you stir twice the opposite way to the last time you stirred, and then once the way you're supposed to stir it, you should fix it." the Ravenclaw also had a habit of giving instructions nobody could understand.
"Um..what?" Scorpius looked at him and immediately regretted it. The soft smile and the amused light in those green eyes did horrible things to his heart beat. The blonde was especially concerned when he practically stopped breathing, after answering Albus's quiet question of 'what did you last stir?' with 'clock wise', as the black haired teen wrapped his hand around his own and moved the mixing spoon in the exact directions he'd given earlier. Scorpius watched fascinated as the love potion swirled and turned the milky shade of pink that it was supposed to be.
Saying he was suddenly cold and disappointed when Albus moved back to stand beside him would be the understatement of the year.
"See?" Albus grinned at him, his already messy black locks sticking up at other odd angles making him look ten times more attractive then he already was. Scorpius huffed, muttering something about him being 'an utter pillock' and still blushing, placed the lid on their cauldron to let the potion brew. Slughorn stood at the front of the class and called for attention.
"Now, students. Place the lids on your cauldrons and we will see who has successfully managed to brew their Amortentia in your next class after lunch. Also to issue you some homework, you have to write a two page essay on the effects of love. Dismissed!" He called out to the class who gave a few groans and began to pack up. Scorpius shuffled the things in his bag to make room for his potions text and waited for Al to finish.
On the way out Albus grumbled, his arm across Scorpius's shoulders."What the bloody hell do the effects of love have to do with potions?"
The blonde laughed, reaching up and ruffling the mess of soft black locks."About as much as cheese graters, I expect." Albus blushed, frowned and looked away mouthing off about Scorpius being a smart ass. The two fourteen year olds entered the Great Hall amongst the mass of students and quickly made their way over to the Slytherin table. Scorpius gracefully slid onto the wooden bench while across from him Albus practically threw himself into his seat.
"You are the worst Ravenclaw ever." his companion smiled wickedly at him, reaching for the bowl of strawberries. Scorpius quirked an eyebrow at him.
"Vwaht?"
"Don't talk with your mouth full."
Albus swallowed his bite thickly. "Ahem, what?"
"It's nothing, just.. What do they taste like?"
Albus gaped at the blonde. He couldn't believe it, Scorpius had never eaten strawberries."They're good, try it." before the boy could protest, the black haired teen had used his fork and placed the half eaten fruit in his friends mouth. He almost retracted his hand immediately at the sudden impulse, but became rigid and frozen as he watched the lithe boy's pink lips close over the fruit and drag it off the utensil with his teeth. It maybe also had something to do with the low moan of pleasure Scorpius made at the back of his throat as he ate, but Albus chose to ignore this fact.
"It's delicious." Scorpius licked his lips. Albus cleared his throat, blushing and staring at the plate of fried chicken as if it were the most interesting thing in the world.
"Are you taking anyone to Hogsmeade?"
The blonde blinked at him."Al, I don't have a girlfriend, you know that. We do everything together."
"Yeah, I know. I thought maybe there was someone you wanted to ask? What about that Hufflepuff girl?"
"You mean Lucidia Wallflower?" the Slytherin pulled a face as the girl in question popped into his head. If there was someone who was most definitely not attractive, it was Wallflower. Scorpius couldn't stand her, with her pointed chin that would practically stab you if you got within five feet of her and her fat lips that reminded Scorpius a lot of the plate of sausages to his left. Not to mention her mop of brunette hair always looked greasy and like shagpile.
Scorpius didn't like brunettes. Or shagpile.
Albus was giving him a reproachful look. The blonde figured he must've had an expression akin to murder on his face. A little embarrassed, he blushed, shifting under the gaze and looked at the table, tapping his manicured fingers on it, muttering something about the girl's breasts being too big. And that she was a Hufflepuff.
Thankfully his friend dropped the subject.
"So, what about you Al? Are you taking anyone?"
The Ravenclaw leaned forward on his hands and huffed."No, I don't have a girlfriend. Can't say there's any girls I'm particularly attracted to either."
"You could always pick through your brothers leftovers." the blonde scoffed.
Albus turned to look at the Griffyndor table only to notice his brother, James, being a twat as usual. It was common knowledge that James Potter had slept with practically every single girl in Griffyndor, Ravenclaw and Huffepuff. Vaguley, Albus wondered why he hadn't touched anyone in Slytherin, but one look at his friend told him the answer to that.
Most of the boys in Slytherin were ten times prettier than the girls.
"Look, Scorp-"
"Don't call me that." the blonde interjected, but Albus continued as if he hadn't spoken.
"-I know James is a twat, but he's still my brother. I'm obligated to defend him."
Scorpius pouted fiddling with the end of his ponytail, absently curling the blonde hair around his index finger. Albus forced his eyes away.
"Even when you know that the git practically pushes the girl down the stairs and feeds her to Theastrals when he's finished effectively knocking her up."
"Was that a question? Besides you're exaggerating Scorpius."
The blonde crossed his arms and huffed. Albus swallowed, trying to stop his brain from thinking it was adorable. "And he hexes me in hallways."
"He does?" the black haired teen gaped.
"Yes."
"What an arse. No, you are not going to turn me against my brother. We're a happy family." though the black haired teen said it with no air of hostility at all. Scorpius smirked.
"No, actually you have Middle Child Syndrome."
The taller boy chuckled at that."Yes and you have Only Child Syndrome."
Scorpius stuck out his tongue."Brilliant, why don't I just kick you inbetween the legs and we'll call it even?" Scorpius quirked an eyebrow at him. Grey eyes dancing with amusement.
"No, I need that.." Albus whimpered mockingly.
"What for? I thought you said you didn't have a girlfriend."
"Saving it for you, perhaps." Albus smiled wickedly. Scorpius turned almost the same colour as the strawberries and stammered wildly, all witty remarks lost at the comment. "Relax, Scorp. I'm only teasing." I wonder how he'd react if I were being serious? Ah, Scorp you're so much fun to tease. He added that in his head afterwards.
"Honestly, you're obnoxious. I'm surprised you weren't sorted into Griffyndor." Malfoy frowned at his friend.
"I thought Griffyndor's were supposed to be brave not obnoxious?" The taller boy asked airily and smiled.
"It's the same thing really." Scorpius glared at him.
"Okay, go to Hogsmeade with me?" Albus inquired, intent on disregarding their playful banter. The blonde blushed and shifted his gaze to the table.
"Fine. Whatever. Prat." Annoyingly, the Ravenclaw grinned.
After lunch and Albus complaining that he'd eaten too much and Scorpius content in acknowledging that strawberries were now his favourite fruit, the two teens found themselves back in the dank Potions classroom that now smelled more of smoke than it had before they'd left. Albus loved Potions, really. But sometimes the room, always dark (even for being in the dungeons) with it's pillars bordering the rows of wooden desks and the cluster of glass vials and bottles strewn about, made him twitchy and slightly claustrophobic. He was rather clumsy, or at least his elbows were.
Now he stood next to Scorpius, their cauldron of Amortentia sat merrily on the table in front of them and when Albus turned to look at the blonde his breath hitched. Scorpius was doing his nervous habit of brushing his hair back behind his ear, curling the strands at the end of his loose, low ponytail that hung over his shoulder around his finger and just generally looking gorgeous. The black haired teen quickly pushed these thoughts away and tried to think instead of what his friend was so worried about.
It took him only a few moments of tuning in on Slughorn's prattling at the front of the room to realise what it was. In order to evaluate their performance in Potion making, Slughorn would soon be having them open their cauldrons to smell the brewed Amortentia within.
Oh, Albus thought distractedly with another glance over to his friend. But Scorp said he didn't really like any girls at the moment, so why is he so worried about what the potion is going to smell like. I mean if you're not attracted to anyone it shouldn't smell like anything, right? After his internal battle he worried his lip and noticed Scorpius smiling at him nervously, he returned what he'd hoped was a reassuring smile, but it probably looked more like a grimace.
Then Slughorn clapped his hands.
"Okay, you two lovely girls down the back there. Please open your cauldron." Two rows down and two to the left of him and Scorpius, the two Hufflepuff girls lifted the lid off of the item in question very carefully and it let out a horrible smelling gush of black and green smoke that filled the entire room. Several student's hands' flew to their noses and others made gagging noises and pressed their faces into their robes. Al cringed and held his breath. His friend blinked rapidly a few times, rose the back of a delicate hand to his nose and held his breath until the smoke dissipated. The smell still lingered somewhat.
"That's quite a good try girls. Eh, five points to Hufflepuff. Now can someone tell me why that smelt rather off?" the black haired teen looked around nervously, but raised his hand none the less. "Yes, mister Potter?"
Al cleared his throat."Amortentia releases a scent that produces a reaction to the chemical in your brain that causes you to feel attraction to someone else. If brewed correctly, the potion can have a very strong scent of things that will smell good or that of which the person is attracted too." here, Slughorn nodded, encouraging Albus to continue. "If brewed incorrectly however, the potion can smell either vaguely of what the person likes or what repulses them."
Scorpius smirked and flicked his hair back over his shoulder as he turned to look at Albus. "Fascinating. I didn't know potions could smell like gingers." Albus snickered lightly into his hand as the rest of the class scoffed amusedly. Well, most of them. Rose Weasely glared at the back of Scorpius's head as Al shot her an apologetic look. The professor cleared his throat.
"Very good mister Potter. Then would you and mister Malfoy open your cauldron please?" Albus nodded reluctantly, but Scorpius had lifted the lid gently and cautiously before Al could react any further. A cloud of purple and pink smoke rose into the air and the two students behind them sighed blissfully. Next to him, Albus felt his friend tense, obviously trying not to breathe in. He then noticed that they'd had the same idea, as he too, was holding his breath. The tiny whiff that travelled through his nostrils smelled like cherry blossoms and made a pleasant feeling pool at the pit of his stomach.
"Mister Malfoy, since your partner answered my earlier question would you mind telling us what you can smell?" Albus glanced down at the blonde who let out a shaky breath and nodded reluctantly. He watched intently as Scorpius leaned over the potion and drew back quickly, looking the Potions professor straight in the knew that Scorpius was stubborn and they both knew that they'd done this potion right, so Scorpius was definitely determined to prove it.
"It smells like, musk and spices, and rain." Scorpius struggled a little to keep his mind from reeling at the scent of the potion it was so overwhelming and felt like it was pulling him in. He swallowed thickly when Slughorn asked him with contempt in his voice if 'that was all?' and his mind flicked back to the lunch table, Albus's arm around his shoulders as they walked there and then the strawberry. The potion smelt like bloody strawberries. He glanced at the taller boy who was watching him worriedly, also slightly irritated at Slughorn's tone towards him. He flushed and looked at the desk. "And strawberries."
"Ah, yes. Very good." The professor then waddled over to their table and proceeded to check out their potion, muttering things about the colour, thickness and smell. Albus watched his friend carefully, the flicker of pleasure that crossed his face for a split second before he glared at the cauldron as if it had insulted him and abruptly-and none too gently-slammed the lid back over it. Albus could've sworn he'd heard a few hushed groans from behind him. After giving them each a vial of the potions they'd brewed and ranting about the details of the essay some more, the class had finally ended.
Albus was walking back up the large stone staircase that lead away from the dungeons, his arm across Scorpius's shoulders as it always was, both of them glaring offensively at their potions.
"Honestly. What use do I have for this? I suppose I could smash it over the back of your brother's head." the blonde muttered darkly. Albus laughed at him.
"Really, what's so wrong with James that you have to constantly threaten his life?"
His companion shot him a disbelieving look."Come on, Al, what's not wrong with him? I mean he's completely daft, I really can't believe you two are related."
"Thanks, I think."
Scorpius just nudged him with his elbow, stuffing the potion into his bag and the two teenagers continued walking through the massively crowded halls and stone stairways that would take them to the main entrance where they would spilt up. Albus would go down the back way to the locker rooms for his Quidditch practice and Scorpius would go out the large double door into the courtyard and then down to the greenhouse for the sixth-year Herbology class he took. The two would occasionally lean into each other for brief moments then lean away subconsciously and think that it was simply because the crowds were difficult to move through without being squashed together.
When they finally reached the slightly more clear entry way, Albus moved off of his friend and stood in front of him. Somehow their comfortable silence had turned awkward and Albus dumbly stood staring at Scorpius for a few minutes not really sure what to say.
"Um, I'll see you at dinner?" the blonde glanced at him hopefully and Albus grinned at him.
"Yeah, try not to kill my brother in Herbology. He's kind of important."
Scorpius laughed for the first time in a full hour, the light reaching his slender grey eyes, practically making them sparkle. It was then that Al hesitated a little. He badly wanted to hug Scorpius and the Slytherin was looking quite awkward too. Moving closer to his dark haired friend slightly, but shifting nervously away as if some invisible persona inside his head had said 'No wait, I'm not supposed to do that.' Albus settled on brushing the boy's shoulder lightly and saying 'See ya later' to which the blonde blushed and nodded.
Albus watched his friend go in a swish of green and black robes, feeling awkward, tense, happy, relieved and slightly regretful all at the same time.