The Random Obsession of Albus Potter
Author name: Diagon Alley (1/1)
Category: Romance/Humor
Keywords: Post-War, Next Gen, Albus Severus, Scorpius, Pre-Slash
Spoilers: All the Books/All Seven Books
Rating: T- Mild Language
Summary: Scorpius discovers that Slytherin would have been alright after all.
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Other citations will be made where necessary
Author's Note and Things to Know: This is a slash story. If you have a problem with it, please don't read it.
Scorpius scowled as a first year girl let off another loud giggle. This was the Ravenclaw common room, not the Hufflepuff's for Merlin's sake. Next to him Rose rolled her eyes and moved her pawn forward.
"Leave em' alone, Scor. They're just kids."
"We were never that obnoxious." Scorpius flicked his eyes between his rook and bishop, both were shouting to let the other die.
"We were too. You're a Malfoy and I'm a Weasley. There's always a disaster about when we are together."
"I suppose." Scorpius muttered sending his cursing bishop forward. Everything had been different once he had gone to Hogwarts. Pre-Hogwarts it had been assumed he would go into Slytherin like his parents. It had been assumed he would be a hated rival with the Weasley/Potter clan. And it had been assumed he would play Quidditch. It was what his father had wanted.
Things are never that simple though. Upon entering the train he had been accosted by Rose Weasley and her skittish looking cousin. Rose had promptly declared them best friends and had refused to leave his side. They had ridden the train together, then later the boat across the lake, easily taking about new edition of "Hogwarts: A History."
At the sorting, he had gone first between the two. Hoping their new found friendship would not disappear once he had been sorted into Slytherin. He had been both delighted and terrified when he had been sent to Ravenclaw instead. Rose had followed him to the blue and copper house a few minutes later.
He had felt slightly guilty writing to his father about his new friend and the sorting. He had felt less guilty writing him that he would not be trying out for Quidditch, even if he was bought a new broom. He liked Quidditch well enough, but not enough to play.
A loud crash followed by an explicative interrupted both his thoughts and Rose's next move. Scorpius sighed commotion like this usually meant either James or Lily Potter (on occasion both) and some Gryffindor disaster that Rose had to urgently fix. Both Rose and Scorpius turned and waited as the door knocker gave it's muffled question, followed by a warm laugh and a muffled answer.
Scorpius blinked. That was unusual, neither James nor Lily ever got the questions right. They would just stand and at the door and yell until Rose let them in.
"For Merlin's sake, what happen?" Rose was up and at the door as a grinning Albus Potter dragged in his bloodied brother.
"He broke his nose." Albus stated smirking. James glared up from his half heaved position, muttering something Scorpius couldn't catch.
"OK, so I broke it. But it was an accident, I swear Rosie." Scorpius watched as Rose cast a flawless episky charm followed by a cleaning charm on James. Seeing them together it was easy to tell they were brothers despite looking so different.
James was tall, broad shoulders, with auburn hair, glasses, and brown eyes. Albus was just a bit taller, slimmer, with the jet black hair and startling green eyes of his father's. But it was there, both boys had the same jaw lines and smattering of freckles over their noses, though Albus's were a bit fainter.
Albus had taken to looking around the common room as James grumbled to Rose, Scorpius realized this was the first time he had been up to the tower. Scorpius blinked, Albus had stopped looking around was simply looking at him with a raised eyebrow, then stuck out his hand.
"Hi, I'm Albus. You are?" Scorpius looked at Rose, was he serious? They had classes together for the last six years. Most of the beginning classes were Slytherin/Ravenclaw pairs. Rose scowled at Albus.
"Stop it Al. You know that's Scorpius." It apparently didn't comprehend.
"Malfoy? Really?" Albus looked positively confused and Rose scoffed.
"How are you in the house that's supposed to be clever?" Albus grinned impishly at her comment.
"O Rosie, my dearest cousin. You are in the clever, intelligent, beautiful house. I am in the sneaky, ambitious, misguided house." Scorpius blinked, this was the most he had ever heard the middle Potter child speak. Since starting at Hogwarts, he had talked maybe three times, one of those had been on the train ride there. Rose was giving Albus a sidelong glance.
"Fine, I won't write Aunt Ginny that you broke your brother's nose. "
"Fantastic, Rosie. I have to run, practice soon, can't start without its Captain. Bye." And with that Albus was out the door with a smirk and wave.
Somewhere to his left Scorpius hear James mutter, "Bloody Snake."
"Thanks Rose, I'm gonna go too. I have a date with Miranda Honeycutt from Hufflepuff." Scorpius rolled his eyes. It was a new girl every week for the eldest Potter.
"Your family is crazy." Scorpius muttered as soon as James was gone.
"I know. Checkmate." Scorpius scowled as his King was destroyed by Rose's Queen. He should have known though, he never beat Rose anyways.
"Bugger."
After the broken nose incident, Albus Potter was everywhere. Or maybe it just seemed that way to Scorpius. Albus, like his cousin years before, had apparently adopted him.
Albus had moved his potions spot next to Scorpius's, making Rose move. He would eat the lunch and dinner meals with them, rarely making the breakfast meal anyways. And on occasion he would join them in the library, though not too often. Madam Corner tended to fawn uncomfortably over him. When Albus had discovered that Scorpius would read out loud to memorize for school, he would demand Scorpius to be present, and would sit and listen.
Scorpius sighed as Albus plopped down next him at breakfast the next day. Scorpius had always been a morning person and probably always would be. He enjoyed the solitude of the early morning. At Hogwarts, when he came in early for breakfast it would be only him and a couple of other Ravenclaws. It was easy then to sit down, read the Prophet and drink a cup of coffee until he actually regained conciseness.
"For someone who didn't know who I was two weeks ago, you seem to be stalking me."
Albus grinned lopsidedly, "At first, it was because I felt bad for not noticing you. Now I just like you." Scorpius rolled his eyes.
"You rode the train with me and Rose first year."
"Did I? I don't remember I was trying to decide if I wanted to be in Slytherin or not."
"What do you mean decide? The sorting hat picks for you."
"Yes and no. The sorting hat picks out the most dominate trait but if you are close to multiple house traits your opinion can influence the decision. My dad, for instance, could have gone into either Gryffindor or Slytherin. He obviously chose Gryffindor." Scorpius coughed a little on his coffee. Harry Potter, Savior of the Wizarding world, Slytherin?
"So you're telling me you chose Slytherin over Gryffindor." Albus laughed his warm laugh.
"No the hat barely touched my head and yelled Slytherin. There was never a choice."
Scorpius smiled back, he didn't remember. He had been so relieved he himself had not been put in Slytherin he had not taken notice of anyone elses sorting until Rose was up.
"And why are you up so early, I believe you normally spend this time sleeping. Even Rose isn't down here yet."
Albus sighed giving him a look Scorpius had never seen the boy wear before.
"I just….couldn't sleep." Scorpius nodded a little thrown off by the sudden chance of demeanor.
"So are you and Rosie dating?" Scorpius blanched, spewing coffee across the table. He glared sideways over at his companion.
"I am most certainly not." Albus cocked his head a bit.
"Why, you are always together. Everyone assumes you are."
Scorpius open his mouth to say something pithy about Rose being just Rose and it was nobodies bloody business, but something else came out.
"She doesn't have the right bits." Scorpius blanked. Stupid mouth, stupid brain, why didn't they ever work right when Albus was around. Now he was going to leave him, go back to his merry Potterish ways and ignore the strange Malfoy child who has never done anything excepted of him.
"Oh, ok." And that was it. Albus simply went on piling sausage and eggs on to his plate as if Scorpius had said the weather was nice out today.
Maybe announcing at breakfast he liked boy bits had been a bad idea. Scorpius could not even remember enough people awake at the time to start rumors, but then again it was Hogwarts. It wasn't as if he was embarrassed and most wizards didn't care, but apparently all the ones that did care were at Hogwarts.
Someone, and he had yet to discover who, had already hexed him twice. He had been able to determine that it was the same magical signature for both attacks but so far had been unsuccessful on whom the culprit was.
The first time he had been hexed so a cloud of smoke in the shape of the word 'pouf' to follow him around. It had taken twenty minutes between Rose and himself to remove it. The whole time Albus had glared as if that would remove it, or even help.
The second time had been a bit worse, it had been a mild slicing hex that had cut his shoulder and sent his rucksack to the ground. Rose had mended both in minutes. She had begged him to report the incidents to the Headmistress, but a Malfoy simply never gives in.
Albus had been madder than Scorpius had thought possible about his refusal. He had scowled, shouted "And I thought Ravenclaws were supposed to be smart," then had stormed away. Albus did not appear in any of the classes they had together, or any classes at all, for the next two days.
The next time Scorpius saw him was has he walked in to the middle of breakfast and sat down across from him, but did not help himself to food as he normally did.
"And where have you been?" Scorpius demanded, more than a little annoyed he had actually missed the Slytherin.
"Busy." Was all he got, Albus was apparently too busy still, scanning the Great Hall.
"And what are you doing now?" Scorpius glared at Albus, next to him Rose was shaking her head.
Instead of answer, Albus's eyes narrowed towards the Hufflepuff table. Scorpius turned to follow Albus's gaze just has a seventh year Hufflepuff yelled out in both pain and surprise.
"Albus what have you done? " Rose sounded scandalized, for good reason though. The Hufflepuff was screaming loudly clawing at his skin as it looked like bugs were clawing underneath it.
"He shouldn't have hexed Scor." Scorpius ducked his head, trying to ignore the fuzzy feeling he got from Albus defending him. He turned back to Albus to see him smirking viciously, as a few teachers moved to help the Hufflepuff out.
"You could get in trouble, Al." Rose looked almost to the point of yelling to the professors herself, but had taken out her wand and cast a muffling spell around them.
"I won't, when have you ever known me to get caught for anything." Scorpius blinked, was Albus always this self assured and so Slytherin sounding. That was something his Grandfather or even his Father would have said.
Rose seemed to have found the statement offensive because her glare deepened. Albus simply smirked victoriously at her and proceed to pile on the hot cakes to his plate.
"Albus just 'cause Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry don't check magical signatures at home doesn't mean they won't here." Rose looked as if she was debating talking to Albus at all.
"I didn't brew it to be sure. I came up with potion then sent it to a professional brewer." Scorpius nodded, even if the school could track it to the apothecary, no Potion's Master would tell who gave them the recipe, not for the right price.
Rose gave him a incredulous look, "You're ok with this?"
Scorpius shrugged, "It's nice to not have to watch my back, he'll probably be in the hospital wing for while."
"I cannot believe either of you." Rose huffed then spun on Albus, "This is just another one of your obsessions that you will get bored of and move on, and I will not allow it. You always get yourself into trouble and you have bloodly well done it again."
Albus's check flamed for a second and he glared at her.
"You have no idea what you're talking about."
"You can't fool me Albus Severus Potter, I have known you since you were in diapers and I know every one of your tricks." Albus's eyes flickered briefly towards him.
"It's not what you think, Rosie…" Albus appeared to be pouting towards his cousin.
"It is and that is not working." Rose glared at him, her hand playing with her prefect's badge.
"Then go ahead and rat on me Rose; that will solve all your problems and I won't be around at all."
Scorpius hissed at the statement. There was no way that would happen. Rose had stopped looking angry at Albus and was looking terrified and sad at him.
"Look what you've done Albus," her voice was dejected and her eyes never left Scorpius's face, "there's no turning back now."
"I knew that before you, Rose" Scorpius turned to Albus to find he had also lost his angry look and had replaced it with the same one he had worn the morning this mess started.
"I will never forgive you if you hurt him." Scorpius blinked, him, who? He opened his mouth to ask but Rose had already stalked away. Albus watching her as she went, which that same unreadable expression, Scorpius thought he heard Albus mumble "I know that too," before he sat down and started eating as nothing had ever happened.
"I've had enough! Start talking together, now." Scorpius glared at Rose, then Albus, a week later in the Ravenclaw commons.
"We've talked." Rose stated scowling again at Albus, who had taken on the look of indifference.
"About what, exactly?" Scorpius put on his best questioning look, the same one his Gran would wear when she was sure he had done something wrong, like charm the peacocks purple, but had no actual proof.
"I asked her to pass the toadstool in potions yesterday." Albus stated, pretending to examine his nails. Scorpius narrowed his eye, fingering his wand.
"This is stupid, either one of you fess up about what that fight was really about or get over it." Albus smirked at his statement. That was not supposed to be amusing, at all.
"And what are you going to do if, I choose to do neither." Stupid Slytherin, like he could come up with a hundred hexes he wouldn't know. Like he didn't come from Slytherin stock and know something or another about revenge. Putting on his best Slytherin sneer, Scorpius said as much.
And Albus just laughed and Rosie scowled.
"You want to know so badly what it was about, fine. Albus has…" Rose's mouth kept going until a full on glare had taken over. Scorpius turned towards Albus to find him not only standing, but looking extremely dangerous. The middle Potter was always so full of surprises.
"It should be me who says something Rose Helaine Weasley." Rose just scowled then snapped her wand at Albus, who went sailing into a nearby chair with a bang.
"No…stop it both of you…" Scorpius started but both ignored him.
"Have fun undoing that silencing spell then Rose." Albus sneered as he got off his chair and left without looking back.
"Well what did you run him off for, Rose." Scorpius was more annoyed then he liked, about the Slytherin's departure. Rose's eyebrows raised for a second then she glare at him and stormed off to the girl's dorms. Closing his eyes and sitting down, Scorpius reminded himself to stay out of family feuds from now on.
It was two days later that Albus came up to him looking rather nervous.
"Scorpius," Albus paused looking pained for a second, what was wrong with the boy now?
"Would you go to Hogsmeade with me this weekend?" Scorpius blinked, didn't they do that last month as well.
"I thought we were going to anyways, like last month. You, me, and Rose." Albus flinched a bit at that. "I guess that means you're still fighting with Rose."
"No, we made up this morning, Lily wrote Mum and she floo'd in a shouted at us with Aunt Hermione for a bit." Scorpius nodded, whatever knocked some sense into them.
"Alright, then it will be fine come on let's find Rose and eat already." Scorpius tugged on Albus's arm, ignoring the weird look on his face.
Taking places across from Rose at the Ravenclaw table, Scorpius sat down, tugging on Albus's arm again.
"Well?" Rose inquired looking at Albus.
"It will be like last month." Scorpius froze for a second, why was his voice so flat. Across the table, Rose had frozen as well, but she was starting slack jaw at him.
"Albus…" She started flicking her eyes back in forth from him and Albus.
"It's ok, Rosie, I'm gonna go though. Quidditch." Rose frowned as Albus retreated out of the hall quickly.
"He's been acting weird all morning." Scorpius stated frowning, at Rose's perplexed look. Scorpius felt his eyes dart back to the doors were Albus's left. Watching Albus fly was one of the nicer things to do with his day, he was beautiful when he let himself go.
Rose was looking at him strangely; she quickly cast the muffling spell again, then leaned over the table.
"I thought you like him, Scor." Was this the day were all Potter/Weasley's were weird, would Lily or James Potter be singing and dancing in the hall next. Why wouldn't he like Albus, someone who defended him not worrying about impunity, made him laugh, and appreciate his eccentrics.
"Of course I like Albus, what are you on about?"
"No Scorpius, I thought you liked him." Rose stressed out, and Scorpius felt himself color. Had he ever thought of Albus that way, most certainly. Not only for the afore thought reasons but the boy was rather fit.
"Well, I suppose, but what does that have to…oh…" That was why Albus was asking. Scorpius looked over to Rose.
"Albus didn't mean it that way, Rose." Rose was currently giving him the same look as she did the first years that needed help with a simple problem.
"Scorpius, that was what he and I were fighting about. Since we were kids Albus were develop these random obsessions with different things, football, Japanese Manga, horses…" Horses? Really? "…but things never really stuck, he would forget about it in a few months, then move on to another thing. I did not want you to be another one of his silly obsessions." Just an obsession, of course, like he would really like a son of a death eater, Scorpius frowned.
"Scor…I don't think that's the case with you anymore." Scorpius felt his head snap up to look at Rose.
"The fact that he told his parents he wanted to date you makes me think otherwise. It isn't like Albus had exactly told him of his preferences before. "
"I didn't know." It was true that Albus, despite having several admirers from both of the sexes in the school, he had never been inclined to date anyone. So unlike his siblings, who went through relationships like socks.
As Scorpius came up to the pitch, he could see Albus tearing through the sky. He was always so beautiful like this. All the Potter children had been gifted with great flying ability, even through Lily was the best of the three, Albus and even James, were able to perform precision moves on a broom.
"Albus Severus! Get down here at once!" Scorpius felt his cheeks flame for a second as his voice echoed in the stadium. It had worked through has a sweaty, slightly flushed Albus was making his way towards him.
"Nothing good at breakfast today?" Albus looked uncomfortable, despite having a smirk on his face.
"Why didn't you just tell me you like me?" A terrified looked flitted crossed Albus's face before settling back to a smirk. Scorpius scowled as he could tell the Slytherin's words were going to echo his earlier.
"Do not say, Of course, I like you. You know exactly what I mean." Albus scowled as a faint blush crept on to his checks.
"What do you want me to say, Scorpius? Despite telling me you like dick, you didn't show any interest in me. Why would you? I am the abnormal Potter child, the one that ended up in Slytherin and likes boys." Of course they would be so alike, fate would not have let the two oddball children from rivals alone. Scorpius did the only thing he could think of.
He kissed Albus.
For a moment Albus had frozen, but then his arms were around Scorpius and they were really kissing. This had been heaven, or if not Albus's lips were at least a door to them. Since the moment Albus had answered the knocker's question and came barreling in to his life, this was what he had been looking for. No matter what his family said, Albus was his now. There was no going back.
Scorpius pulled back at looked at Albus, he was grinning sheepishly. Things would be alright.