Disclaimer: I only own the original characters and the situations the characters find themselves in. All other characters belong to J.K. Rowling.

Scorpius got up early the next morning, getting dressed and going down for breakfast before any of the others were up. It was once he was almost through with his meal that he sensed someone come up to stand behind him at the Ravenclaw table. Bracing himself, he turned in his seat expecting to see Albus Potter, not sure what to think when he saw Rose Weasley instead. He raised a single brow in question, his expression giving nothing away.

"Can I talk to you for a minute? In private?" She asked hesitantly, nodding toward the entrance of the Great Hall.

Frowning slightly, Scorpius got up without a word and walked out of the hall, stopping only when they were well out of the earshot of latecomers drifting in for a quick meal before their first day of class. There, he turned sharply pinning Rose with a cold glare, "What?" He asked, grey eyes flashing.

Rose blinked for a moment, remembering her cousin's words from the previous night. The Malfoy's glares really could make you feel small. She shook her head slightly, reminding herself why she sought Scorpius out. "I wanted to warn you."

Scorpius's frown faded slightly at that, "Warn me about what?"

Rose sighed now, a sigh of pure exasperation, "About my idiot cousin, Albus. He's got it in his head that he wants you. Sexually, I mean. He made a bet with Lily that he'd get you in bed with him by Christmas."

All animosity vanished from Scorpius's expression and he stared at Rose in astonishment, "Why are you telling me?"

Rose stared at him uncertainly, "You don't seem surprised."

Scorpius narrowed his eyes at her, "I was awake when you lot came in last night. I heard your pompous cousin make an ass of himself. What I want to know is why you came to tell me what he said. We aren't friends."

Rose's cheeks flushed with colour, "I promise I'll make sure they don't come in without me. I'll tell them—"

With a hand held up, Scorpius cut her off, looking exasperated. "You're not listening to me, Weasley. I don't care about that part. Not now. Why. Are. You. Telling. Me?"

As grey eyes drilled into her, Rose considered the question then answered finally, "I don't think anyone has the right to toy with someone else's feelings. What Al is thinking of doing is wrong, and I thought you ought to know so you don't fall for his bullshit."

Scorpius mulled that over thoughtfully, before observing quietly, "You are very sure that there was a chance I'd fall for Potter's so-called charms if I thought his interest was genuine."

Rose smiled slightly, "Well, as much of an ass as he can be, Al is ridiculously charming and persuasive. No straight girl or gay guy he's gone after has ever turned him down."

"I could be straight." Scorpius pointed out impassively.

Grinning outright now, Rose nodded, "You could be, but you aren't. It's only a matter of time before Al figures that out. I thought you needed to know what he was up to."

Pursing his lips, Scorpius nodded, "I suppose this would make us even. Fair warning though, if any of your family members enters those quarters without you, I'm liable to incapacitate them."

Rose grimaced, "Yes, all right. I'll talk to them."

Scorpius smiled faintly, "See you later, Weasley." He was just about to walk away when an arm went around his shoulder and pulled him sidewards into a warm, hard body. The Ravenclaw didn't need to smell the crisp aftershave to know it was Albus Potter.

"Good morning, Malfoy!" Al said, a big grin on his face as green eyes darted between his guilty-looking cousin and Scorpius Malfoy, who had gone stiff under his arm. "What are you two whispering about?"

Without another word, Scorpius shrugged off Albus's arm and walked off, not even turning to look at the Slytherin as he went.

Al whistled lowly, watching the blond walk off, unable to stop himself from admiring the way Scorpius moved. There was something effortless and eye-catching about the Ravenclaw's movements. How had he not noticed before?

"Al?"

Al blinked and looked to his cousin, green eyes narrowing as he did, "Did you tell him about the bet?"

Rose liked to think she was a fairly good liar; after all one couldn't be a Weasley without developing some fib-telling skills in their youth. However, while she liked to think she was a good liar, Rose knew better than to lie to Albus. He read her too well.

"I'm not stupid, Al. Telling him would only goad you further. The more someone tries to get you to not do something, the more you want to do it." She said, managing a roll of her eyes as well.

Al eyed her suspiciously, then finally nodded. "You are relatively intelligent. You would know better, you're right." He sighed, glancing the way Scorpius had gone, feeling inexplicably troubled. "He really can't stand me."

Since Rose had never been able to stomach seeing her best friend and favourite cousin unhappy, however much he annoyed her on a regular basis, she put her arm around his waist and squeezed, "He can't stand anyone, Al. It's not personal."

Al nodded, determination flashing in green eyes as he silently vowed to change that. Then, putting an arm around Rose and squeezing he asked, "So, what were you and Malfoy talking about?"

Rose made a face, "He found out I gave you lot the password. I think he heard us talking when he finally went up to bed. He wasn't happy."

Al snorted, "I can imagine."

Chatting, the cousins went in to breakfast and Rose inwardly heaved a sigh of relief. She had done her part; now it was up to Scorpius to keep Al at a distance. She hoped that was possible.

Albus Severus Potter was not one to accept defeat. He tugged viciously at the end of his braid, green eyes focused on a certain blond Ravenclaw who was getting entirely too good at avoiding him. Or, Al reasoned bitterly, maybe Scorpius had always been good and he just hadn't noticed. A bolt of pure irritation shot through him at the thought and he growled, making the people sitting around him shift away slightly.

It pissed him off that Scorpius Malfoy had stayed under his radar until now. It pissed him off more than it should that he'd wasted so much time on others when the stunning blond had always been right under his nose. Al would worry about the fact that he considered all his previous boyfriends and girlfriends a waste of time when compared to Scorpius if he was the type to worry. Which he wasn't.

He had learnt a few things about the blond in the past several weeks. For one, he had no friends. Scorpius tended to melt into the background in any class and even in the hallways while walking to class. No one acknowledged him, no one seemed to notice him, and certainly no one spoke to him. And yet, this didn't bother the Ravenclaw; that was the second thing Al had learned about him. The third was that for whatever reason, the Malfoy seemed to hate his guts. He had started with ignoring Al whenever the Potter tried to talk to him, but now he was avoiding Al.

The Slytherin had tried to divert himself from his growing crush on the blond. He'd tried going out on a few dates after the first two weeks, when it had become apparent to him that Scorpius Malfoy was not the least bit interested in getting into a relationship with anyone, least of all him. The dates had been dull and boring though, and Al had frequently found himself wondering what Scorpius was doing at that moment. After the third failure of a date, Al had given up trying to move on from the blond. It was clearly not going to happen.

So here he was, spending yet another lunch staring at Scorpius Malfoy and wondering what in the wizarding world he was going to do with him.

"You need to stop staring before he decides to come here and make you stop." A pale, sallow-faced boy said dryly, coming to stand in front of Albus, cutting off his line of sight to Scorpius.

Al scowled at the boy, "Who the hell are you and how do you know Malfoy?" He asked sharply, eyes narrowing as he looked him up and down. The boy before him was a sixth year Slytherin Al didn't recognise. He had greased back black hair, a sharply defined face with a pointy nose and thin lips. Al immediately dismissed him as any kind of competition. Scorpius couldn't prefer someone like this to him. Albus considered that, suddenly uncertain. Could he?

"Thad Crabbe." The boy rolled his eyes at Al, "And let me make it clear, Scorpius is just my godbrother. I'm not interested in him. So stop looking at me like you want to kill me."

Surprise and a need to learn more about the mysterious blond had all of Albus's animosity vanishing, "He has a godbrother? I didn't know that."

Thin lips curved in a small smirk, "I'm not surprised. Neither of us are the kind of people who share."

Al arched a brow at that, "So why are you? Sharing, I mean."

Thad grinned, "You really are a Slytherin." He sat down in front of Albus and rested his elbows on the table, "I've been watching you circle him since that first day on the Hogwarts Express. At first it was entertaining, but now I'm beginning to feel a bit sorry for you. Six weeks in and he hasn't even said a word to you, has he?"

Al was torn between being indignant and being petulant. He settled for a combination of the two as he slouched back in his seat, green eyes glittering dangerously, "Do you have a point, Crabbe?"

Thad leaned forward, "It might not seem like it, but you're getting to him."

Al's scowl faded and he blinked, "I am?"

The younger boy nodded, "The biggest sign that you are is the fact that he's started to go out of his way to avoid you. If Scorpius didn't care, he wouldn't bother with avoiding you. He'd just ignore you."

Albus's face lit up as he considered that. This was brilliant! And then a thought occurred to him and he frowned at Thad, "Why are you helping me?"

Thad chuckled, "How is this helping you? I just told you that you're getting under his skin. I didn't actually offer any advice."

Al rolled his eyes, "You know what I mean. I would have given up in a few weeks if you hadn't told me this. You want me to win him over. Why?" Green eyes were piercing as they focused on Thad Crabbe.

The sixth year Slytherin smirked, "I've always thought a good, hard fuck would sort out all of Scor's issues. I've been telling him so for years. You're the first person who's been persistent enough to follow him around for so long despite there not being the slightest indication of interest from him. I figured you'd do."

Al scowled fiercely, "You're saying other people have gone after him? Other guys?" He'd figured out weeks ago that Scorpius was gay. The way those grey eyes darkened slightly whenever he did something particularly provocative to catch the blond's attention gave it away.

Thad stood, "Just because you were too stupid to notice him doesn't mean others were, Potter. Good luck."

Scorpius hummed to himself quietly as he took the roundabout route through the abandoned section of the castle to the dungeons for Potions. He knew Albus had a free hour now, and usually the Slytherin would have stalked him from the Great Hall until Scorpius shook him off, but he had been distracted today.

A slight frown played on Scorpius's lips. The fact that he had noticed Albus was distracted bothered him. Then again, the Potter had been talking to his godbrother. Surely that was the reason Scorpius had noticed. Nodding to himself, satisfied with this reasoning, Scorpius picked up his pace only to be pushed back against the wall with a body pressed up against him.

He couldn't help the shiver of awareness that ran down his spine and darkened his grey eyes as he looked up to meet volatile green ones. He fought to keep his impassive expression in place while his heart raced. "Potter! Just what do you think you're d—mmph!" A pair of lips cut him off and Scorpius's brain short-circuited.

Albus Potter was pushing him up against a wall in Hogwarts, snogging him as if he were the best thing in the Slytherin's life. For once, Scorpius stopped thinking and just gave in to what he felt.

In seconds, he had their positions reversed, pushing the Slytherin up against the wall, holding his arms up above his head, one of his hands wrapped around Albus's wrists as he explored every dip and crevice of the Potter's mouth.

Al moaned, arching up to press against Scorpius's long, lean body, revelling in how it felt to be wanted by the blond. Just when he was starting to doubt whether he'd ever get the Malfoy in bed with him!

Grinning into the kiss, Al leaned his head back, offering up his throat to Scorpius's now wandering lips. The Ravenclaw's hands moved roughly down his body to the small of his back, one of the hands slipping lower to squeeze his ass. The almost possessive grope made Al moan, even as Scorpius bit down lightly at the juncture of his neck and shoulder.

"Fuck me." He breathed.

Just like that, the Ravenclaw froze up. Al blinked, dazed and befuddled, as Scorpius's body suddenly moved away from him. He watched Scorpius slump against the opposite wall, grey eyes wide, a pale, trembling hand rising to press over abused lips. Albus swallowed at the look of disgust in those eyes, feeling undesirable for the first time in his life. "Malfoy?" He asked, his voice sounding meeker than he'd like.

Grey eyes blinked and focused and Al felt a rush of relief at the realisation that the disgust wasn't directed at him. He was still confused though. He only grew more confused as a range of emotions chased one another on Scorpius's striking face too quickly for him to make them out. One finally settled and grey eyes lit with fury.

Frowning at the intensity of anger reflected in the Ravenclaw's eyes, Albus straightened, green eyes alert and wary as he waited for Scorpius to speak.

"How dare you?" Scorpius seethed, eyes flashing, jaw tight. How dare Albus blindside him like that! And for what? Some stupid bet!

"How dare I what?" Al asked, incredulous, "From where I'm standing, Malfoy, you were just as into it as I was!"

Scorpius's expression turned cold. In as sharp a voice as he could manage he said, "You caught me off guard, Potter. I wasn't expecting to be attacked on my way to class. I made the mistake of thinking you had a bit more class than that." Taking comfort from the fact that he stood on higher ground now, Scorpius straightened to his full height.

Al felt off-balance, something that never happened to him. He stared at Scorpius with calculating green eyes, his mind racing as it took in all that had happened in the span of fifteen minutes.

He had left the Slytherin table almost blind with anger and had decided he needed a walk to cool off. It was during said walk that he had come upon Scorpius, and when he saw him Al hadn't been able to help himself. There was something about the Ravenclaw that drew him in. Something that made him want to know Scorpius better than anyone knew him. Something that made him want to be around Scorpius all the time. Something that made him want to snog the hell out of the tall, cool blond and make him look hot and bothered. So he had.

And, Al mused, his eyes dragging slowly over Scorpius's rumpled clothes to his bruised lips, and his mussed hair, he had done a fairly good job.

Scorpius bristled at the look in the Potter's eyes, hating that all his nerve-endings came alive when Albus looked at him like that. He made to leave but Al quickly cut him off, crowding him back against the wall. Grey eyes flashed dangerously, "If you know what's good for you, you'll move, Potter."

Al smiled mischievously, "Given that I'm so hung up on you of all people, I think it's safe to say I don't know what's good for me." When he got the reaction he wanted, which was Scorpius's dumbstruck expression, he leaned in to touch a soft kiss to the Ravenclaw's lips, "I know what I want though. And that's you."

Scorpius felt his heart skip a beat at that declaration despite himself. He closed his eyes and sank back against the wall, chanting mentally that Albus was doing all of this for that stupid bet. None of it was real. None of it was true. When he opened his eyes again, his face was impassive and it gave nothing away.

"Move." He said, unable to make his voice sound hard and forceful.

Al searched Scorpius's carefully blank face and knew he couldn't push the blond further that day. With a sigh, he stepped back, watching as Scorpius straightened and brushed off what dust had gathered on his robes. When he began to walk away Al called out hopefully, "I'll see you after the quidditch game on Saturday!"

Scorpius's steps didn't falter but Al knew he'd heard him. Now he just had to wait till Saturday and see what the Ravenclaw would do.

Rose could feel her jaw drop as her cousin relayed what had happened three days before to her. She groaned, dropping her face in her hands, "Al, is all this really needed? For a bet, of all things?"

Al rolled his eyes, "I wanted to fuck Malfoy before the bet. That just gives me added incentive."

Rose looked heavenward, shaking her head, "I hope you know what you're doing."

"I have no idea." Al admitted, grinning, "But that's the best part." He paused, glancing around to make sure no one was listening before he leaned forward to get closer to his cousin. "Rose, I haven't felt like this about someone before."

That made Rose blink, "What?"

Green eyes were serious as Albus said softly, "It's just…something about him. I can't believe it took me so long to see it, to see him." He chuckled helplessly, "And this is all before I even know him."

Rose felt concern shoot through her, "Al, I thought you just wanted to sleep with him. I mean, that's what you said before."

Al shrugged, leaning back once more, "That was before. I like him, Rose. I like him a lot."

Remembering her conversation with Scorpius about the bet and the derision in the Malfoy's voice as he spoke of her 'pompous cousin making an ass of himself' Rose stood suddenly, nearly knocking over her chair. Al sat up, looking bewildered, "Merlin, are you alright? What happened?"

Rose shook her head, "I just have something to do. I'll see you after the quidditch match, Al?"

Al grinned widely, "Well, hopefully not. I want to meet Malfoy, remember?"

Rose nodded stiffly, "Right. I have to go." She grabbed her book bag and wand, "Good luck!"

Al smiled, bemused, watching his cousin rush off, wondering what was wrong with her. He quickly brushed off the thought though, wondering for the hundredth time that week if he really would see Scorpius after his match.

Scorpius looked up from his book as Rose Weasley practically fell through the entrance to the Heads' quarters. He raised a single brow as he stared at her, slightly amused by her sweaty red-faced countenance. What she said though, had all his amusement vanishing.

"You have to go for the quidditch match today."

Scorpius pursed his lips, turning back to his book, no longer interested in what Rose had to say.

She wasn't having any of that. She threw herself down onto the sofa beside him, "Scorpius, please. Al likes you. As in he really, genuinely likes you. He'll be devastated if you don't show up."

Scorpius considered ignoring her, but he'd observed her enough to know that would not dissuade Rose Weasley. So, he shut his book with a slam and turned to pin her with a cool glare, "How quickly you forget the fact that you yourself warned me away from your cousin. Just because he's suddenly spouting flowery language doesn't mean he isn't the same insensitive prick who decided to bet on the fact that he could get me in his bed."

"Spouting flowery language?" Rose's eyes widened, "What has he said to you?"

Scorpius's jaw tightened as he cursed himself for having such pale skin. The colour that flushed to his cheeks immediately showed. Though he said nothing, that seemed to be enough of an answer for the Weasley.

"Listen, I know you don't trust him, but I know my cousin. He sounded serious when he told me he liked you a few minutes ago. He said he liked you a lot." Rose said, brown eyes pleading with Scorpius.

The Ravenclaw's expression didn't waver though. He just opened his book once more, "I'm not coming to that game, Weasley. If your cousin is disappointed then that's too bad. He can have a taste of his own medicine, and maybe he'll finally start leaving me alone."

Rose stared at Scorpius as he went back to reading, clearly unruffled by what she had told him. Feeling dejected, she trudged up the stairs to her room. It was only after she had shut her door that Scorpius let himself go.

He slid down so he was lying on his side on the sofa, staring at the fire crackling in the hearth. His trembling fingers reached up to brush his lips once before he shook his head and let his hand fall. He was doing the right thing. There was no conceivable way Albus Potter was interested in him for more than a fuck. After all, he was a Potter, and Scorpius was a Malfoy. He knew what that meant in the wizarding world, and he was prepared for it. He would face the world as he'd always known he would, alone. With that thought in mind, he drifted off to sleep.

I've decided to go for long chapters and shorter number of overall chapters. :) I'm so happy to see people following and favouriting this story already! Please do leave a review guys! It keeps me motivated to keep updating.

~Living to Laugh and Love