Hello all! I TOTALLY thought I updated this on Sunday and then I realized that I hadn't. So here it is! Thanks to all of the lovely reviewers out there! I'm glad you all are enjoying the read!
Scorpius waited patiently in his room for Albus to arrive. Potter knew where to go, as he had been down to the Slytherin dungeon for parties, but he imagined he was nervous, turning back and forth, unsure of if he really wanted to go through with this. Scorpius had hinted that he was going to clean and cut Albus' hair, so he figured he was going to be very anxious.
He had given Albus directions to his room. The Slytherin rooms were spread out, not at all like the towers in the other dorms. Hopefully, he wouldn't get lost.
Several minutes later, he heard a knock at the door. "Malfoy?" Albus' voice asked.
"Come in, Potter," Scorpius replied, sitting up from his bed.
Albus looked around curiously. He had clearly never been inside a Slytherin dorm. The rooms were spacious, draped with green and silver curtains. There were three fourposters in the room with the Slytherin crest on one of the curtains. There was also a large silver mirror, which Scorpius had moved into the center of the room.
"Well, if you're done admiring my room, I would love it if you sat in this seat," Scorpius motioned at the chair in front of him. Albus took several steps forward and then stopped.
"What are you going to do to me tonight?" Albus asked.
"Wow, Potter, very straightforward. I promise, I'll be a perfect gentleman," Scorpius winked.
Albus blushed a deep red. "I-I meant -"
"I know what you meant," Scorpius dismissed. "You will look stunning by the time I'm done with you tonight," he added kindly. "Now sit down so I can get started."
Albus sat in the chair, fidgeting with his fingers. "Your dorm is nice," he finally said. "You would think that with all of this damp stone, it wouldn't be very cozy. But it is. Nice, I mean."
"I'm glad you find my dorm cozy. Maybe you can spend more time here," Scorpius said flirtatiously as he circled Albus, trying to decide what he needed to do first. "I think the first thing we need to take care of is your hair. It really is awful."
"I like it long."
"No you don't, you just are too lazy to cut it. Not to mention, you don't have the bone structure for long hair. We'll give you the Harry Potter."
"Does my dad really have a haircut named after him?" Albus asked, raising an eyebrow.
"He does. Only Potters can pull it off though," Scorpius replied. "No other person's hair can be that unruly and still look fantastic."
"Are you sure I can?"
"Only one way to find out, is there?" Scorpius asked with a wave of his wand. As he moved his wand, a large chunk of Albus' hair fell to the ground. He squealed. "Calm down, Potter. You should know by now that cutting hair causes no pain."
"I know, it's just - I'm nervous."
"I gathered that much. Go on, tell me about yourself. Tell me about what you're writing right now."
Albus closed his eyes as Scorpius continued trimming his hair. "It's an exploration of fear. Two witches walk into a forest filled with creatures, each representing a different form of their fear. Ex-boyfriends, loneliness, sense deprivation, stuff like that. One of the witches is brave and can face her fears head on. The other gives into the fear and wastes away. I hope to also have interactions between the two of them after they have gone through the forest, showing the stark differences between them."
Scorpius was impressed. He had actually read one of Albus' short stories that afternoon, which was a satire on government using a society of Crups as a setting. "How long have you been writing?" he asked.
Albus thought for several moments. "As long as I can remember. My parents have bins full of my writing all through my childhood. I took writing classes before I learned how to cast Lumos. That's just what I do. That's my Ravenclaw quirk."
"And your appearance isn't?" Scorpius muttered, snipping off more hair. At this point, he needed to do some close-range work, so he picked up Albus' hair between his fingers. He had obviously showered before coming over, as his hair wasn't nearly as stringy as it was earlier that day. Albus had tried to clean up for him. Scorpius felt a warm feeling in his stomach and a small smile form on his face. It was cute, really, and exactly what he had planned would happen.
"Do you really think I'm attractive?" Albus blurted out.
Scorpius dropped the hair in between his fingers and moved to face Albus. "I believe that underneath all of this hair, all of that acne, the dirt, the baggy or too-tight clothes is an incredibly attractive bloke. There is no way that you can have such a beautiful family and you be the only sea urchin in the bunch."
Albus looked deep into Scorpius' eyes. Scorpius struggled to maintain his cool. Bloody Potter, he was the one who was supposed to feel uncomfortable, not him. "Thanks," he replied finally.
"You know I'd only tell you the truth. There's nothing else in it for me."
"Except a snog," Albus joked.
"Careful Potter, or I'll give you exactly what you wish for."
Albus was silenced. Scorpius continued his work, trimming here and there until the sides were even. After 10 more minutes of intense hair cutting, Scorpius squirted a bit of product into his hand and began working it into Albus' hair.
Finally, he stepped back to look at his finished product. "There."
Albus looked into the mirror. "I look like my dad."
"Almost as much as I look like mine, right?"
Albus nodded wordlessly. He touched the ends of his hair on the left side, which were sticking slightly up. "You can see my face," he finally said.
"Well, yeah."
"You can see all of my pimples," he moaned.
"That is easily fixed," Scorpius said. "Lather your face up with this tonic every night. Put this on every morning. It is FAR better than anything Madam Pomfrey can give you. It will not only get rid of your acne, but it will prevent it and help heal the scars on your face as well. For now, let me hex the pimples off of you so you can see how you are going to look."
Before Albus could protest, Scorpius pointed his wand at Albus' face and muttered, "Papula Lateo!"
The zits instantly vanished. Unfortunately, so did several layers of Albus' skin and his face turned bright red. "Yes, well, that can happen too," Scorpius commented.
"What can happen?" Albus said quickly. Scorpius tried to get in the way of the mirror, but Albus was too quick. He stared at himself in horror. "I look like a baby troll," he moaned.
"I was going to say an overgrown cornish pixie, but baby troll works too," Scorpius said with a straight face. "Um, let's fix this."
"You will be fixing nothing," Albus said firmly, covering his face, pulling his legs up, and rocking back and forth. "At least with the acne, I looked like a teenager!"
This was bad. Scorpius had made Albus look worse instead of better. Albus was starting to look catatonic and possibly crying. This would not do.
"Here, let me see it," Scorpius said gently, dropping to his knees and Summoning a warm wet washcloth.
Albus kept his knees to his chest, but dropped his hands from his face. In any other case, this would have been funny, but this time, it wasn't. Scorpius gently pressed the warm washcloth to Albus' scrunched up face, careful not to irritate the already blistered skin.
"That's never happened to me before," Scorpius said, dabbing Albus' face some more.
"Well, it had to have happened with me, right? Nothing is ever easier for me," Albus moaned.
"I could teach you a Glamour to hide the redness, if you wanted. If you still trust me," Scorpius said softly. He knew with all of the Slytherin in him that Albus wanted to hear something along those lines.
"Of course, I trust you," Albus said, then blinked. "I trust you," he repeated. Apparently, he had surprised himself.
"Let me help, then," Scorpius said taking his other hand to stroke Albus' cheek. It wasn't typical of him to feel this bad for doing something to someone else. However, he always did everything with a purpose, and his original purpose had been to make Albus acne-free, not give him a blistering, red, goblin face. He whispered an incantation he had learned from his mother several years ago to hide large scars. He hoped this would work. Sure enough, Albus' face changed to a more normal color.
"Unfortunately, the blistering is still going to hurt, even though your face looks normal now." Scorpius stood up and rummaged through his drawers filled with various beauty potions and salves. He pulled out a small blue tube. "Rub this on your face once every hour when you're awake, and it should be back to normal before classes tomorrow."
"Really? It works that fast? They won't even see me like this?" Albus asked.
Scorpius shook his head, smiling. "No. You will look like a younger version of your father, except more dashing, if I might add."
Albus nervously bit his lip. Scorpius had the sudden impulse to bite the other boy's lip as well, but restrained himself. "Will you - put it on for me?" he asked. "I don't want to do it wrong and it's obvious you know how to do it."
If Potter wasn't so naive, Scorpius would have been convinced that Albus was having him on, manipulating him to get closer. The boy was completely oblivious to anything that came with relationships, so Scorpius let his guard down slightly. "Sure." He unscrewed the cap the tube and squeezed a bit out onto his hand. He raised his hand and began rubbing in the salve on Albus' face. He closed his eyes in relaxation, clearly enjoying the cooling sensation brought on by the salve. Scorpius smiled again and looked at Albus' face.
Up to this point, Scorpius had been hoping that Potter was good looking, but with that confirmed, the transformation was even more impressive than he could have imagined. The haircut had been a huge improvement in itself, but with the acne gone, Potter's face was gorgeous. His lack of hair exposed his ears, which stuck out just a little bit, just so it was cute instead of creepy. It also exposed his taut jawline, which was severe and slightly square-shaped. The lack of acne and redness on his face revealed an even, pale tone. He had exactly nine tiny freckles across the bridge of his nose. Scorpius despised freckles, but on Albus, somehow they were almost cute. Scorpius admired his handiwork. The boy was, in fact, attractive.
"There. How does that feel?" Scorpius asked.
"Much better," Albus responded.
Scorpius breathed in the scent from the cream. It smelled like china roses, his favorite. He leaned in closer. "I love the smell of china roses," he breathed, inches away from Potter.
"Do you?' Albus asked, who was clearly having trouble breathing with Scorpius so close to his face.
"I do. And you look just so good, I don't think I can resist - I know I told you I would give you space - but -"
"You can't resist what?" Albus asked huskily, his hands raising up to touch Scorpius' shoulders.
"You," Scorpius finished and leaned in, pressing his lips against Albus'.
Albus barely had time to register that he was kissing Scorpius Malfoy. He had never been kissed before, with the exception of family, and definitely not like this. Scorpius' lips were as soft as he remembered them from earlier that morning, yet when his own lips were involved, they were electrifying. Not sure of how one was supposed to kiss like THIS, he followed Scorpius' movement, open and close, a smack or two here and there.
Overall, Albus thought as they formed somewhat of a pattern, it would seem as though the kiss would be the best part. But it wasn't! It was the feel of Scorpius' arms pulling him closer, the hot minty breath that wafted between them with every fresh kiss. He loved the feel of their noses bumping, Scorpius' collarbone underneath the tips of his thumbs. How had Albus missed out on something so fantastic? Was it just by cutting his hair and cleaning up his face that allowed him to experience this?
Finally, Scorpius pulled away with one last gentle kiss on the lips.
"Er-" Albus stuttered.
Scorpius' eyes were bright, as if this was the only thing he was interested in. Albus had never seen that spark before, always so carefully guarded. Albus felt as though he had caught a glimpse of the true Scorpius, hidden away for so long. However, just as quickly as that look came, it changed. He shook his head a bit, like a he was shaking off Wrackspurts buzzing around his ears. He blinked, and his eyes grew mischievous again. He rewarded Albus with one of his famous Malfoy grins. "Indeed," he purred.
Albus slumped his shoulders a bit. It was obvious that Scorpius' feelings weren't as complex as his - or maybe he had better skills in coping with them. Either way, it was disappointing to know that the kiss wasn't as important to him. "I should -"
"You should," Scorpius responded, running his fingers through his perfectly groomed hair. Albus had the urge to muss it up but restrained himself.
"Thanks," Albus choked out and stood up. Scorpius stood and backed up to leave Albus room to get out. He too, stood, but knocked over the chair. When he tried to pick it up, his hands were shaking so hard, he kept dropping the chair in his grip. "Sorry," he breathed, his face flushing.
Scorpius leaned forward and set the chair right with ease. Albus took in a deep breath, completely embarrassed by his inability to walk without causing a disaster. Scorpius silently sat down on his bed, crossing his legs and folding his hands into his lap, looking up at him with a slight smile.
Albus walked stiffly to the door. He wanted so badly to look back at Scorpius but couldn't bring himself to do so. Climbing the stairs back to the Slytherin Common Room quickly, he began hyperventilating. What had that been all about?
He leaned against the cool stone wall by the entrance to the Common Room, noting that it was slightly damp, clearly underneath the lake. He definitely preferred Ravenclaw Tower, being able to overlook the lake and the Quidditch pitch.
After he caught his breath, he pushed himself off against the wall and opened the door.
The Slytherins grew silent as Albus walked through the Common Room. It was strange that they were all staring at him. It wasn't uncommon for members of other Houses to visit each other, especially in the older grades. He saw Areya Parkinson's mouth gaping open as he passed her. He shrugged and crossed his arms as he walked through the sliding wall.
It was late, so he did not meet anyone else on his way back up to the tower. He gave the answer to the riddle to the eagle knocker (spider) and climbed his way to his dormitory.
He opened that door and was immediately greeted by gasps and the crashing of a glass vial.
"Bloody hell!" gasped Geoff.
"Am I that shocking when I walk into a room?" Albus asked.
"You are when you look - like that!" he cried.
Albus remembered what happened to his face. "Oh, I'm red, aren't I? Scorpius took off half my skin this evening."
"No, your hair! And your face! You look -"
Albus then realized that he had just had a massive makeover and discovered the root of the stares in the Slytherin Common Room. "I look like my dad, don't I?" he asked, touching his short hair.
Geoff shrugged. "Well yeah. More than that though is that I can see…YOU. Wow."
His other dorm mates, Ethan Davies and Ian Goyle nodded in agreement. "You could have your pick of any bird in school," Ethan said slowly.
Albus rolled his eyes. "That's doubtful."
Ian chuckled. "Just you wait, Al. The girls will be drooling over you tomorrow morning."
"Who did this to you anyway?" Geoff asked after he fixed the broken vial and began combing his hair.
"Malfoy offered to help me look acceptable for Victoire and Teddy's wedding," Albus responded. "I didn't want to do it at first, but then I-" he stopped, not willing to reveal the conversation he overheard between Roxanne and Lily. "I realized I needed to change."
"Scorpius Malfoy, eh?" Ian commented. "The most popular boy at Hogwarts just offered to help you with your style?"
"A Slytherin offered to help you out of the goodness of his heart is what he MEANS to say," Ethan inserted before Albus had a chance to respond.
"Well, we made a deal," Albus answered.
"And what did you agree to?" Ian asked curiously.
"I - er - I'm helping him with his Charms work," Albus stuttered.
"Scorpius Malfoy, admit to lacking skill in something?" Geoff asked skeptically. "That's...new."
"I never really paid much attention to him," Albus said casually. He knew his ears were turning red, but still struggled to keep a passive facial expression. He wasn't ready to tell his friends about the OTHER agreement.
"Well, he's an interesting bloke," Geoff commented.
"He seems nice enough. Even though his best friends are my least favorite cousins, he wasn't awful to me when he cut my hair. Then, when he accidentally removed a bunch of my facial skin, he gave me a healing salve and then some concealing cream. You can't even tell, can you?" Albus realized he was babbling and quickly stopped talking.
The three boys inspected Albus quickly. "You're wearing makeup?" Ethan asked, not even bothering to hide his chuckle.
Albus narrowed his eyes and didn't respond. "Whatever," he finally said, and changed into his blue striped night shirt.
"Hey Al, it's okay," Geoff muttered to Albus as they climbed into bed. "I wear manliner when I want to impress a girl."
"Thanks mate," Albus replied, shaking his head.
