Author's Note: [06/29/2012] This chapter has been edited. Some parts of it might have been changed. Thank you all so much for sticking with this story! If you find mistakes, feel free to tell me in a PM or in a review. Thank you and happy reading!
Chapter 3
"In My Opinion, a 'Friend' is Never a 'Nobody'"
October 23, 2031
The lights were dimmed and flickering. Down the hall, two bodies were standing close, speaking in hushed whispers. Suddenly, one stepped close, pressing the other against the wall. "I love you. I always have," he whispered, warm lips pressing against pale blond hair.
"Thank you?" came the unsure reply.
"Is that all?" Lips moved from ear to mouth. The chaste kiss deepened as warm lips pressed firmly against cooler ones. One was eager, the other neither accepted the invitation, nor pulled away. Confusion set in now as the bodies parted. "Aren't you going to say anything else? I said 'I love you'."
"I don't understand what I'm supposed to say." An honest response. He wasn't being spiteful. He really didn't understand.
"Just...forget about it," he sighed and pulled away, walking down the hall. "I'll see you at practice tomorrow, Lucas. Night."
"Alright. Good night, Matthew."
Down the hall, hidden away in the dark, Albus covered his mouth to keep from making noises. His cheeks were red, that much he knew. He knew he had seen something that he shouldn't have. He knew he should have given the two boys a little privacy, but he had been worried that they were about to fight. That had been the reason why he had moved in closer to hear what they were saying. Albus had been taken by surprise when he saw Matthew kissing Lucas so passionately. He had no idea that Matthew had felt like that about Lucas. Though looking back, he supposed he could have seen the signs.
Albus was so lost in thought that he practically jumped when he felt an arm hook around one of his. "Well, well, Professor Potter. Out of bed after curfew, are we? I think this calls for a detention," Lucas chuckled, looking up at Albus, arching one eyebrow gracefully.
Albus was too embarrassed to look at him. "I-I think that's my line, Mr. Rutherford."
"You saw it, didn't you," he said softly, hanging his head a bit.
"I, er, I did, but it's alright. I mean, I don't mind. You boys are at that age. And I mean, things like that happen, especially between friends, right?" Albus offered. He wasn't quite sure what to say in such a situation, but he was determined to say something. This was like a test for all teachers. There would eventually come a time when they would have to offer non-academic support for their students. He would not fail his first trial.
"I know it's normal. Especially for Matthew," he said easily, beginning to walk down the hall with Albus. "I don't really care."
"You mean that you don't like it when he k-kisses you?" Albus questioned, suddenly finding it hard to swallow. When did his hands get so clammy?
"I don't... hate it. Objectively, he's a great kisser." Albus could feel his blush deepening. He could not have been that sheltered, could he? "But I just don't get the point. And don't give me that look. I'm not some wall flower. I've kissed loads of people. Boys and girls. But it's all the same thing, isn't it? They say they love me, but I don't understand what that means."
"It means that...that they care about you." Albus muttered, not really understanding what Lucas was driving at. Love was love, wasn't it? How does one explain love? It had always been so integral in his own life that he took for granted that everyone understood it. "I mean, haven't you ever loved anything? Like a... pet or something?" He had almost said parent, but changed his mind at the last moment.
"No."
"Are...you sure?" What else could he say?
"I'm almost sure. People always throw the word 'love' around like I'm supposed to know what it means. How do you know you're feeling love?" he asked curiously, looking up at Albus now. He asked that as simply as if he had asked how to properly recite a spell. Surely, he had to know how awkward that question was.
But he had asked and Albus figured he was owed some kind of explanation.
"Let's see. When you're in love with someone, you get very happy whenever you see them. Then, when they go away, you feel sad and wish you could be with them more. You want to hold the other person close and you get jealous when someone else tries to take their attention away. When you love someone, their smile and happiness become the most precious things in the world to you. When they're upset, you get even angrier than them, for them. You want to make whatever is upsetting them go away." Albus knew he sounded ridiculous and was getting the feeling Lucas was playing around with him.
But when he looked down at Lucas, the boy actually seemed to be seriously considering his words. He was sincere. Albus continued. "When you love someone, you want to protect them. You would be willing to give up anything for them. You think to yourself, if it came down to it, you would willingly lay down your life for them."
Lucas soon chuckled, shrugging as he let go of Albus and walked forward, stretching out his arms. He stifled a yawn. "Eh, then I guess I never felt love. Happy just because someone else is smiling? Being willing to sacrifice myself for them? That sounds like a miserable existence. Like, I don't know, being put under the Imperius curse. But if Matthew loves me, might as well go with it. There is a new broom I've been eying for a while."
Albus reached out, putting a hand on Lucas' shoulder. "You shouldn't do that. Matthew is your friend and if he does love you, it would break his heart if you just used him for things, Lucas."
"By your logic, he'll be happy as long as he thinks he's doing things that make me happy. I don't see the problem."
"The problem is you don't love him back. Those things, they don't mean as much when you're doing them for someone who won't love you in return. Unrequited love hurts more than being rejected outright," Albus said softly, willing the young man to understand.
Albus knew Lucas wasn't cruel; he just honestly didn't seem to know how to handle people who got close to him.
Lucas huffed lightly as that. "So basically, what you're saying is that unless you love the person back, love has no personal benefit. That sucks. Not that it matters. I mean, it's not like it's a real thing, right?"
Looking over at him in confusion, Albus cocked his head. "What?"
"I mean, it's not like love is a real...thing. It doesn't actually exist. Like Santa or the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy. There is no way anyone feels as intensely for one another as the way love is defined," he said with a light shrug, as if he were saying the most obvious thing ever.
Albus watched him, his mouth open. He was at a loss for words. "But...that isn't true. Love exists. It's real."
"Is it really?" he said with a small laugh. "I doubt it, but maybe feeling love is like...being able to see all the colors in the spectrum clearly. Some people are color blind. Maybe I'm, I don't know, love-blind?" he offered.
Shoulders slumping, Albus stopped walking. Sometimes, Lucas said things that really cut into him. He looked the child over, looking desperately for some sign that he had been joking. He found nothing. He hated learning such sad things about his students. "You might be right. But it's...sad. I'm sad that you don't understand with it is to love someone."
Looking over at Albus incredulously for a moment, Lucas snorted. "Don't pity me, Mr. Potter. I might not understand love, but it's like any deficiency. My other senses make up for it. If I don't feel love, that means I should be able to feel intensities of hate you'd never understand. Anyway, good night. I got practice in the morning and Maddie will be pissed if I over-sleep again."
"I really should give you detention for being up after hours, Lucas."
Lucas just laughed as he began to jog down the halls. "Go ahead and give me detention, I'll just ditch! We're playing against your friend's school in a week and I'm not missing practice for nothing! Night-night, Mr. Potter, don't let the bed bugs bite!"
Albus chuckled weakly as he waved at Lucas. He hadn't given a detention out yet, even two months into school. Either his students were devilishly charismatic and charming or he was a bigger softy than the principal himself.
Turning, he began to walk back towards his own quarters. He tried to put Lucas' words out of his mind, but he was finding it impossible. People did not go their whole lives not understanding love. Even if they didn't think they had it in their own lives, they surely understood what it was. He just hadn't explained it well enough for Lucas to understand. He needed a better definition.
Though, just thinking about love in his own life made him embarrassed. Albus worried that perhaps he was the wallflower.
Albus was physically slumped forward in his seat at the cafe. Sighing, he rested his cheek against the table, fingers fiddling with the table cloth. He knew he was being silly, but he couldn't help it. After he said good night to Lucas, he had been unable to get to sleep, the boy's words playing and replaying in his mind. He wanted to know what had happened to make someone so young so cold, but he also did not want to pry. A small part of him confessed that he did not ask, not out of consideration for Lucas, but for himself. He was not sure how he would handle knowing what had happened to Lucas.
"Does the thought of having tea with me upset you so badly, Potter?" Came a familiar voice followed by a light slap to the back of his head.
Albus reached up to rub the back of his head reflexively as he sat up. "Huh? No, that's not it, Scorpius. I just did not get much sleep last night. And wipe that depraved look off your face. I was just busy thinking."
Scorpius had indeed been about to make a lewd comment about Albus' mysterious "girlfriend", and huffed in agitation when he had been shut down. Albus was getting better at reading him, Scorpius thought. Almost as good as he used to be. "And what exactly is it that has you so worked up? Knowing you, you probably just realized that between two numbers there are infinite numbers. Oh wait, you already went through that back at school didn't you? I swear, sometimes, you could be a right Ravenclaw."
Feeling his face go bright red, Albus suddenly diverted all his attention to his cup of tea as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. Scorpius had been telling the truth. Back when he was a first year, he had gotten into a bit of an academic scuffle with an older Ravenclaw. The girl had insulted Albus' analysis on something or another and she had gone on a tirade on how much smarter she was than Albus. "I bet you haven't even realized that there are infinite numbers between all numbers!" She had screamed that at him at some point and at the time, he hadn't paid it any mind.
It was only as he was trying to get to sleep that her words had returned to him. Albus hadn't been able to sleep that whole night, running off numbers. Scorpius had been annoyed, Albus remembered that. Scorpius hated going to sleep before everyone else had gone off to bed. Albus had explained to Scorpius what that girl had said to him and why he couldn't sleep. For the rest of the night, the two boys stayed up: Albus unable to sleep for all the numbers in his head, Scorpius unable to sleep because Albus was still awake. At least karma was on Albus' side when a week later, she-
Suddenly, a look of realization dawn on Albus's face as he looked over at his blond-haired companion. "Scorpius," Albus said softly, Malfoy looking up at him curiously as he poured himself some tea, "you were the one who did it, weren't you? You turned Colette Perkins' hair into slugs. Don't deny it, Mr. Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy," Albus said, raising a finger to Scorpius. Merlin, when had he become his grandmother?
Indeed, for a moment, Scorpius had looked like he was going to try and cover up his past misdeeds. Albus never claimed to be particularly well-versed in Legilimency, so what Scorpius was actually thinking was, for the time being, firmly hidden. After a fleeting moment, Scorpius finally grinned, holding his hands up in defeat. "Fine, fine, you got me, Potter. Just, please don't tell me it took you this long to work out it was me. Everyone else figured it out the minute she came screeching down the tower like a banshee."
Albus shook his head. The hex, the prank as a whole, had Malfoy's unique signature all over it. "I guess I should have realized. You always did for the hair."
"Hey, now. Not just the hair. I always went for a person's best feature. Getting punched hurts your body, but getting punched in those prized pearly whites hurts your soul."
Albus could hardly stifle his snort as he brought his cup of cooling tea to his lips. In all these years, Scorpius had hardly changed at all. "Careful Scorpius. Your vanity is starting to show."
"Not that you can really blame me. Malfoy men have always been known to be incredibly handsome." Scorpius practically puffed his chest out at that, the Malfoy physical beauty a particular point of pride for the young man. Albus rolled his eyes. Saying Scorpius could be vain was akin to saying that the ocean had a penchant for being a little on the damp side a few months of the year. No matter what people would say about his family, no matter all the horrible things they threw at him, Scorpius had a habit of clinging to a single good point as if it excused all else. On good days, Albus found that to be annoying, on bad days, insufferable. Despite all that, however, Albus had to admire his old house-mate. Scorpius would never allow anyone to make him feel less about himself.
Scorpius had his admiration, but it didn't mean that Albus didn't find his exuberant pride to be irritating. "Maybe when they're young," he said with an easy shrug. He wasn't even sure why he was baiting Scorpius. The old Albus would have just nodded meekly and let the matter drop entirely. Maybe his parents' Gryffindor courage wasn't entirely lost in his Slytherin veins. Or maybe he was too Slytherin to let a good verbal spar go. "I've seen your predecessors, and, no offense, but receding hair lines never look good on anyone."
If it were possible for a human to puff up and hiss like a kneazle, Albus had no doubt that's what Scorpius would have done. As it were, he recoiled, glaring at Albus now, clearly insulted. "Have you seen your own father lately? He's got the wrinkles of a man twice his age! He's hardly a catch." Scorpius had gone back to grinning triumphantly all while glaring holes into Albus, challenging him to say something in return.
Before he could even balance the risks and benefits of acting out against the obvious attempt to get a rise out of him, Albus practically jumped to his feet. The logical, Slytherin part of his brain was telling him it was a trap and for him to sit down and shut up. The irrational Gryffindor part of his brain, tired of constantly being cowed, burst forward, gnashing its teeth, wanting to defend his family's honor. "You take that back! My dad is very much still a catch! A great catch!" Albus blurted out the words before their meaning fully registered in his heated brain.
Scorpius was obviously operating with a similarly automated mind as he hopped to his feet and blurted out, "Not as great a catch as my father!" without so much as missing a single beat. For a moment the two men panted as he glared daggers at each other. They both had their family's honors to defend, even if they were defending it against someone who, by most common metrics, was something of a friend.
Slowly, horror dawned on both of their faces as the adrenaline faded and their words replayed in their minds. Scorpius was the first one to sit back down, busying himself with an orange scone as if he had never seen one before in his life. Albus sat down not long after. Clearing his throat, Scorpius muttered, without looking at Albus, "I propose we never speak of this conversation again."
Albus' voice practically cracked as he squeaked out, "Agreed."
A silence settled over the two men. In silence, they drank their tea, ate their lunches, and flipped through magazines and newspapers. Albus was almost surprised how relaxed he could be around the youngest Malfoy. Back at school, the blond-haired boy had always made him nervous, even when he was, by all accounts, being nice to Albus. It just felt so unnatural. A Malfoy and a Potter getting along? Albus was sure that James would rather choke on his own bile than to share tea with Malfoy. Though, Albus did have to admit, Scorpius and his older brother hardly got along well enough for afternoon tea to even be an option.
Scorpius never bothered or hurt Albus, probably because they both wore green, but that just meant his pleasure doubled whenever he was picking a fight with James. Scorpius never missed an opportunity to harass the older boy back at school. It seemed to be only James. Albus could not think of a single time Scorpius had thrown a hateful word to his sister Lily.
In truth, that was probably because Scorpius hardly said anything to her. The most he had done was give her a curt hello whenever he found Albus in her company and needed to pull him away for whatever asinine reason. Once, he even confessed that he did not bother to pick on Lily because he saw her more as a Weasley than a Potter. While there was hardly any love lost between Draco Malfoy and Albus' uncle Ron, the Malfoy/Potter feud had a much more poetic feel to it and it was hard for someone so drawn to the dramatic as Scorpius to avoid. Now that he was not brewing hatred towards Scorpius Malfoy, Albus was surprised that he was able to recollect as many good memories with him as he was.
During their first year, Albus had been particularly lonely, being the only one in his family in Slytherin, and had taken to hiding under one of the tables in the common room. He knew that he could have simply gone to the Gryffindor dorms and any one of the lions would have let him in. They would have been eager to catch up with him and to glean information regarding the Slytherin Quidditch team. He was surprised that Gryffindors were not as above cheating as they would have one believe. Letter of the law, not spirit of the law, they had told him. He knew he could have gone and spent time with his siblings and cousins, but he did not because at the end of the day, he would have had to return to the dungeons and then he would feel even more alone. Albus got it in his head that if he never saw his family, he would never have to say goodbye to them and he would be somehow better for it.
After classes, he would dart back to the dungeons before anyone could stop him. He did not even need to tell his housemates not to let any Potter or Weasley into the common rooms, no matter how much they said they needed to talk to him. Albus was the only one of the clan most Slytherins could stand. After a few weeks, his family stopped trying to chase him. They figured he needed some time to deal with his situation, as unlucky as it was.
Albus had spent almost all day in his bed, refusing to get up. He had no friends among the snakes, so no one tried to pull Albus out of his self-imposed misery. One day, almost a month into school, Scorpius had suddenly sat down on the edge of Albus' bed and did not bother moving, even when Albus' red-rimmed eyes glared at him, suddenly defensive.
He nearly screamed out when Scorpius had pulled out his wand and pointed it out to him. If what his uncle Ron had told him about Malfoys were true, he was probably going to assassinate him. He was too scared to even hear what Scorpius had called.
Instead of a green flash, a small snake burst out from Scorpius' wand and landed on the bed. Rather than be afraid, Albus just sat up and looked at the small snake in awe. He was not afraid of snakes. Actually, he was rather fond of them. Unlike a lot of creatures, they gave you warning when you were annoying them. Otherwise, they did not mind attention. They were easy to read and Albus liked any creature he could read easily. Scorpius smiled when he saw that Albus at least seemed entertained by his Serpensortia.
Years later, Scorpius would explain to Albus just why he was such a fan of that particular spell. His father would often cast it for him when he was a child and Scorpius loved watching the snakes do tricks to brighten his mood. Scorpius only told Albus later, in their seventh year, that he had actually spent nearly two weeks trying to learn that spell properly just to cheer him up. As Scorpius flicked his wand to and fro, the snake slithered and flipped. Albus had forgotten his sadness as he laughed, cheering the snake on as it continued to perform tricks.
Eventually, Scorpius had directed the snake towards Albus. It darted up Albus' robes, the young boys writhing on the bed as he squealed out in laughter, trying to get the snake out of his clothes. Even Scorpius was laughing as he snakes moved about before finally loosely moving around Albus' neck like a chain, happily warming its cool body against Albus's neck.
Albus composed himself as he sat up, eying Scorpius curiously. Scorpius seemed to be examining him as well. Without even a proper explanation for why he had gone out of his way to cheer Albus up or even to say good bye, Scorpius left. The snake dissolved away a few moments later when Scorpius got too far and the magic weakened. It was then that Albus realized that Scorpius was not the enemy that his uncle Ron had claimed he should be. He was nice. Albus felt a little embarrassed. He had heard of Serpensortia, but had been useless in using it himself, but Scorpius had cast it with no problem. He was in awe at his housemate and, after a few minutes of deliberation, Albus had taken off after him.
Scorpius had gone to try out for the house's Quidditch team. There were a lot of first years wanting to play, most wanting to make their parents proud. When Albus' name was called up to take a broom, he had stammered shyly and said he was just there to watch and had gone and taken a seat by the benches. Scorpius had flashed him a grin when it was his turn to be put through the tests. Normally, the first years, too scared to voice what position they wanted to play for fear of angering upperclassmen who already held those positions, would just allow themselves to be given all the tests and placed whenever the captain wanted them. Scorpius was the only one to stand up tall and state, "I'm going to be your Seeker."
The older players had laughed at him, and Albus felt himself shrinking from the ridicule even when it wasn't aimed at him. But Scorpius never lost that smirk. His trial for Seeker had been specially made just so the other players could put a Malfoy in his place. They were the product of their parents and it seemed that Draco Malfoy had made as many enemies within his House as he had without.
And so, without much delay, Scorpius mounted his broom, facing off the Slytherin's current Seeker, a slender sixth year named Thomas Bulstrode. The Malfoys and the Bulstrode were distantly related, but there was no love between relatives. Even Albus tensed as the watched the two boys glare at each other. The team captain, Chaser Amelia Rosier stepped beside them, a small box in her hand. Everyone on the field was quiet. The tense standoff even attracted the attention of a few Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff second years returning from their Care of Magical Creatures lesson. Amelia opened the box and the Snitch darted up into the air.
It moved so quickly Albus only saw it once, briefly, before it was gone. The only way he had any idea of where it was going was by watching Thomas Bulstrode darting from side to side, sometimes giving chase to something invisible, other times just floating, looking. Scorpius, on the other hand, just hovered on his broom. Sometimes he would hover up to two meters off of the ground; other times, he would be as less as a few centimeters.
Albus felt embarrassed for Scorpius. Everyone was laughing at him. From the way that Thomas was dashing to and fro up in the air, it was obvious to Albus that he had the Snitch in sight. The Quidditch team and even the other first years were all sneering at Scorpius, mocking the young boy by saying that he should have learned to fly properly before declaring himself Seeker.
If their words stung him at all, Scorpius never let the hurt reach his face. Instead, he just moved his gaze steadily across the sky before moving lower. He stopped only when he was looking directly at Albus. The dark-haired boy could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stick up as he shivered under the unflinching gaze. He tried to move away when he suddenly realized that Scorpius was quickly floating his way. Had Scorpius seen the look on pity on Albus' face?
Feeling everyone's stunned gazes on them, Albus swallowed thickly when he was face to face with Scorpius. He was blushing, he was sure. "You are doing really well, Scorpius," He said, voice practically a whisper. Scorpius intimidated him, that much was obvious, but Albus was determined to support the boy who had shown him support not too long ago.
Scorpius looked Albus in the eyes at his words and Albus realized that up until that moment, Scorpius had been looking just past Albus, not at him. The smirk returned to Scorpius' face. "Hold still, Albus," he said as he reached out a hand.
Albus obediently stilled at Scorpius' command, but he practically jumped when, as Scorpius withdrew his hand, the gentle wings of the Golden Snitch brushed against his cheek. Thomas was half a kilometer in the air, still trying to figure out where the Snitch was, while there Scorpius sat, Snitch in hand, never having even broken a sweat. Everyone was so shocked by what they had seen that even when Amelia blew the whistle to signal the end of the trial and named Scorpius their new Seeker, no one cheered.
Thomas had been furious, and with good reason: how could he explain to his parents that he was bested by a little first year, and the son of the coward Draco Malfoy at that? Thomas quit the team right then and there. Amelia didn't seem to care as she patted Scorpius' shoulders, grinning like a Cheshire cat. She had been trying for years to best Gryffindor's Seeker and finally she had the player she needed to go head-to-head with that little prodigy, James Potter.
For his own part, Albus had remained awe-struck even when the first years boys were turning in for the night. All day, he kept looking over at Scorpius with wide eyes at every opportunity, saying how amazing Scorpius was at every chance, the compliments spilling out before he even could stop himself. Scorpius had eventually decided to put Albus out of his misery and tell the curious boy just how he had pulled off one of the most amazing Quidditch tricks Albus had ever seen. It was not that Scorpius had grown tired of the compliments. He just figured he would give Albus more to praise.
It was all a game of psychology, Scorpius explained as he started to change into his black silk pajamas. Thomas was graceless as a Seeker and the Golden Snitch as afraid of him. It would actively try to run away from him if it could do it. As the trial had not been an official game, the Snitch was technically allowed to go anywhere it wanted on the field. Seeing as Thomas was monopolizing on the sky, impatiently darting in every direction like a drunken sprite, Scorpius assumed the Snitch would be sticking a little closer to the ground. At that point, it was just a matter of figuring out where a frightened Snitch would run to. He had caught a flash of gold dart across the field and disappear behind Albus. All that was left was to approach the Snitch quietly and pluck it out of the air from right behind Albus' head.
Scorpius admitted that it had been a gamble that could have easily gone in Thomas' favor, but Scorpius had faith in his own abilities.
Albus found his respect for Scorpius grow, even as his own self-respect shrank. By the next day, everyone found out that Albus' Quidditch skills had been so useless that he hadn't even noticed a buzzing Snitch had been right behind his head. Somehow, his mother had found out, probably from James, and she had mentioned it in one of her Quidditch articles in the Daily Prophet. Most of the adults thought it was an adorable short-coming for a boy who always tried to appear so capable. Albus had just been mortified.
In retrospect, that was probably when his jealousy towards Scorpius began. Though, that seemed to be over now. He wasn't afraid of the man sitting across from him, idly flipping through a potions magazine, lithe fingers rapping against the table out of habit. Albus hated to admit it, but it was only now that he was starting to see himself as Scorpius' equal. He especially hated how nice it felt.
Without even bothering to look up from his magazine, Scorpius finally spoke, his voice sounding unusually loud to Albus. They had been sitting in complete silence for a lot longer than he had thought. "You know, you never did answer my question." Setting the magazine aside, he looked at Albus, giving him his full attention, "What is on your mind, Potter?"
"Scorpius, what's love?" Albus winced as soon as the words formed. He really had to stop saying things out of context. He spent so much time lost in his own head that he would just forget that people couldn't read his mind.
In this case, however, Albus could not help but feel pleased when he saw a light blush spread across Scorpius' cheek. Malfoy was normally so in command of his emotions that it was hard to get a rise out of him. It seemed the only way to do it was to take him by surprise. "Hm, awkward."
Albus reached up to rub the back of his head. Now it was his turn to blush. "Er, no, I meant...ah, I really am sorry. Sometimes I speak without really thinking things through."
"I noticed."
"Alright, but listen, I will tell you but you cannot tell anyone. Especially not anyone from Zenbazi," he muttered, eying Scorpius. Really, he doubted Scorpius was the type of person that would go around blurting things told in the strictest confidence, but Albus was sorted in Slytherin for a reason and was weary of others, especially other snakes.
"Potter, I just work there," Scorpius said with a shrug, picking up the magazine once more. "If I had friends there, do you think I would be here, fraternizing with the enemy?"
"I guess you are right..."Albus trailed off, going quiet for a few moments as he thought about the best way to explain his current conundrum. His cheeks just reddened at the memory. "Fine. So, last night I saw... two of my students... two of my male students... you know..."
"Shagging?" Scorpius offered as he leaned forward a bit, interested now.
"What?" Albus cried out. It was his turn to be taken by surprise now. "No! Kissing!"
"God, is that all?" Scorpius snorted out as he laid back in his chair, opening the magazine once more, declaring the matter no longer worthy of his full attention. "It is just a kiss, Potter. Is a little snogging too much for your delicate sensibilities?"
"I am not some prude, Scorpius. It was not the kissing that bothered me." That was mostly truth. It was not so much that the kiss bothered him as it was that it had caught him off guard. Were students always so forward and he had never noticed or was it just students at Peppertongue? Suddenly, Albus felt like his problem seemed blown out of proportion. He wished he had never brought it up, but knew if he tried to back out now, Scorpius would hound him until he had heard it all.
If there was something Scorpius hated, it was a story half told, even if it was a story he had no interest in. "One of the students, Lucas, he, well, I don't know how to explain it, really. Do you think there can be people who really don't understand love, Scorpius? He asked me to define it and I worry I may have failed him."
"And that's why you didn't sleep," Scorpius declared, beginning to understand what had happened. "You were trying to figure out how you can explain love to someone who has never felt it?"
"I know you think it's ridiculous, but yes. It is a very important matter." Suddenly he felt incredibly nervous. He knew what he was going to say was a popular sentiment but it was so rarely voiced that Albus wasn't sure how to say what he was thinking. "People who do not understand love can-can-"
"Can become the next Dark Lord." Scorpius concluded easily. He saw the shocked look on Albus' face before he continued with a grin, "What? It's obvious that's what you're thinking. That's what everyone's been thinking since your father killed Voldemort. No one says it out loud, but people have started taking child rearing very seriously. People have gotten it in their heads that if you shower a child with love, they will never do a single evil thing. It is stupid."
"It is not stupid, Scorpius," Albus chastised. What a thing to say. He would admit that since the last War, parents had taken a greater interest in the welfare in children, but it was for the greater good.
"It is. A child who is showered in love can grow up to be a bastard while a child who has only ever known contempt can choose to do good. We are not just the result of our parents' many choices and mistakes, Potter. At some point, we gain our own agency and make our own choices." Albus was taken aback by the look of sincerity on Scorpius' face. Too often, even in the heat of passion, Scorpius always grinned during an argument. It was all a game for him. But not this time, Albus noted. Scorpius was speaking from the heart and there was no sign of that impish grin on his face.
He was so taken in by Scorpius' words that Albus could not come up with any sort of argument. Even if he could, he did not want to. He wanted Scorpius to be right. He relaxed now, giving Scorpius a small wry smile, "I take it you have been giving this matter some thought lately?"
When he realized that Albus was not going to challenge him, Scorpius too relaxed and his easy smile returned. "What are you talking about, Potter? I've always been a champion of Free Will."
When Albus had returned to Peppertongue, he set about writing some letters. He had been unable to properly explain love to Lucas and Scorpius had so skillfully avoided the topic that it was not until Albus was returning to the school that he realized that Scorpius never actually answered him. Since he failed to find the answers he wanted, he would write letters to people who might be more equipped to answer young Lucas. He was a little embarrassed having to ask for such help, but he kept telling himself that he was a teacher now. It was his responsibility to teach his students.
Letters in hand, he went up to the Owlery and went over to his snowy owl Joanah, waking her from her nap. She nipped at his hands, never having liked being woken up so rudely. He just smoothed her feathers apologetically. He had just sent her on her way when he realized that someone else had walked into the Owlery.
"Hello Matthew," Albus said with a smile, chuckling when the tall young man jumped a little, his own tawny owl squawking at being jolted on his arm.
"Mr. Potter! I'm sorry; I didn't realize that you were here. This place is empty most of the time," he said, taking his owl, Peppo, over to the window as he attached a small note to his foot before letting him go. Albus looked around the Owlery now that is was just the two of them. There were only a handful of owls, most of them belonging to the school.
"There aren't many owls here at all, are there? Do the students use the telephones in Dragons Camp to phone their families?" he asked curiously.
"No, they just don't have anyone to contact, so none of them bothered getting owls," he said simply, "Anyway, I better go. Quidditch practice. You'll...be going won't you? To our game against Zenbazi?" he asked, for some reason seeming a little nervous.
Albus just smiled. Of course he was going to go. He wouldn't miss it for the world. "Oh, I don't know. I'm rather busy you know. Those first years have shameful penmanship. It takes me forever to correct their essays. Is our team any good this year?"
Matthew understood Albus' joke and he gave him a bright grin. "You bet, Mr. Potter! This year's team is the strongest we've ever been. We're all really pumped up, more than we've been in a while."
"Oh, is that so, Matthew? And might I ask what it is that has our athletes so eager to prove their might?" Albus was genuinely curious. He had gone out during the evenings to watch them practice many times and while the players loved the game, the thought of having to go against the other schools always gave them a look of dread.
"Uniforms."
"Huh?"
"Hasn't... Mr. Malfoy told you? I mean, we just assumed since Lucas said you two were friends he would have told you." When Albus looked confused, Matthew continued. "Mr. Malfoy got us brand new uniforms a few days ago. We normally have to play with loaner uniforms Madam Tanja has on hand for us, but this time, we've got our very own. Not only that, but Mr. Malfoy took one look at our brooms and told us to throw them away. Can you believe it? He got us all new, top of the line brooms."
"Wait, Malfoy did? Scorpius Malfoy?" he asked. That certainly didn't sound like Scorpius at all.
"Yeah. We thought it was weird too since he's a teacher at Zenbazi. When we said as much, he said that when we play under Peppertongue's name, we're a reflection on him. He told us he has faith in us, so he wants us to crush the Zenbazi team under our boots." Ah, now that sounded more like the Scorpius he knew. "You certainly have odd friends, Mr. Potter. But it's nice."
"I should think that new uniforms and equipment would be nice," Albus agreed, crossing his arms as he nodded his head.
"Oh, no, not that. I mean, yeah, those things are nice, too, but I meant the faith Mr. Malfoy has in us. He's got expectations for us. Everyone on the team is really excited to show him what we've got. We don't, well, want him regretting saving us. We've never won against Zenbazi before, but now, none of us have a single doubt that we're going to dominate them. Anyway, I better go, Mr. Potter," he said, turning to walk out of the Owlery. "And we are going to dominate those conceited assholes over at Zenbazi, so please don't miss it."
Albus just smiled. "I won't, Matthew. I promise."
Albus could not help but feel a swell of pride as he sat back in his seat and watched as Peppertongue's first string Quidditch team step out onto the field. He had to admit, the players looked very formidable in their mostly forest green uniforms. Albus could almost pretend he was rooting for Slytherin's House team. From where he was sitting, Lucas could have easily passed for a young Scorpius Malfoy. He chuckled a little at the thought. Lucas was even waving to his screaming school mates in the same way that Scorpius had done right before a game.
Each school had a practice Quidditch field on their campus grounds. However, because none of the schools had enough stadium seats to accompany two others schools plus almost every resident of Dragons Camp, years ago, the inter-school council had decided to just build a community Quidditch field outside of Dragons Camp. It was there that all official games were played. Since no one team had the home field advantage, it felt more like a game at Hogwarts. That feeling of familiarity only grew as Peppertongue's players were announced by name.
Peppertongue's students were normally quiet and withdrawn, but when it came to supporting one of their own, even the scared little first years were screaming out so loudly Albus almost thought they had used Sonorus on themselves. They were all waving banners of Forest green and burgundy, similarly colored markings on their faces and arms as they screamed out in support. Because Peppertongue had no uniform, the students had gotten rather creative in dressing in the school colors, many of the students having charmed their hair green and burgundy just for the occasion. A part of Albus could not help but feel excited because it felt like being back at home for Christmas.
He was not one to brag, but when compared to the Zenbazi student population, decked out in black and silver, his side seemed a lot more fun.
In the crowd of black and silver, Albus was surprised how easy it was to spot Scorpius. He was the only teacher who looked bored. Albus noted that most of the other teachers sat apart from him. Scorpius did not talk much about his work during their meetings at the cafe, but Albus got the sense that Scorpius was not happy in Zenbazi. Rutherford and the students on the Quidditch team had invited him to sit with the rest of Peppertongue for the game, but Scorpius confessed he was obligated to turn down their offer. The only reason he was able to avoid open contempt at Zenbazi for his last minute rescue of Peppertongue was that Scorpius had made his generous donations under his father's name. As most of the wealthy families who sent their children to Zenbazi also donated heavily to keep schools like Peppertongue running, it was difficult for the school to blame Scorpius for doing the same. He had managed to not burn bridges by a technicality and did not want to anger his fellow teachers quite yet.
He made no effort to hide how much he would rather be on the Peppertongue's side of the field, however. Mrs. Avery had been so moved by Scorpius' selfless giving to her students that she had taken it upon herself to knit Scorpius one of the sweaters she gave only to her favorite pupils. Albus smiled when he recognized the familiar green and red sweater slightly visible under Scorpius' black robes. Mrs. Avery had knitted one for Albus as well and he wore it for the game with pride, thankful for it as October in that region had turned out to be rather chilly.
A part of him was honestly amazed to see just how energetic everyone was after how long they had been in their seats already. Quidditch for the three schools seemed to be an all-day event. Each school had three teams and all three would play, one after another. The morning saw the school's junior teams play. Most of the players on these teams were first or second year students. These were students who showed interest in learning Quidditch but needed a chance to practice in real games and not just scrimmages against friends. Both schools fiercely supported their youngest Quidditch players. With a few years of practice, these would be the players on the first-string team, so it was important to boost their confidences early.
During the afternoon, it was time for the schools second-string teams to play. These games were by far more exciting than the junior games if only because players of all types wound up on the teams. Some of the players had graduated from the junior teams and played their positions commendably. Other times, players had every reason to be on the first string team and were put on the second string team only because the position they played was already filled by an equally capable upperclassman. This meant that each school's captains had to create a second string team that had players with vastly varying stills. This often created strange final matches where the more skilled players would have to come up with unusual and rarely used techniques and strategies to compensate for weaker players.
Albus was also interested to learn that the junior and second-string games were governed by a time limit rather than ending the game when the Snitch was caught. Ms. Hope had explained to him that the three schools had agreed to set up the rule years ago when they quickly realized that the junior, and sometimes the second-string, games could last days as sometimes the Snitch was in a particularly foul mood and easily ran circles around inexperienced Seekers. After a junior game had lasted two days, the council at the time had called an emergency meeting and declared the new rule. The players had cheered because they had gotten tired after the first ten hours and after two days, some of the players were starting to experience terrible bouts of vertigo. Most of the time, the junior games ended with the two hour time limit. The second string games rarely needed to resort to their three hour limit, but sometimes it happened.
On that day, Peppertongue had won its junior game and Zenbazi had won the second-string game. They were one for one in terms of points towards the School Cup, so it all came down to the first string teams. These games were considered the reason people came to watch at all, so there was no time limit. These teams were considered strong enough to be a match for the Snitch. There was a high energy all through the stadium that grew only louder, if it were possible, with the pitch, both teams rising into the air.
Within a minute, Angie and Mona had suddenly rushed Zenbazi's keeper and using a feint had scored the first point of the game. Peppertongue's side of the field exploded with chants of "MOW 'EM DOWN, MONA!" and "ANGIE'S OUR ANGEL!" Albus was sure even he was screaming his support. His gaze temporarily darted over to Scorpius. Zenbazi's side was busy screaming out advice or disapproval, but Scorpius was sitting quietly, a grin on his face. Albus liked to think Scorpius was actually proud of Peppertongue's little rag-tag Quidditch team.
The next few points were for Zenbazi's side, but Maddie didn't give up. She was used to her team being down on points. She just had to make sure they stayed close enough to Zenbazi so when Lucas got the Snitch, they would pull ahead. Albus noted that while Zenbazi's chasers, three older boys, probably in their sixth or seventh years, were rather skilled, it was really their beaters that were the stars of the team.
The two girls, Sonya and Sydney Johnson, were a force to be reckoned with, Albus learned from Ms. Hope who sat next to him. They did not seem particularly interested in defending any of their teammates. If they wound up doing so, it was a secondary benefit. No, their first priority seemed to be knocking Lucas' small frame right out of the sky.
Whenever a Bludger got within their range, the girls knocked it directly at Lucas with nearly deadly accuracy. Ms. Hope had incredible respect for the two girls, even if they were from a different school. She said that they had both initially tried out as Seekers, their vision impeccable, able to catch sight of the Snitch even in an area crowded with other players.
Rather than make them Seekers, however, Zenbazi's captain had put the sisters through a very rigorous strength training regimen and last year he had unveiled his prized Beaters, having combined the strength needed to knock the Bludgers around with ease with their ability to pick out a Seeker no matter how fast he was moving. "If the Keeper, Seeker and Chasers were as good as they were, Zenbazi would be unstoppable," Hope said, sighing thankfully when Matthew and Logan jumped in front of Lucas at the last moment to knock the two Bludgers out of the way.
Albus wasn't even playing, but even he was a little intimidated by the two girls as they flew past their spectator box, sweat running down their dark skin, grins on their faces. He suddenly thanked that it seemed the rest of the players on Zenbazi's team were only slightly above average.
For the next hour, the game continued as if it were really two games: the one between the keepers and chasers and the one between Lucas and Zenbazi's beaters. The points quickly tallied up as the chasers realized that they had nothing to do fear from the Bludgers. The Johnson sisters sought the Bludgers out and aimed them only at Lucas. Peppertongue's beaters on the other hand, Matthew and Logan, stayed on Lucas like bodyguards, but the Bludgers were coming so quickly that all they could hope to do was knock them in the opposite direction to give Lucas some time to find the Snitch.
And suddenly, Lucas dove: he had spotted the Snitch! It took Matthew a few moments to realize that Lucas was no longer behind him. That was just the opening in Peppertongue's defense that the Johnson sisters had been craving. Within a moment, they had found their Bludgers and sent them ricocheting towards Lucas' diving form from opposite directions.
When Albus would think about that moment later, he would realize that it had all happened within a second. But while it was happening, everything seemed to move in slow motion. Albus wasn't even sure if he was breathing any longer.
Lucas had his eyes trained on something in front of him as he dove. Just as he reached an arm out, the two Bludgers hit him at once with such opposing force that he was sent spinning off of his broom like a rag doll. He dropped the last few meters down to the ground, his body bouncing several times before it skidded to a stop. Lucas was already lying face down on the ground, one arm sticking out in an unnatural angle, before Matthew even realized what had happened. Things finally started to return to normal speed as Matthew screamed out for Lucas as he dove down, jumping off of his broom and running to the fallen Seeker, the medi-witches rushing towards them.
The whole arena was deathly silent.
Albus honestly thought that Lucas was dead.
Albus had been hit with a single Bludger when he was a child and that had been just a Bludger moving randomly and only one. The impact had knocked the wind right out of him and had broken three of his ribs. He certainly wished he had been dead. Lucas had gotten two Bludgers at the same time from both sides and he had been knocked right off his broom. If it had happened to Albus, it would have shattered every bone in his body and he would have been dead long before he hit the ground.
Before Matthew or the medi-witches reached his body, Lucas suddenly rolled onto his back with a lurch. Albus' stomach turned when he saw the state Lucas was in. His nose was clearly broken and he was missing at least two teeth. There was a horrible gash on the side of his head that was bleeding quite profusely. One arm lay under him, broken in several places as was his right leg. Despite all that, Lucas suddenly gave a wide, bloody grin. With a heave, he held up his good arm. When he opened up his fist, the small Snitch unfurled its wings and rose a few inches from his open hand.
The arena exploded with cheers now as Peppertongue was declared the winner. Even some of the Zenbazi spectators were screaming out.
Even if Lucas was from the other school, he had put on one hell of a show and they were glad he had not died.
With the adrenaline running out of his system, Lucas finally realized the incredible pain he was in. His arm dropped as he lost the energy to hold it up, and he screamed as the medi-witches tried to move him. Finally resorting to charming his body, lifting it from the field, they carried him to the medical tent. Matthew followed close behind, fidgeting like a mother hen. The rest of the team, knowing that Lucas would not want a room full of spectators while he probably cried from the pain, instead went over to their school mates to be received as heroes.
In over eighty years, Peppertongue had never won against either school when it came to Quidditch and it was prepared to receive its athletes like the victors they were. The Dragons Camp city council even went so far as to change the decorations around the city's Quidditch field, the banners now proudly displaying the school's dragon mascot, the Welsh Green.
Most of the spectators stayed at the Quidditch field for nearly half an hour, recounting the amazing game they had just watched before they made their way into Dragons Camp. It was all a part of a local tradition, Albus learned. After every game, the spectators would descend on the town's restaurants and shops and would celebrate an amazing day's games with lots of food and festivities. It was a way of having both sides mix with no hard feelings, at least in theory.
Albus excused himself from his group of Huerta, Harwood, and Rutherford, promising to meet with them later, at Collin's pub. He just wanted to make sure that Lucas was feeling alright or else he would not be able to enjoy himself. They allowed him to go without too much complaint, but made him promise to not stay away too long. It was his first post-game party and all the teachers had agreed to get him ridiculously drunk as a sort of official welcome to the school. Albus chuckled as he waved them goodbye before heading over to the medical tent.
The medi-witches were standing outside of the tent, beginning to pack up their supplies. They let him know that Lucas was doing fine, if he wanted to go see him. They would be taking him to Peppertongue in a few minutes to rest, but he could check up on him before then.
Albus thanked them as he slipped inside, heading towards the last bed in the rather spacious tent. There had been a lot of injuries during the second-string game that day, so he was sure most of the beds had seen use. Albus was about to pull the curtain away for the only bed currently in use was being used by Lucas, when he heard hushed voices coming from within.
"How could you do something so reckless, Lucas? You could have been killed." It was Matthew and he sounded understandably upset.
"But I didn't die. It's Quidditch. People get hurt. Stop babying me." That was definitely Lucas. His words were stiff, probably from a still-healing jaw, but Albus could practically hear the defiance in his voice.
He could hear Matthew's exasperated sigh followed by the light squeak from the mattress as Matthew sat down beside Lucas. "I'm not babying you. I love you. Do you have any idea how I felt when you were just...lying there? I thought you died." Matthew's voice wavered as he spoke.
Lucas was quiet for a while, only his soft breathing filling the otherwise quiet medical tent. "You love me, and when I got hurt, you got...hurt too? Right?"
"Are you angry?"
There was silence. "No. Not really. But Matthew, I don't know how to return your feelings. I don't get it at all." Albus' heart ached a little for Matthew. Being rejected could not feel great, especially after such an amazing game. "Don't give me that face," Lucas muttered. Albus was hidden behind the thick curtains, but he could see in his mind the expression Matthew had probably been wearing. It was a pretty universal look.
"I don't get your feelings, but it doesn't mean I don't want to try. But, chances are, this...thing between us is going to end badly. For you. If you're alright with that, then we ca-" Lucas went quiet at that point suddenly. Albus leaned forward a little, wondering what had happened. When he heard a faint moan, his eyes went wide. He was about to say something to stop...whatever was going on behind the curtain, but before he could utter a single sound, he felt an arm wrap around his waist, keeping his arms pinned to his side, and a hand move to his mouth, keeping him quiet.
He did not even have a chance to struggle before he felt himself being pulled quickly, quietly out of the medical tent. As soon as they were outside, he was released and Albus spun around to face his attacker, his wand out at the ready, hex on the tip of his tongue.
Scorpius stepped away from him, hands up, wearing a grin. "Do you make it a habit to spy on your pupil's love life or is it just your rotten luck?"
"Scorpius! What are you doing sneaking up on me like that! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Albus cried out accusatorially, reluctantly putting away his wand. He supposed he didn't have much of a reason to hex Scorpius. At least not at the moment.
Scorpius just laughed as he shook his head, reaching out to ruffle Albus' already naturally messy hair. "Potter, I will have you know that the world, despite what it might seem like, does not revolve around you. I went to go see how my favorite Seeker was doing after his show stopping performance. When I spotted you about to spoil his fun, I thought I would play kindly patron and escort you out of there."
"They are children!"
"They are teenagers," Scorpius corrected. Albus sighed. He was right. As usual. It was probably alright to leave them for the time being. With Lucas still healing, it was not as if they could do anything unsavory even if they wanted to. Albus paled. "It is probably better you do not think about your students shagging. You won't be able to ever look them in the eye again, if you do."
Albus punched Scorpius's arm at the comment before he turned to walk towards Dragons Camp, fully intending to take Rutherford up on his offer. Scorpius just snickered, rubbing his arm theatrically, before he fell into step beside Albus quite comfortably.
"Did you see 'at, Scorpius? He was... amazing. Brilliant. If it were... if it were me, I'da been dead. I'm 'elling you what, I'da been deader than dead. Those girls...wow, those girls are scary. If they don' become perfess... professionals, there are no more good Quidditch team 'nymore." Albus could hear himself slurring, but for once he didn't care. He was happy. Genuinely happy. Also, a little nauseous, but, still, mostly genuinely happy.
"God, Potter. What a useless drunk," Scorpius declared as he wrapped his arms around the flailing man beside him as they walked him up the steps into Peppertongue's main hall.
After the incident in the medical tent, Albus had met with the rest of the Peppertongue faculty at Collin's pub. They had ordered a round of drinks as soon as he arrived. They even insisted that Scorpius join them. For whatever reason, Albus, after just a single shot of what he said was light ale, demanded that Scorpius enter a drinking competition with him. He said he needed to regain his honor. Scorpius had no idea what he was talking about, but he loved any excuse to win against a Potter, even a push over Potter like Albus. It was always more fun when he went up against someone who could defend himself, like James, but he hoped that inebriation would give Albus the claws he would need to pose a challenge.
For several rounds, Albus had held his own against Scorpius. Albus struck him as a lightweight, but the way he was tossing back shot after shot of fire whiskey had earned Scorpius' respect. Scorpius was still going to drink little Albus Severus Potter under the table, but that did not mean he didn't respect him.
Suddenly, Albus stopped drinking and lifted up his shot glass, squinting a bit as he looked at the liquid. "Y'know," he slurred, "'M starting to think this ale has gone all funny..." he said before almost falling out of his chair. Huerta reached out at the last moment to hold onto his colleague as the table erupted with laughter.
Albus had apparently ordered just an ale and Rutherford had secretly swapped their drinks. Albus had been so busy trying to beat Scorpius at their little drinking game that he had not even realized what it was he was drinking whiskey until several shots later. For nearly half an hour, Albus was the group's entertainment. Drunk, he was much funnier than he was normally.
He recounted things that happened in his class, like when a group of second years hadn't listened to him and got attacked by pixies. He had to save them, but one "pixie-bastard" had thought it would be funny and it had hidden in Albus' hair for almost four hours. Scorpius said that's what he deserved for having such messy hair and instead of getting defensive; Albus just laughed and said it was his Potter genes.
Eventually, practically mid-story, Albus suddenly slumped against Scorpius, nearly falling off of his own bar stool. Whatever story he had been telling was lost both on him and the other teachers. Albus muttered something softly before his eyes began to close. Scorpius figured that it was a good time to call it a night. Huerta had started to get up, intending to take Albus back to the school, but Scorpius insisted he stay with the other professors. Scorpius had wanted to make sure that Lucas had gotten back to school safely anyway, so he would go put Albus to bed as well. Saying their good nights, he wrapped an arm around Albus as he helped the staggering defense against the dark arts professor back to his school.
At some point, Albus had woke up and had gotten his second wind, suddenly wide awake. It was not a permanent state of mind, however, and Albus drifted between periods of lucidity and drunken rambling. If it were anyone else, Scorpius would be annoyed, but because it was Albus, he could not help but see it as potential black mail material.
Back at school, even though Albus was a Slytherin just like the rest of them, he always had to go set himself apart from them. When the older boys would sneak in drinks from Hogsmeade, Albus had to make a big show of abstaining. Scorpius thought Albus was just putting on airs, but now he realized why Albus never played drinking games. He knew full well that if the older Slytherins could get a hold of a drunken Potter, they probably would have made him stagger through the halls, completely naked. Then again, maybe they would not have. Most of the Slytherins had actually been quite fond of Albus. If anyone would have been banished from the dungeons, au naturale, it would have been Scorpius.
Scorpius shook his head lightly to clear it. He hated thinking of Hogwarts.
"Hey, 'his is th' place," Albus suddenly blurted when they started walking down the hallway towards his quarters. Scorpius looked at the map on the wall. There was nothing out of the ordinary marked on the map. Scorpius had no idea what Albus was talking about. Before he could say anything, Albus suddenly spun around and grabbed Scorpius by the shoulders and pushed him against the wall. Now Scorpius really had no idea what had gotten into Albus Potter. The man was several inches shorter than Scorpius and much less muscular. He was sure Albus worked out when he needed to in order to teach his subject, but Albus Potter was more of the cerebral sort.
"Potter, what exactly are you playing at?" Scorpius finally asked, arching an eye brow as he looked down at Albus, the dim lights that were lighting the halls starting to slightly flicker.
Albus suddenly pressed even closer against Scorpius. Leaning up, having to go on his tip toes, Albus whispered softly against Scorpius' ear. "I love you. I always have." Leaning in close, he pressed his lips against Scorpius' neck, just under his ear. Scorpius was suddenly finding it difficult to breath. He really should not have had so much to drink. He was actually enjoying the attention.
"I-thank you, but-"
"Is that all? "Albus continued. For someone who had been slurring and stumbling over all his words not too long ago, he was rather articulate now. Scorpius opened his mouth to say something, anything, but was shocked into silence when he felt Albus' soft lips against his own. Scorpius could taste the whiskey on Albus' lips. Before he could stop himself, Scorpius wrapped an arm around Albus with one hand before moving the other up, his fingers tangling in Albus' messy black hair. The move had been enough to cause Albus to moan softly against Scorpius' lips.
All week, Scorpius had had to resist the urge to reach out to touch Albus's perpetually messy hair. It stuck out in all directions, but it looked soft. He had fought the urge for days, but he had gotten numerous opportunities to touch it in the last few hours alone. It was as soft as he thought it was. And, even better, as they were both supposedly drunk, he could always blame whatever it was they were doing on the whiskey competition earlier.
Pressing his lips firmly against Albus's he pushed his lips apart. Albus murmured in confusion. As soon as Albus felt Scorpius' tongue on his, he suddenly pulled his head back, unable to stop his laughter. He sounded as if someone had cast Rictusempra on him. Reaching out with a hand, he pushed it against Scorpius' face, fingers pushing up Scorpius' nose, as he continued to practically giggle. "Wait, wait, you're... doing it wrong."
"What? Kissing? Potter, I'm a master at it," he said, suddenly feeling insulted. Even if Albus was drunk, that was no reason to be rude.
"No, no, not the kissing. Wait, yes the kissing. You aren't doing what they did. They were right here, too, so you have to do what they did. Lucas doesn't kiss Matthew back. He doesn't kiss Matthew back so Matthew says...what does he say again, oh yes, he says 'Aren't you...going to say anything else? I said I love you'. You aren't very... very good at this. You have to follow what they did exactly or it doesn't help...me understand," he murmured, slumping forward against Scorpius.
For a moment, Scorpius stood there confused, Albus passed out in his arms, his body completely limp. Slowly, Scorpius began to piece together what Albus had meant. He remember about a week ago, Albus had said something about catching two of his students kissing and then one having asked him about love. Or something like that. It was a week ago and Scorpius was surprised he remembered anything so insignificant from so long ago. Even though he had succeeded in by-passing the subject entirely, he realized now that Albus had not let the subject go. He gathered Lucas and Matthew were probably the two students he had caught kissing and if what Albus had said had been true, they had locked lips right where they were standing.
Scorpius started to laugh. Pulling Albus up to get a better hold of him, he started walking down once more. He paused long enough to ask the map to take him to Albus' quarters.
He and Albus were probably a little deranged: Albus for having a mind filled with unrelated tangents and Scorpius for having the uncanny ability to make sense of the mess. In a way, it made perfect sense for someone like Albus to suddenly perform a reenactment in an attempt to make sense of a situation he did not understand. Unfortunately, that way appeared to be a mutual sort of madness.
And, true to form, Albus had pulled Scorpius into the middle of his madness without proper explanation as to what it was he was doing.
Scorpius felt a little pride, though. He was starting to understand the way Albus thought. Though, he thought to himself, if the day ever came where he could easily follow Albus's train of though, he would voluntarily admit himself to St. Mungo's because, obviously, all was not well.
When he finally got to Albus' quarters, he thanked the doors for opening on their own. Albus was relatively light, but he felt so bony that Scorpius felt like he needed to take extra care so that he did not hurt him. Taking him over to the bed, he laid Albus down.
"Ahem, ahem. Who are you, young man?" Scorpius looked around the room for a moment before his eyes landed on a painting of an old doctor.
"I am... nobody. Just a friend."
"In my opinion, a 'friend' is never a 'nobody'," the portrait not looked him up and down. "Oh, I think I know who you are now. Yes, yes, you are young Mr. Malfoy, aren't you? I suppose I ought to thank you for saving this place. It isn't much, but it is home."
Scorpius smiled a bit. He had never been thanked by a portrait before. "You are welcome. I am just here to put Albus to bed and then I will be gone," he said, starting to unbutton Albus' shirt. The doctor suddenly got up and left the painting of his office, granting them privacy. As Scorpius worked to take Albus' clothes off of him, the man's eyes started to flutter open.
Looking around groggily, Albus grumbled. "W...what's going on?"
Scorpius just chuckled as he smoothed Albus's hair, as futile as the gesture was. "It's just me Potter. Go to bed." When Albus gave him a smile and nodded obediently, doing as he was told, a Scorpius's heart fluttered for a moment before he willfully ignored it. Albus remained fast asleep as Scorpius took off his shirt and trousers before maneuvering his light body under the blankets, tucking him in.
Albus was such a deep sleeper when he was drunk, Scorpius could have done anything that he wanted to Albus. Scorpius grimaced immediately at the thought. He promised himself to never let Albus get so drunk again.
Drunk, Albus was even more defenseless than usual and Scorpius was not sure how that made him feel.
The next morning, Albus woke up with a weak groan. His head felt like it had been used as target practice for the Johnson sisters. His hangover was certainly comparable to having iron Bludgers smashed against his face. Stumbling out of bed, grabbing the dresser for support, he felt a piece of paper under his hand.
"Good morning, Albus," The Doctor said cheerfully. "I met your friend, Scorpius Malfoy last night. He is quite the honorable man. He put you right to bed." Albus just nodded. The Doctor must have really liked Scorpius. The man rarely looked so excited. Pouring himself a glass of water, Albus read over the short letter, written in Scorpius' graceful hand.
ASP-
Master Boswell, the headmaster of Zenbazi is hosting a party on Halloween next week. You will attend. This is not up for discussion. Consider it one step towards repaying your debt to me. I even know what I want you to go as. Look in a mirror. I will see you for tea this afternoon.
-S
Glaring at the note blearily for a moment, Albus suddenly rushed over to the bathroom to see what Scorpius meant. The Doctor burst out into loud laughter as Albus did so.
"That bastard!" Albus actually cried out when he saw himself in the mirror. After writing the note, Scorpius apparently was of the mindset that Albus' ink well was in excess of ink, as he had taken it upon himself to draw on Albus' face while he slept, completely unaware. Scorpius had drawn whiskers on Albus' cheeks and even blackened the tip of his nose. Practically growling, he turned on the sink and started to do his best to scrub the ink off of his face.
From the bedroom, he could hear the Doctor still laughing. "Oh, I think you would make an excellent kitten, young Albus!" Some days, Albus was sure the Doctor was as loony as his patients.
TBC
