Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy.

Different Opinions

Once the Slytherin left the greenhouse Albus slumped up against one of the work benches with a loud sigh of relief, resting a hand on the wooden surface to keep him upright as he reeled from what the other man did to his system. Did Malfoy know what he did to him, Albus wondered, not confident enough in his abilities to believe he could hide the feelings the Slytherin inspired in him completely. But he must not be too obvious, or the man would be taking even more advantage of him. Not that the blonde was really taking advantage of him, Albus reasoned. He was eager and willing.

How far would the Slytherin try to go though? He didn't think the blonde would demand sex, the man had too much pride for that. But what would the man demand from him before this game they were playing was finished?

And that thought led to another so that Albus wished rather desperately for a chair to sit on for support. He didn't know how men had sex with each other, well nothing aside from the obvious. Gossip, ignorant comments, and just plain common sense had him pretty sure he knew what went where, he just didn't know how it could possibly be pleasurable to be the one on the bottom. It had to hurt, having something shoved up your ass. The Gryffindor rubbed his own just thinking about it. But it had to be pleasurable too, otherwise why would someone do that to someone they cared about? And it had to be hard on the men on top too, since wouldn't it be a…tight fit? Maybe even worse than being the first for a girl? But again, if the men doing it didn't enjoy it then obviously they wouldn't do it so obvious he was somehow wrong, Albus reasoned, scratching his head in confusion.

Images and possibilities swirling around in his mind Albus mentally acknowledged that it was the being bottom he'd have to worry about if he were wrong and Malfoy really did intend to try and bribe him into his bed. The Slytherin should have dominant, alpha male tattooed on his forehead. Not that the potions teacher needed it since anyone with two brain cells to rub together could see what he was within minutes of meeting him. Yup, Malfoy would want him on his back then, Albus acknowledged, unable to prevent himself from imagining it in his head.

Maybe…maybe the top got the bottom off by pleasuring his partner with his hand while he was…inside his lover. Albus had to swallow hard as he imagined this, the weight of the other man's body on his, crushing him into the mattress while those pale, oddly elegant hands stroked him to unbearable hardness and arousal.

Oh man.

Breathing out what was supposed to be a calming breath the Gryffindor forced himself to seek out the work he'd been doing when the Slytherin had interrupted him, ordering his mind to quit turning to thoughts that would do him absolutely no good.

They were certainly lending credibility to the being gay or bi theory though.

)

After finishing up in the greenhouse and returning to his room to shower Albus took a seat in his small parlor and waited for his guest to arrive for their scheduled visit. As he wasn't much for tea the Gryffindor simply conjured up a glass of pumpkin juice and retrieved some gingerbread cookies to nibble on from his private, made by Gran stash. He always felt a little bad eating in front of his friend since she couldn't join him, but she always scolded him for that thinking and it was tea time.

She was always on time too, so that as the clock chimed off the hour she appeared to pretend to sit on the chair across from him, pale hands neatly folded in her lap.

"Good afternoon, Albus." The Grey Lady said softly as she smiled at her best friend.

"Good afternoon to you too, Lena." Smiling back at her Albus toasted her with his glass. "How are things at the library today?" His friend loved the library and often passed the time watching over the books to make sure that they weren't being mishandled or miss-shelved. The knowledge books held was sacred in her eyes and Lena got along swimmingly with the school's librarian for that reason.

Giving him a run down of her day thus far Helena Ranvenclaw kept a careful eye on the man seated across from her, knowing his tells well. Something had been up with him this past week and thus far he hadn't confined in her about what was wrong. Though wrong wasn't quite the right word, she thought as she mentally searched for a more appropriate verb. He was…unsettled. Something had unsettled her friend and he had yet to regain his balance. And unsettling Albus was not an easy thing to do.

It wasn't in her nature to pry, she was an intensely private person herself, but Albus was the first and only best friend she'd ever had. Probably because it had taken centuries for her to develop the people skills she'd lacked in spades during her living years, the Ravenclaw admitted wryly, though only to herself.

So she was going to pry, just a little, Helena decided as she neatly changed the subject from her day to his. "But enough about me, has something been bothering you this week, Albus? Problems with some of your students perhaps? So far I've heard nothing but good things."

Albus wasn't surprised that she'd noticed, she was very observant, especially when it came to him. "No, things are going well in class. I've just recently been…introduced to a possible truth about myself that I wasn't previously aware of. I'm still working on reorganizing my thoughts on the issue. Nothing you need to worry about though."

"Is there anything I can do to help? Offer a second opinion or analysis of the situation."

He shook his head. "No, this calls for soul searching on my part, and an openness of mind."

Emotions and dealing with them weren't her strong suit. They were arguably her biggest weakness in fact. Like Albus she had closed herself off from people, though she'd done so to a more extreme degree. He'd closed himself off so that his living friends were casual, not intimate friends like his father had in Hermione Granger Weasley and Ron Weasley. She had had no friends but her books, no one smart or knowledgeable enough to be worthy of her interest or time. Both she and Albus could survive easily enough without constant human contact, a rarity since humans were generally pack animals whether they acknowledged that fact of not. Albus simply cultivated relationships outside his family because he attracted people to him with his kindness and willingness to burden himself with their needs and wants.

No one in her living years had thought her very kind, or had asked her for help.

She'd mellowed somewhat, and she did try to be…a better human being by society's definition when she was with Albus. The Gryffindor understood her. A gift she didn't want to lose until his passing.

So she tried. "If you do need my help you know you have only to ask."

"I know. Thanks."

)

Scorpius only jolted slightly when he saw the Grey Lady come floating through the Gryffindor's door. He knew that the two were good friends, it had been gossiped about quite a bit during his years at school with the other man. The Baron had not taken the relationship well and there had been some speculation that the Ravenclaw ghost had developed a crush on the young Gryffindor. Idiots. Anyone with a brain should have realized why the ghost had developed an interest in Potter.

They were children of an infamous parent, one who'd inadvertedly casted a shadow too big for their children to hope to live up to. The woman before him had handled the situation the same way James Potter handled it, by striving and failing again and again to live up to the image, though Potter had yet to accept the futility of his actions since the man was half Weasley and therefore too pigheaded to see the truth. Albus had handled it by simply giving up without trying, not realizing that he was far more like his father then people, who were mostly stupid, realized.

There just weren't any dark wizards around to force the younger Potter to show what he was made of.

Which was a good thing, Scorpius thought to himself, since he wanted the Gryffindor completely focused on him and not on some wannabe dictator with delusions of grandeur.

Nodding his head in acknowledgement of the Ravenclaw ghost Scorpius turned to watch her go, wondering what she and Potter had been discussing. Had the Gryffindor told her about their arrangement? He doubted it. The woman was so old school she'd been alive when Hogwarts was being built. She'd probably died a virgin without the slightest understanding of what sex entailed other than the fact that it could produce children, if that. Not to mention the fact that they were both men which she, given the time period she'd lived in, would not have been taught to view kindly.

Eyes going back to the door she'd just exited Scorpius turned around another question in his head. A far more interesting one to his way of thinking. He'd known Potter for a long time, had observed him with sexual interest during much of that time, and had thought he had a handle on the other's man sexuality. Straight as a ruler, that had always been his impression of the Gryffindor. One had to have a sixth sense about that sort of thing when you were gay, since most didn't advertise that sort of thing. Albus Potter had never looked at any man like he was aware of him sexually to his knowledge. Had never blantly shown sexual interest in anyone while in his presence until today.

Because when he'd looked at the man after he'd taken that swipe of tongue up the Gryffindor's neck he'd seen sexual interest in the man's eyes, he was sure of it. Heavily cloaked and distorted by an array of other emotions, but the other man had definitely been aware of him, Scorpius knew it in his gut. And to his way of thinking, that look wouldn't be in the man's eyes unless he meant it. Why would the Gryffindor fake the interest?

Had he removed the other man's binders, somehow opening those green eyes to him?

His ego wanted to believe that he was just that good, but he wasn't going to assume that his assumptions weren't ego based until he'd pushed the man farther. The further the man let him push, the more information he'd gather as to just how the Gryffindor was viewing him now that he'd started something between them.

)

Walking back towards their rooms after dinner Albus tucked his hands into the pockets of his trousers, looking over at the Slytherin as he ignored the butterflies in his stomach. "Hey, I was doing some marking before dinner and I was wondering if Cynna Porter was one of your students. She's a fifth year Ravenclaw."

Scorpius didn't see why they were discussing the girl but he'd play along for the moment. "I know her. You're wondering how someone in Ravenclaw could get the marks she gets, right?"

"So it's not just me then." Albus shook his head, glad to hear that. "Does she have some sort of disability or something? She doesn't talk much or appear to pay a lot of attention to me in class, but the work she turns in…she does just enough to be average but…she's very intelligent, you can sometimes see it in her eyes when the topic interests her."

"That's her MO. She transferred here last year for winter term. She originally attended a small day school in the United States. Her parents were divorced and her Muggle mother had custody, she only saw her wizard father occasionally. Mother was killed in a car accident last fall and father got custody. Her school record at the other wizarding school was exemplary, apparently she was one of their best. Now she does what she needs to to pass. No more, no less. She's got the balance between the two down to an art form."

His instincts hadn't been off then, Albus mused as he turned the situation over in his mind. The work she'd turned in had struck him as so deliberately constructed that he hadn't quite been able to believe it was accidentally. It was nice to know that she wasn't just doing it in his class though. He was still finding his footing as a teacher after all and had already made a few mistakes worth cringing over.

"Don't take it personally. And some of the other teachers have already tried to talk to her so don't bother. She bites the head off of anyone who tries to give her the 'there, there, I understand and want to help' spiel."

Something in the man's tone had Albus cocking his head to the side thoughtfully. "You like her?"

A hint of amusement came into the Slytherin's grey eyes. "I wouldn't go that far. But she comes to class, does the work, never cries, and refuses to take crap from anyone, including me. Hell, I give her some of the best marks in her year just because I know it pisses her off. We understand each other."

"Hmmm." Was all Albus said as he shook his head slightly at the other man's logic. But then again he knew that the twins got decent enough marks in Potions too. Not as good as they'd probably get with a nicer teacher, but a lot better than a lot of their peers. The key to doing decently in the Slytherin's class, Albus thought as he watched the blonde out of the corner of his eye, was to do the work as best as you could and not bitch, cry, or back down when he laid into you.

When they came to the Gryffindor's door Scorpius stopped and leaned up against the wall, waiting for the other man to open the door for them. While the man did that the Slytherin studied the man's neck, recalling his brief taste and wanting more. The pulse that beat there was interesting too, showing that the Gryffindor was far more aware and agitated than he was letting on.

Opening the door Albus motioned for the Slytherin to go inside, closing the door behind him once they were both through. The Slytherin didn't ambush him this time, walking into the main parlor area before turning around to face him with those foggy eyes Albus was beginning to find oddly compelling. And doing his best to ignore those eyes the Gryffindor walked over to where he'd left the egg timer out in plan view. Picking it up Albus set the timer and then set it back on the table, walking into the Slytherin's arms without protest as he tilted his head to accept the lips moving to meet his.

Placing one hand on the man's lower back Scorpius's other hand cupped the back of the Gryffindor's head as he enjoyed all the other man's mouth had to offer. And not about to lose the opportunity his latest maneuver had granted him the Slytherin soon moved to the tanned throat he'd been aching to get a good taste of.

And taste he did, his lips moving from the man's lips to the Gryffindor's strong jaw, following the bone structure before moving down the man's neck and then up again, starting with slow kisses before moving up to long licks up the length of the man's neck. Then it was time to get serious, Scorpius thought as he went about insuring that the Gryffindor's skin bore his mark of ownership.

Albus groaned as the man nibbled his way down his neck, purring low in his throat at the teasing little nips, gasping out loud when the Slytherin unexpectedly bit down on the spot where his neck met his shoulder. As the pain mixed with the earlier pleasure Albus's fingers reflexively dug into the other man's shoulders, eyes closing as the man's lips sucked on the mark the Slytherin had no doubt made on his flesh.

"What are you, a vampire?" Albus joked weakly, the rhythmic pull of the Slytherin's lips against his skin causing liquid tugs in his belly.

Lips curving against the man's flesh Scorpius lifted his head slightly to study the mark he'd left on the man's skin before speaking in a voice that had gone dark and laced with sexual meaning. "Would you like me to be? Because I have to admit, Potter, the thought of your hot, sticky essence sliding down my throat does have a certain appeal. I bet you'd taste absolutely delicious."

A low, strangled whimper was all Albus could manage.

Savoring the sound like it was the finest of wines Scorpius kissed the spot he'd marked one last time and then looked up to meet the other man's gaze. "Should I take that as a yes?" The Slytherin asked softly as he reached out to slide his thumb over the man's bruised, well snogged lips. "Would you like me to suck you dry?"

The sound of the egg timer going off killed the silence that met the Slytherin's question.

"I guess you're saved by the bell this time." Leaning forward Scorpius brushed his lips against the Gryffindor's in the softest of kisses. "But think about it, and get back to me."

Heading out Scorpius called out a good night before he opened the Gryffindor's door and let himself out.