Hi guys! So here is chapter 4, what was originally going to be the ending of chapter 2 before I got so carried away. Sorry for the delay in posting it, I've been away over the last two weeks and couldn't update too much. I hope to get a chapter up more or less every couple of days for the next week though. I hope you enjoy it!
Ira 3

Chapter 4: Hogwarts Library

The late summer sun was beginning to set behind Hogwarts castle and its deep, orange rays were shining gently through the tall windows of the library. Scorpius had spent the last ten minutes contemplating the tiny specks of dust that were floating haphazardly around in the light, a piece of parchment lay on the desk in front of him, discarded and forgotten.

He had been trying to write a letter to his father. He wanted to tell him what had happened in Muggle Studies, how he had been ridiculed by Polly Chapman and made to look like a fool. Then he wanted to tell him about how one of Polly's friends had asked their Transfiguration professor if there was a way to turn Shirley Riddle back into a boy.

He wanted to tell him that by lunchtime the whole school had heard about his ordeal and had christened him 'Mrs Shirley Potter', and most of all he wanted to tell him that he'd spent the last two classes of the day hiding in a solitary corner of the library crying, wishing he had somebody he could talk to who wasn't Albus, because after all, whether he realised it or not, Albus was the problem.

Even after five years Scorpius could still remember how he had felt the first time he'd met Albus Severus Potter on the Hogwart's Express.

In the first instance, he'd been impressed by his cousin, Rose. As soon as she stepped foot in his compartment he'd felt her presence - she was a headstrong and determined individual, like no woman he'd ever met before. But the only emotion she had sparked in Scorpius was awe. Positive awe, but still nothing more.

With Albus it had been different. When he'd first laid eyes on Albus he'd felt his heart skip a beat, then speed up a little to catch up with itself, before skipping a few more.

The way he'd looked at him, not with pity but understanding in his eyes, told him from the start that Albus was different. Then the way he'd spoken to him, defending him against his own cousin and accepting him despite all the odds, had taken his breath away.

His feelings began in that very moment, and they had only grown stronger over the course of their first four years together at Hogwarts. During that last summer, though, Scorpius had spent many hours exploring and questioning the feelings he had for his best friend. He'd matured enough as a person to ask himself the difficult questions, those ones that he usually made start with what if... even though he already knew them to be true.

What if what I feel for Albus is more than just friendship?

What if I like him the same way (I pretend) I like Rose?

What if I like him more than I should like another boy?

He had allowed himself to come to the difficult, yet honest, conclusion that he did indeed feel things for Albus that were more than friendship. He did like boys. He liked Albus. He more than liked him, in fact, he was in love with him. He probably always had been.

For Scorpius, accepting his own feelings had felt like a release. Yet it had also bought him a lot of heartache. It had become clear to him during the first days of term that Albus didn't feel the same way. Ever since the train to school he hadn't stopped talking about girls and how he thought Scorpius was edging ever closer to a date with Rose. He'd even gone as far as to comment on how pretty a Hufflepuff girl in their Herbology class was.

Then this morning, in the Muggle Studies classroom, he had whipped out his wand in defence of Scorpius. Only this time there was no understanding in his eyes, only pity. Scorpius hadn't actually looked at him, but he knew it was there. Why else would Albus defend him? He was just his friend after all, and probably not for long if Albus ever found out about the feelings Scorpius was hiding from him. He'd just have to find a way to keep it from him.

That was the problem, though, how do you keep something from someone you share everything with?

He looked back down at the parchment that was lying on the table in front of him. He had realised all too quickly, of course, that he couldn't tell his father any of this for fear of being disowned. His letter had gotten no further than 'Father, I hope all is well...' before he had given up and started thinking about Albus. Now the sun was disappearing and he needed to stop before the tears came back.

He scrunched the parchment up and stuffed it inside his messenger bag. By now there would be no students hanging around the corridors, they'd all be going down for dinner. Scorpius wasn't hungry. He just wanted to go to the dungeons and get into bed. Hopefully he'd be asleep before Albus returned and so he wouldn't have to face him again until the next day.

His hopes were smashed the moment he stepped out of the library.

"I knew you'd be here," Albus beamed from across the corridor. He had changed out of his school uniform but the clothes he wore under his cloak were much smarter than his usual t-shirt and jeans combo.

"Albus, what are you doing here?" Scorpius asked, trying to force his usual brightness into his voice. He knew he was failing.

"Well," Albus began, "this morning my best mate was a bit peeved off 'cos he'd had a run in with this massive cow called Potty Chapstick, so I've taken the liberty of planning a little surprise for him that should cheer him right back up."

Albus beamed again, clearly pleased with himself.

"Potty Chapstick?" Scorpius gave Albus a sarcastic glare, "is that the best you could do?"

"A simple insult for a simple mind," Albus replied, "the emphasis was on the massive cow part anyway, and you already know that bits true."

"It is." Scorpius agreed with a nod.

"So come on then, you're looking glummer than a dementor and we've only got a couple of hours before lights out."

"What? You mean we're not going to the common room?"

"Nope." Albus took a step towards Scorpius.

Where are you taking me Albus...?"

"You'll see." With that Albus placed a hand decidedly on Scorpius's shoulder and began to steer him down the first floor corridor towards the Grand Staircase. Before they reached it, however, he took an abrupt turn to the left and steered Scorpius straight into a green and brown tapestry.

To Scorpius's surprise, rather than eating a face full of cotton and stone he fell straight through the tapestry and into a room he'd never seen before.

"Wow..." was all he managed to say.

The room they were stood in wasn't particularly large, but it was certainly beautiful. The floor was covered in a thick, shaggy carpet and the stones of the walls glimmered and shone, as if someone had enchanted them to look like they were covered in little specks of silver and gold.

In the middle of the room was a series of four soft-looking sofas, arranged in a square around a large wooden coffee table so that whoever was sat at them was always facing their companions. On top of the table were two large bottle of butterbeer and what looked like a box of Honeydukes chocolates.

The most impressive part of the room was, however, the enormous floor to ceiling windows that covered the back wall. Scorpius had never seen anything like it in Hogwarts before. They seemed modern, much more modern than the rest of the castle. There were cushions placed on the sils for people to sit on and look out across the Great Lake, and Scorpius couldn't help but dream of how romantic it would be to sit there with Albus one day.

"Like it?" Albus asked after giving his friend a while to admire his discovery. He could see it had impressed him, and he was feeling very pleased with himself.

"What is this place?" Scorpius asked.

"The Beauxbatons common room," Albus answered, "this was put here during the Triwizard Tournament so that the Beauxbatons girls could have somewhere to go inside the castle whilst they weren't doing anything else. They slept in their carriage, of course, so there are no beds, but it's nice right?"

"Yeah, it's amazing," Scorpius ignored the voice inside his head that was asking why Albus would want a bed for them, and asked a more suitable question "but how did you find it?"

"Uncle George."

"Of course." Scorpius knew all about Albus's uncles, Fred and George Weasley. They had gained notoriety for their pranks and antics around Hogwarts, there'd even been books written about them in the years following the Battle of Hogwarts, in which Fred had lost his life.

"It was thanks to Uncle George that I managed to get butterbeer and chocolates from Hogsmeade, too." Albus began explaining as he took off his shoes and made his way towards the sofas, "I know you like them, so within the next twenty-or-so minutes I expect that frown that's been plastered on your face all morning to have been replaced by your usual lovely smile."

Scorpius noticed that Albus had turned a little red when he'd said his smile was lovely, but he knew it as just the pity speaking.

He took a seat on the sofa opposite Albus, he didn't take his shoes or cloak off though. For some reason, and despite his best friend having seen him getting changed in the boys dormitory hundreds of times, Scorpius felt that by not relaxing he was protecting himself from the harm Albus could potentially do him. He thought of it as a barrier, something like a patronus for his heart.

This barrier, as it were, lasted less than an hour. That was the time it took them to finish the first bottle of butter beer and the whole box of chocolates. After that, they took the second bottle and sat next to one of the wall-length windows.

"It really is quite beautiful," Albus observed as he lit four candles with his wand and made them float lightly above their heads.

Just like you. Scorpius wanted to say.

"Yes. It is." Scorpius did say.

"I don't think anyone else knows about this room, so it can be our secret if you want," Albus suggested.

"It would indeed be nice to have somewhere to go to just get away from it all," Scorpius admitted.

"Exactly." Albus said nothing more. There was no way he would ever let Scorpius know about the other things he was thinking. Little did he know that Scorpius was imagining exactly the same thing, only his blonde friend wasn't going to admit it either.

"We should be heading down to the common room," Scorpius finally said, when the second bottle of butterbeer was empty.

Reluctantly Albus agreed, and the two of them tidied their temporary hiding space up before leaving and making their way back to reality.

Scorpius considered his day as they walked quietly down the Grand Staircase. It had been one of his worst, but it had ended well. Albus may not have realised how painful his comments about Rose and girls were to Scorpius, but he certainly knew his best friend well enough to cheer him up even when he was in the worst of moods, and for that Scorpius thanked him.

He knew, however, that with every day that passed it would get more and more difficult for him to enjoy the time he spent with Albus as just friends. Eventually, he would either have to confess his feelings to him or abandon their friendship altogether. Either way he was going to lose the only friend he'd ever had - he just needed to figure out which way would hurt the person he loved the most, the least.

So there you go! As I said before, chapters 2, 3 and 4 were actually all just one huge chapter but as I had to split them I took the opportunity to switch the POV in this one and explore Scorpius's mind a little more. In the next chapter we'll jump forward in time a little and in the following chapters we'll start seeing some other characters! I hope you enjoyed it!