Chapter 6

Attempting to Bleed a (Hard) Rock

Early the next morning, Scorpius was roused from his sleep by one of his favourite sounds: Potter playing his guitar.

Scorpius remembered the first time he had heard the other boy play years ago. He had been so surprised. Potter had never said anything about knowing how to play the instrument, let alone sing. He still hadn't. In fact, Scorpius would bet his wand arm that none of the other boys knew Potter could play, and he was certain that Potter didn't know that he knew. Scorpius spared a thought for Potter's girlfriend and wondered whether Mel knew about Potter's talent. For some reason, he found himself hoping that she didn't.

Clearly, Potter was embarrassed about his secret hobby. Which was why he would only ever play before the sun came up, and very softly too. But considering that his bed was closest to Potter's, and the fact that Scorpius was a light sleeper, he would always wake up when Potter started playing. And he didn't mind at all. In his secret opinion, Potter was brilliant.

I'm trying to beat my misery

I don't wanna go across the sea

And if I could take you everywhere

There'd be no cause for my despair...

Morion, who was in the bed to Potter's right, began to stir noisily, and Potter immediately stopped playing, cutting the song. Scorpius frowned. He had liked the song, even though he had no clue what it was. Willing Morion to stop moving and go back to sleep, Scorpius hoped Potter would continue.

After a few moments of silence, Scorpius heard Potter release a breath, then shuffle around to find a comfortable position, before readying himself to play.

Acoustic sounds crossed over to Scorpius' ears once more, and he smiled. Even through the sets of heavy curtains on his and Potter's bed, the sounds of his guitar and voice filtered in softly, gently, and Scorpius felt warm. Accompanying the murmur of melody was the dimming light of the pre-dawn sun that was minutes away from peeking from behind the mountains. Scorpius always kept the curtains on the window-side of his bed open, as he loved waking up to the twofold ambiance of dawn and his own personal morning lullaby.

I know you suffer for my art

Always pulling us apart

You are forever in my brain

Even when I cause you pain...

In his sleepy state, his brain not yet thinking entirely straight, Scorpius let his mind run wild. With a drowsy smile on his face, he imagined that Potter was singing to him; that his lyrics were meant for him. His voice and his instrument penetrated Scorpius and warm prickles tickled his skin. He almost fell asleep again listening to Potter, so pleasantly numbed was he from the song Potter had chosen this morning.

And I know we won't touch for months

And your smell will evade me

But our love could survive a war

Without the slightest sore

Completely unbidden, Scorpius felt a stirring between his legs, and his eyes snapped open. That was absolutely inappropriate. Lethargy fled from him, and embarrassment took its place. He couldn't believe he started to get aroused listening to Potter sing. As Potter continued his music, Scorpius tried not to listen, and pressed the heel of his palm against his crotch, willing himself to calm down and cool off, as his skin seemed to have been the victim of a Warming Charm. It would certainly not do to get off on Potter. No, on Potter's voice, Scorpius corrected, not Potter himself. His plan wasn't working. His erection was not leaving because Potter was not stopping. Desperate, Scorpius began to move around and make noise, loud enough for Potter to hear and cease his playing.

It worked. Potter's voice ended and he stopped the strings on his guitar from making any more noise.

Scorpius breathed out, and lay face up in his bed, looking at the carvings on the ceiling of his four-poster and thinking of Potions homework to get his heart to stop acting as if a ferret were bouncing around in his ribcage.

What was that?

-mp-

The rest of the day had Scorpius trying to justify his reaction to Potter's song, and he summed it down to one word. Loneliness. He reasoned that if you were to get a hypothetical blender, and mix together loneliness, your roommate's pre-dawn lullaby about love, and the fact that you're gay ... voila! You get aroused. It was a natural response, and if there is anywhere in Hogwarts that Scorpius could embrace it, it would be in the privacy of his own bed—with the curtains closed.

I have nothing to be ashamed about, Scorpius rationalised. Even with this new thought, his cheeks still began to flame anytime his path remotely crossed with Potter.

Potions class was torture. Scorpius found it highly uncomfortable to spend so much time with Mel, Potter's long-time girlfriend. He imagined just how bad the repercussions would be if he told her that he almost got off on her boyfriend's singing this morning, and he shuddered. He may as well die, if anything so incriminating ever left his lips. All throughout the double period, Scorpius couldn't help but shoot infinitesimal glances at the other boy, who was sitting with Claire, looking wholly miserable at having to do so.

-mp-

That night in the common room, he was cornered by his two friends. Evil smirks shaped their faces as they peered at him with expressions that screamed: 'we know!'

Scorpius gulped. "Hi girls," he said hesitantly.

"You've got the hots for Potter," Claire blurted. A little too loudly, in Scorpius' opinion.

His eyes bulged, and he coughed twice to dislodge the sliver of saliva that he choked on. "What?" he squeaked.

Claire and Andrea sat down on either side of him and stared at his rapidly reddening face.

"I saw you," Claire said, "in Potions. You couldn't stop looking at him!" she squealed through her giggles.

Scorpius blanched and weighed up his options on what to say next. Denial won. "I don't know what you're on about, Claire, honestly," he said, trying to add in a little snort on the end, but it failed when he began choking again.

Andrea spoke next. "Then why do your cheeks look as red as the Weasleys' hair?" she laughed.

"I don't—er...look, I have no idea what you both are talking about," he said quickly, looking around the room and noticing that no one was looking at them, thank Merlin. He could only imagine just what the girls would do if he told them about this morning.

"Stop being an idiot, Scorpius. We saw you, we know you like him!" Claire insisted, barely able to contain her glee in her smile.

Scorpius didn't understand why his apparent infatuation with Potter would cause his friends so much happiness. "You don't know anything!" he hissed. "Honestly, if you two spent half as much time studying than creating gossip, you'd be smarter than me." As the last word left his lips, he realised that he sounded harsher than he meant to.

Andrea frowned. "Scorpius...it's not a bad thing to like someone, you know," she said gently, making Scorpius feel bad for his lashing.

Claire nodded enthusiastically. "Look, if you like him, good for you. I can't blame you, too. That boy is positively edible. I'm so lucky to be his Potions partner!"

A sudden rush of anger rose up inexplicably in Scorpius. How dare she say that? "Don't talk about him like that. And he has a girlfriend, for crying out loud!"

Claire and Andrea exchanged a knowing look and smile, as if they suddenly understood. "Yep," Andrea said. "He likes him." As if that confirmed everything.

Claire giggled, Scorpius released a sharp breath.

"I don't like him!" he defended.

A couple of heads turned when they heard his cry, and Scorpius bit his lip. The trio continued with hushed tones.

"You know, I'm half tempted to bring out a bottle of Veritaserum here," Andrea said with a sigh. "Getting a confession out of you is like a bleeding a rock."

Scorpius shook his head adamantly, causing his blonde fringe to fly about his forehead. He looked at the two girls with a pleading look. "There's nothing to confess. So I looked at Potter during Potions, so what? I look at Professor Slughorn, too. Does that mean I'm in love with him?"

Claire furrowed her nose in disgust. "Scorpius, that is repulsive."

"Exactly!" he whispered harshly. "And why are we continuing this conversation? Even if, and I mean if, I liked Potter, he's completely straight! With a girlfriend! Whom he's been dating for months!"

"All minor details, if you ask me," Andrea said flippantly, as if the power to turn Potter gay was in her hands.

Scorpius suddenly imagined how different the situation would be if Potter were gay. Perhaps then...

He shook his head. What a stupid thing to think. He didn't like Potter. He just got hard listening to him, that's all!

"Ooh look, Scorpius. Here's your man now!" Claire shrieked in a voice that could break glass.

Scorpius rolled his eyes and was about to retort when he saw Potter walk in. With a broomstick in hand, and closely followed by his friends, Scorpius knew he had just returned from Quidditch practice. He also, Scorpius couldn't help but notice, was freshly showered. Even from the distance, Scorpius could see droplets of water hanging off the edges of his black locks that were haphazardly arranged on his face, which looked flushed from the energy he had just no doubt expelled. He was laughing at something one of his friends had said, and Scorpius appreciated the way his eyes shined.

From a purely aesthetic point of view, Scorpius couldn't refute that Potter looked good.

After a moment, he shook his head from his little mind-wander and turned back to Claire and Andrea. Like a pair of vultures, they were staring at him again, leering.

"Denial does nothing for your complexion, honey," Andrea smirked.

Claire, predictably, giggled.

Disclaimer: Lyrics are from Dinosaur by Kisschasy.