Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any characters from the original series, I do however own my OC's and this story. Please do not copy or reproduce without my permission. Thank you.


Mae sighed. It had been a whole week since she'd discovered her very own yaoi couple here at Hogwarts, at least, she was pretty sure of it. But it was moving so slowly! She had half a mind to jump in and just push them together to see what happened. She flipped through her latest manga, barely paying attention to the pages, before placing it back on the bookshelf and casting the enchantment on it so that no one could see how it really appeared. Her roommates thought her weird enough as it was. Mae checked the time, and smiled. It was almost time for the tutoring. Yes, she'd figured out what was going on with what Al had told her and just by watching them. She knew that it was potions, and she hoped that they wouldn't be moving away from the library and into the dungeons for practical teaching... at least not yet. Not until she figured out a way to follow and watch them.

With a quick tug on one of her pigtails, and straightening her robe, Mae bounced out of her room, through the common room, and off towards the library. When she came up on it, she snuck into her usual spot and to her surprise, the blonde one (who she still hadn't named) was already sitting at the table, as was someone else. They leaned in and said something to the boy, who seemed terrified, then kissed him and walked away. When the kisser turned, Mae saw who it was and a combination of horror and wonder filled her. She knew now, that things were definitely going to get interesting...


A whole week... and Al still hadn't got up the nerve to ask Scorpius about his... relationship with Dane Equerra. It was keeping him up at night and eating at his mind. Liam had noticed, and James was onto him. Even Professor Trelawney 'sensed' something was amiss. That part had made him laugh. At least she didn't pick on him too much though.

Al arrived at the library and ended up nearly running into someone who was hurriedly on their way out. They didn't apologize and just kept walking. When Al turned, he realized who it was. Dane? What had he been doing there? A sort of chill came over the Gryffindor and he immediately rushed inside to his usual tutoring table. Scorpius was there, his hair covering his face, reading a book. Al sat down quietly, and just looked at the Slytherin who didn't respond or really move for a few minutes. When he did look up a bit, Albus could see a faint shininess on the other boys face and his lips looked red. All of the sudden, he found the courage that had eluded him all week.

"Scorpius..." he began quietly, so that no one else would hear, if they happened to be nearby. "What is going on between you and Dane?" he asked. It wasn't what he'd rehearsed. It didn't have the casualness he'd been aiming for in his rehearsals. This was filled with concern, anger, jealousy and hurt, as if he couldn't decide what to feel. Scorpius immediately looked up at the Potter, his pale blue eyes were lined with red and opened wide, perhaps in shock. Albus wasn't quite sure.

"N-nothing." Scorpius said, but it didn't hold much conviction. Al just shook his head.

"Scorpius, look, I know we don't know each other all that well and that we're probably supposed to hate each other. But, I don't hate you, I..." he started, but suddenly went silent and blushed. Albus couldn't believe he'd almost said that... But at least he hadn't. "I'm worried about you." he finished, proud of himself for dodging that bullet. Scorpius was still surprised, he could tell, and there was a hint of something else... what was it? It only took a moment before Al realized.

"How dare you!" the Malfoy hissed, slamming his book closed. "I don't know who you think you are, but I don't like what you're implying." he continued on, not realizing that by saying this, he was crushing the Gryffindor with the unwilling admission of his involvement with Dane. After all, Albus hadn't really implied anything... All he'd done was ask a question. "We're done here." Scorpius said in a quiet, but commanding voice which definitely held some malice. If he hadn't been so heartbroken, the Potter would have been in awe at how that voice could convey so much at once.

Scorpius grabbed his books and all but shoved them in his bag. The bag wouldn't close, but the Slytherin didn't seem to care. He just began to storm off. It took a moment for Albus to respond, but he did, and jumped up after the other boy, leaving his own bag at the table and running after him. He caught up part way down the hallway, and grabbed Scorpius' sleeve. He had been aiming for his arm, but the other boy had been moving too fast for him to make it. The sleeve lifted a bit and Al caught the glimpse of a bruise. His eyes immediately went wide as Scorpius whirled around to face him.

"How dare you!" he exclaimed, but it wasn't loud. It was that threatening hiss from before that would have sent chills down any normal person's spine but Al was a man on a mission. He'd seen something on his crush that he didn't like and he wanted it explained and the person punished, if it had been a person responsible that was.

"How dare I?" was Albus' reply, in an equally menacing tone, but it was definitely louder and probably held a lot more malice. As Albus said this, he pulled Scorpius closer and lifted up his sleeve so that the bruise was plainly visible. Scorpius' eyes went wide, and then narrow as he ripped his arm away. He stalked away and Albus followed, closely. Finally, the Malfoy dodged into a dark classroom and Albus followed. It took a moment for Al to find Scorpius again who seemed to have disappeared, but he whirled around as the door slammed behind him. For a moment, he thought that his tutor had made an escape and most likely locked the door to delay his pursuer a few moments, but he hadn't Scorpius was standing in front of the closed door, just looking at him.

His black-streaked blonde hair was glistening in the moonlight that was shining through the windows. It showed how late in the evening it was. Their tutoring always had to be late and for a split second, Albus was glad it was because the sight was breathtaking. However, he immediately mentally slapped himself for thinking this. Now was not the time.

"Why would you do that?" Scorpius said and it was so quiet that Albus almost hadn't heard it. If it hadn't been so deathly silent in this room, he wouldn't have heard.

"Why would I do what?" he asked in return, completely oblivious to the upheaval he'd wrought in his crush's heart.

"Why would you accuse me of something that's common knowledge by rumour anyway?" he began, his voice full of anger, and it was starting to get a little louder, for which the Gryffindor was almost thankful. The silent anger had been so much more terrifying to him. "Why would you dare show my..." Scorpius went silent then, gripping his sleeve. Albus then realized that people didn't know... of course not. The rumour was that Scorpius was abusive and controlling. But it seemed... that it was really the other way around... If it was, things in Albus' head just began to make a lot more sense. He had the urge to do it, and before he'd realized what he'd done, he was standing in front of Scorpius. The Malfoy was looking at the floor, and Albus was almost sure that he was hiding tears behind his hair.

In one quick movement, before he could think, he pulled Scorpius close to him and hugged him. To him, it was tight, but he was careful that it wasn't too tight. He didn't want to hurt the other boy. He just wanted him to feel better... he looked so alone... so afraid... The hug lasted nearly a full minute before it ended, and ended badly. Scorpius suddenly pushed Al away, so hard in fact, that the Gryffindor landed on the floor. He gripped at his elbow that had taken a good brunt of the fall, and looked up at the Slytherin.

The bloodshot blue eyes were cold, and angry. "I don't want you near me, ever again, Albus Potter. I am none of your business." he hissed, and with that, he turned and nearly raced out of the room. It was the first time that Albus had seen him do so. That confident stride of his, no matter how quick it was, had never broken into a run as it did then.

Albus sat on the floor for awhile, and barely moved while he sat. It was nearly twenty minutes before he moved and picked himself off the ground and went back to the library to retrieve his books. There was one book left on the table. A fairly big one too. The Potter took a look at the cover, which read, '1001 Potion Ingredients you can Grow Yourself'. He deduced that it must belong to Scorpius and picked it up, placing it carefully in his bag. He smiled as he slowly made his way back to the common room. He'd seen another side of Scorpius, and even though he was somewhat scared of it, his admiration for his crush had merely grown. He also now had an even greater desire to protect the other boy.

Even though Scorpius had told him to stay away from him forever, he had the other boy's book. At least that would guarantee him a little more contact. He hoped that if he gave it time first, it would be contact that would stretch to be more instead of the last time they would ever speak.

Albus didn't even change out of his robes. He just dropped his bag, before he himself dropped onto his bed. He was asleep in moment, off dreaming of Scorpius and how he would save him from the 'evil' Dane Equerra.