I can say for sure that this fanfic will be at least 17 chapters. I'm still trying to come up with a good ending though... I'm not good with endings.
The first detention wasn't much fun. He had to help the Potions teacher by cleaning every shelf and every corner of the room. By the look of it no one had done it for a decade. The second detention was a little bit nicer since the professor couldn't come up with anything that was "hard enough" and he had to help correct tests in History of Magic and listen to Professor Binns chat on about uninteresting things for hours and hours. Torture, but easy.
The third detention was with the janitor. The scrawny old man was walking Scorpius to the place for his detention while constantly talking about the detention in the woods which he had found very funny. He also kept offering to hang Scorpius from the ankles down in the dungeons as detention which actually scared Scorpius a little. The boy decided to take it as a joke and laugh at it, but there was something in the man's creepy stare that said he wasn't joking.
When the man finally stopped Scorpius felt relieved. No dungeon, no chains and no monsters. It was a closet on the third floor. There weren't many doors in that particular hallway and even though Scorpius passed through at least once or twice a week he had never found the wooden door interesting at all. He hadn't been wrong for thinking that.
"We haven't used this closet for ages now, too dirty I'd say," the janitor said and grinned as he opened the door. "Maybe you can bring it back to use? Actually, you have to. You will keep cleaning here until it's done."
Suddenly Scorpius thought the dungeon-punishment sounded better.
"And let me guess, you will watch like it is some high form of entertainment?" Scorpius sighed and rolled his eyes.
"I wish!" the man chuckled. "But there are other things to take care off. No magic, though! This is punishment. So get to work!"
The man pushed the door open all the way so that Scorpius could see inside. It was impossible to guess how big the closet was as there was only a wall made out of rubbish. Scorpius gasped and the man chuckled. Suddenly he was sure that hanging from his feet would be a lot easier. The janitor pushed Scorpius closer to the wall of things before walking away, still chuckling. The Slytherin watched the man disappear before turning towards his task. He could see a skeleton hand and decided to start with that. He grabbed it, fully aware that it was possible that it would grab back (even though it didn't), and pulled. He wasn't aware though that it would start a chain reaction and soon he would be covered in things and dust and dirt. He crawled away from the closet and the things that was spread out in the hallway while he coughed hysterically and started spitting to get the dirt and dust out of his mouth, and he kept doing so for quite a while, interspersed with a sneeze now and then.
When he could finally breathe normally again he stood up and tried to get some actual cleaning done. The dust had lain to rest upon the things and for each item he moved a new cloud attacked him. After half an hour he was so used to it he didn't even react to it more than some slight coughing. He pulled on the leg of something that must have been a spell gone wrong on a chair and was just going to toss it outside the spall closet when he saw something on the floor that made him let out a terrified cry. Sounding like a little girl he threw himself out of the narrow space, climbing upon the things that had fallen out earlier. He was panting and breathing heavily, standing on all four.
"Is something trying to eat you?"
Scorpius raised his gaze, terrified to see who had caught him in such an embarrassing situation. Green eyes, tousled hair and a gentle smile was all that Scorpius had to see. It's just him, Scorpius thought. Trying to look casual and calmer than he was he got up on his feet, brushed off some dust and turned his back towards the boy.
"Go away," was all that he said. He didn't want anyone to see him work.
"You got detention?" Albus asked while taking a step closer.
"No," Scorpius may have sounded a bit too sarcastic, "I just love to clean. Dirty closets are my favourites."
Albus giggled. Scorpius had returned to his work inside the dark closet and was just about to try and push a trunk out of the room when Albus stepped up and helped by dragging it.
"Don't help! I have to do this by myself."
"But it looks heavy."
Scorpius sighed and rolled his eyes. "But you shouldn't help me."
Albus smiled, still dragging while Scorpius pushed. "I'm doing it because I want to."
"I would never help you. And also, I might get in trouble if you help me."
"Don't worry, I'll take full responsibility."
Scorpius stopped. The trunk was in the hallway, surrounded by the rest of the rubbish, and Scorpius decided to lean against it until he had gotten his breath back. Albus walked around the trunk, smiling slightly, and sat down beside the blonde. For a second Scorpius had thought about making the boy trip but let him sit down without any fuss. The boy was so genuinely nice that it made Scorpius want to do bad things towards him just to watch his reaction, which wasn't a very good thing. Maybe Albus should have been in Hufflepuff instead, the way he did things without expecting anything in return.
"What did you do?" the boy asked as he turned towards Scorpius, still smiling. "To get detention I mean. I haven't seen you for like... days."
"I got into a fight. Nothing big."
"Nothing big?" The smile was gone and replaced with an "are you insane"-face. "You got detention for two weeks! I got away with two days."
Scorpius stared at the green eyed boy, looking as baffled as he felt.
"I thought you didn't know I had gotten detention," Scorpius said.
Albus took a deep breath. Oh snap(e), his face suddenly showed the truth. The boy was a bad liar and he got red all the way to his ears. Scorpius couldn't help but grin at the sight and let out a short giggle.
"Okay, sure, I knew," he finally admitted while pushing away from the trunk. Scorpius stopped him by grabbing his arm and the boy tried to yank it away from him but without succeeding.
"Why would you lie about something like that?" Scorpius had to fight the laughter that wanted to escape his throat.
"No reason," Albus lied.
Scorpius sighed and released his arm. He could see through the lie instantly and decided to drop it just because of that. In his thoughts he was laughing at the embarrassed boy, but deep down he had a nagging feeling that there was something more to it than what met the eye.
They both continued with the cleaning, finding out that there were more creepy things in the closet than they could ever have imagined. The disgusting thing that had made Scorpius yell earlier was gone, which creeped him out even more.
"By the way, Scorpius," Albus said as he was pulling out something furry from under a cupboard, "there was something the nurse said to me the other day that has been bothering me. I don't know if you heard."
"Shoot," Scorpius encouraged. He wasn't sure he did want to know what was going through that boy's head but wasn't very sure he liked the silence either.
"She said that Moffat didn't know how to fight because he's a spoiled pureblood. I just thought... when we were fighting," Albus sounded nervous, as if he wasn't sure if he should actually bring it up, "you were pretty good. I always thought you were a spoiled pureblood so how come you are better than him?"
Scorpius let out a surprised laugh. He both felt and looked insulted which instantly made Albus try to apologise. Scorpius quieted him by a swift move with the hand.
"I am not spoiled! Maybe if you were to compare to some other wizards, yeah, but not when you compare it to Moffat. And he is a weakling by nature and thinks that he can get his will with just the use of his mouth."
"So you are not spoiled? Don't you live in a mansion?" Albus looked fascinated.
"That's not the point. I don't get whatever I want and my parents raised me to be a good kid. Don't try to compare me with someone like Moffat."
"Interesting," Albus mumbled. Scoropius wondered what kind of person Albus had thought he was.
"Haven't you been spoiled? I mean your father is like... famous."
"I wouldn't say that. My mother always makes sure we do our chores and you know... stuff like that."
"The teachers spoil you, though," Scorpius said and snickered.
"They do not!" Albus loudly put down a kettle on top of the trunk.
"They do! I didn't even actually fight and I got two weeks of detention! They just assume I was the one to start both this and the other fight. I'm always the bad one according to the teachers."
There was a short silence. Scorpius was resting against the wall beside the door while Albus used the trunk to sit on. They had eye contact and the silence was as if they were trying each other out. Who would turn away first?
"Unlike you I didn't use a jinx," Albus finally said and Scorpius averted his gaze. He lost.
"So just because I'm a great wizard I get a greater punishment? Great. Brilliant."
Albus opened his mouth to say something to calm him down, but just the look on his face made it obvious he couldn't come up with anything. Scorpius let out a laugh and pushed himself away from the wall and closer to Albus.
"Don't worry, I'm not angry or anything." Scorpius reached out and patted Albus' shoulder. The boy looked up and their eyes locked. For a short moment they just froze, staring at each other. A moment of calm and silence. Scorpius didn't know how long they could've stood there but before any of the two had time to realise Scorpius had heard footsteps and the wheezing that could only be the janitor breathing. Without a second thought Scorpius grabbed Albus' shoulders, turned the boy around and pushed him so that he would start running. Apparently the boy had also heard the footsteps as he continued to run and by the time the janitor was by the closet Albus were already long gone.
"Working hard, I see," the janitor said with a sarcastic tone in his voice. Scorpius ignored it.
"I think I'll be done by tomorrow," he made a gesture towards the doorway. The space was practically empty and actually clean and outside of the closet there were two piles. One of things that was broken or just dirt and one with things that was going to be put back inside. The janitor snorted.
"Fine," he said and sounded disappointed. "Finish this tomorrow then. Go back to your dorm."
