Albus and Scorpius were at breakfast together, as usual. It was a sight that most of the school was getting used to, so they didn't pay much attention to them. Rose was over at the Gryffindor table with Frank and Lily. James was there too, but he was sitting a little further down the table with his friends. Rose and Lily had given him a real talking to, the previous night. They'd made him see that he was being a bit of an idiot...he wasn't ready to accept it though, so he had decided to avoid them.
"What's up with Jamie?" Frank said.
"He picked an argument with Al again last night and we told him off. So he's avoiding us now," Lily said casually.
"Hmmm...he does look rather put out. Though one would think that after so many years he'd know enough not to get on the bad side of you Weasley women."
"Hey! We're not that bad," Rose said.
"Not bad. Just strong willed, determined and very ready to speak your mind."
"Frank..." Rose said almost plaintively.
"It's okay, love. I didn't say that I don't like it now did I?" He said as he smiled and pecked her on the cheek. "Besides, you are also very loving, extremely loyal and brilliant in bed." He finished with a wink. He whispered that last bit, but Lily heard anyway and she smirked. Rose blushed a brilliant red and buried her head in her hands.
"Finally." Lily said softly.
"Lily!"
"What? You're seventeen. You're an adult. It's about time you got laid and stopped giving everyone else a bad name."
"I'll never understand how you can be so casual about sex." Rose said.
"Defence mechanism, I suppose...you know, not having found the man of my dreams and all. I know you're going to remind me that I'm only fifteen, Rosie, and it's not like I've had sex, but what can I say? Maybe I tend to trivialise it because I can't have it. It's hard when I see all of you happy couples. I mean even Al..." She trailed off when Rose kicked her under the table, but it was too late.
"Al?" Frank said, looking puzzled. "Since when does Al have someone? In fact I don't think I've so much as seen him with a girl for months now..." He trailed off as he looked across the hall at Albus and he realised that he only ever saw him with Scorpius these days and when had they become such good friends? And how come they seemed so close already? And wait weren't they sitting perhaps a little too close and...Why is Al looking at Scorpius like that? And is Scorpius blushing?
"You mean Scorpius?! Al is..."
"Shush." Rose said fiercely.
"Sorry," He said in a low voice. "Are you telling me that those two are together?"
"Yes. But you can't tell anyone."
"Since when is Al gay? Since when is Scorpius gay, for that matter? I thought Amy was asking him out just a couple of weeks ago..."
"Scorpius has known that he's gay for the last two years. He just hasn't told anyone. And Al is bi," Rose explained.
"How come he never told me?" Frank said.
"I don't think he knew it, to be honest."
"But you did huh?"
Rose nodded. "Of course."
"If it makes you feel any better, I didn't know either," Lily said. "I caught him ogling Scorpius and I figured that he had the hots for him. I confronted him and he didn't deny it."
"..." Frank looked gobsmacked.
"It's okay, Frank. You'll get used to it," Rose said.
Frank continued to look at Albus and Scorpius and now that he knew what he was looking for, it was obvious that the two of them were in a relationship. There was so much fondness in the way they looked at each other. And there was the seemingly accidental touching, the occasional blushing. It was all there. Why didn't I see it before? How come no one else has seen it?
"Everyone thinks they're looking at a couple of straight guys..." Rose said softly.
"They look really happy..." Frank said. He was surprised.
"Oh they are. You should see them together. Besotted is not the word," Lily said. There was a note of bitterness in her voice that made Rose wonder.
"Lil," she said softly. "Why do I get the feeling that you're pining for someone?"
Lily blushed, but she tried to brush it off.
"Lil...level with me."
"I won't tell anyone either," Frank said. "I know better than to get on your bad side, trust me."
Lily looked torn. Like she wanted to tell them, but...
"We won't judge you. Now who is it?"
"I'm going to regret this, I just know it..." Lily said. "It's Jeremy..." She mumbled.
"As in Jeremy Nott?" Rose said. She sounded astonished.
"The Slytherin chaser?" Frank said. He was incredulous. This was a day for surprises apparently.
"Do you know him at all?" Rose said.
"I didn't. But Professor Malfoy made us team up for our assignment in Potions a couple of months ago and..."
"And?" Rose urged gently.
"Well, we sort of hit it off. He's rather quiet. So I thought he'd be boring. But he's not. He's got a wicked sense of humour and he's really charming and intelligent..."
"Sounds like you really like him," Rose said. "So what's the problem?"
"Violet bloody Parkinson," Lily said and she put her head in her hands and groaned.
Frank and Rose looked at her and then at each other and they had to smile. Lily had always been very casual about dating, saying that she liked to play the field and see what's out there and so on. And she was very popular...with good reason, Rose had often thought. She was one of the best looking girls at Hogwarts, with her milky white skin, red gold hair and her slender figure. She was also the best chaser that the school had seen in a long time and though she was the youngest player on the Gryffindor team, she was the captain. She was a catch and she knew it. And she flaunted it. Yet, here she was looking like any other love sick teenager.
"Parkinson? I don't think she's his girlfriend," Rose said.
"She's not. But she might as well be. She's always hanging on his arm. Even when we're working on our assignment, she makes sure to be around, always interfering, never letting me get a word in...Look at her. Could she sit any closer? She's practically in his lap. And does she think he can't eat by himself or something? Look at her fussing and trying to feed him...Ugh! I can't watch," She said and she put her head in her hands again. "I think I'm going to be sick."
Frank and Rose had to suppress an urge to laugh. Not that they didn't care about her feelings, but Lily was quite the drama queen.
"Lil, if it makes you feel any better, I don't think he likes her attentions any more than you do," Rose said softly.
Lily's head shot up at that. "Hmmm...Are you sure?"
"Yes. He doesn't look too happy."
"He does look a bit uncomfortable. But if he doesn't like her, why does he put up with her?"
"I think it's because they've been friends for a long time. Scor told me that they used to hang out together a lot when they were kids."
"Wait, Scorpius and Jeremy are friends?"
"Yeah. Their dads were friends all through school and I think they're all pretty close."
"How come I've never seen them together?"
"How many times did you even look at Scor before he started dating your brother? Except to ogle him I mean?"
"Point. So what should I do?"
"Nothing...for now. First we need to find out if he likes you."
...
Albus and Scorpius were, strangely enough, talking about Quidditch. Albus had just told his boyfriend about his decision to quit the team.
"How good is your reserve?" Scorpius said.
"She's okay. But she'll need a good bit of training. Nothing that Lily can't accomplish, given the time."
"When do you plan on telling her?"
"After the match against Slytherin. The next match isn't until March, so that'll give enough them time to train."
"Are you sure about this, Al? I mean you are a very good seeker and you seem to enjoy playing..."
"I used to enjoy playing, but I don't anymore. And all the time that we spend practicing...it feels likes like too much time out of my life. I'm so busy all the time...it's draining. I barely get my school work done. Last year was awful. I don't know how I got through my OWL's really. And I'm not even serious about Quidditch. I don't want to play professionally or anything. So why spend so much time over it?"
"True. How do you think your team will take it?"
"I don't think any one of them will understand really. Lily will be furious. Jamie will accuse me of abandoning the team and he'll try to guilt me into changing my mind. And Frank will ask me to reconsider. Louis and Fred won't say much. They'll just stand behind Jamie and glare at me."
Scorpius chuckled. "You'll have a fight on your hands then."
"Yeah. Can't be helped. Seems I have to fight for everything these days."
The post came in just then and Scorpius was surprised to see one of the school owls land in front of him. He never got any mail. He took the piece of parchment from the owl and gave it a bit of bacon. The owl hooted its thanks and flew away. He unrolled the parchment and he was surprised to see his father's elegant script.
Scorpius,
I would appreciate it if you brought your handsome young man to dine with us in my rooms tonight. I really ought to get to know him better...particularly considering that he's a Potter and a Weasley. Have a good day, son.
