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.
Again, apologies for the long wait, but I am beginning to work on this again =D Even though I have added in my OCs, I'm thinking about lessening their involvement a bit as time goes on, but still, they are proving useful for now. Anyway, feedback in general is always welcome and thank you very much for reading =)
The morning of Halloween, the castle was abuzz earlier than would be expected. Students seemed more awake, teachers more liberal and relaxed with the homework load and everyone seemed to be in an all around good mood. At least, it seemed that way to Albus. Everyone seemed just so dang cheery and he couldn't make himself smile at all. He'd been debating not showing up when Patricia wanted to meet him but decided that not only would it be rude, it would probably be stupid. Not to be stereotypical, but she was a Slytherin and they did tend to enjoy their revenge and hated being humiliated... He also wanted to find out what she meant when she'd said Al would get to 'see him'. If it was Scorpius she was talking about, he thought it was a pretty cruel joke. The Malfoy was obviously going to with Dane that evening and seeing them together was going to be downright painful...
To everyone else, it seemed that the classes were too long and wouldn't ever end but they were speeding by much too quickly for the Potter. He thought he was the only who felt this way but there was one other...
Scorpius looked terrible... that was putting it nicely. He hadn't slept all the night before and for once, it wasn't because Dane had been visiting. No, it was the fear of humiliation. Him and Dane were somewhat known throughout the school. It was a rumor, however, they had never actually been out to a public event together like this on something that was so obviously a date. Did he care what the other students thought? No not really. His family had money and if these rumors and situations ever came back as hindrances in the future, they could be taken care of easily enough. No, it was the idea of the rumors getting back to his parents... His father... No... worse... his grandfather... Lucius Malfoy was not a man to be messed with, and even Scorpius wouldn't be able to escape his wrath.
All the joyous faces just seemed to mock him further as the hour of his possible doom drew nearer and nearer. Alright... maybe doom was taking it a bit far. But still... he did not want to risk his fathers anger. It could be... painful. He'd suffered enough when he'd gone and died part of his hair. Now that he looked like 'muggle filth', his father spoke to him very little. Not that this was such a bad thing...
Once classes finally ended, he darted to his rooms as quickly as possible to prepare. Everyone else ran to prepare as well, just not for the same things. Others were for their appearance, his was more mental. He was preparing himself to smile and pretend he meant it.
"They look so miserable... both of them... Are you sure this is a good idea?" Cassandra asked hesitantly with her friends as they ate lunch out on the grass. It was one of the few nice days they'd have before it began to snow and really feel like winter.
"What do you mean? Of course it's a good idea! Al will swoop in and save the day and him and Scorpius will just be awesome together!" Mae exclaimed, her mind going into a sort of yaoi daydream mode. Patricia rolled her eyes.
"Sure? No. Of course not, no one can be completely sure unless we had complete control and that sort of magic is banned. Not that it would really do them good. No, it'll just have to play out like it does and we can hope it goes according to Mae's rainbow, happy, magic, lovey-dovey interpretation." Patricia said, the last bit dripping with sarcasm. She didn't seem to like how Mae put it, but she was hoping something of that sort would happen. She knew the boys would be good for each other. Hopefully at least.
"I just... Things are gonna go wrong, aren't they? I know... I can feel it..." Cassandra said and sighed. She always was a little paranoid and even if she could imagine some 'happy' endings to this set up, something in the back of her mind told her that it wasn't going to go well. Something bad was in the air and it wasn't going to end in smiles... someone was going to get hurt.
"All we can do is hope." Patricia said with a shrug. "The rest is up to them."
By the time evening rolled around, Albus had managed to find his dress robes and comb his hair a bit. He hadn't seen Liam at all, but had arrived later, so he wasn't sure if his friend was going to the dance or not. He felt bad that they hadn't spoken but knew that what he'd told his best friend had put a wedge between them. He wondered if perhaps Liam was thinking back to sleepovers they'd used to have and things of the sort and was seeing them in a new light. Al hoped he wasn't... he wouldn't be able to stop it, but he didn't want those sort of things to alienate the person whom he still considered to be his best friend.
The dance started at seven but very few people arrived that early and at five to eight, Albus headed down to meet Patricia. She was already waiting when he arrived. Her short blonde hair was pulled up with small wisps about her face which was filled with irritation. Her green dress hugged her nicely and her tapping foot created ripples that were quite beautiful. If Albus hadn't already liked someone and of a different orientation, he was sure she'd be quite the catch. Her look however showed that she did not think the same of him in the least. She looked almost disgusted with his appearance. When he approached, she began ruffling his hair and straightening out his robes.
"You're late and couldn't manage to take more care? Ugh." she exclaimed and finally seemed to give up, looping her arm in his and leading him in to the Great Hall. It was well decorated and always amazed Al with how fast it was. At home, when decorating, his parents liked to have them do it without magic so as to make it more of a family bonding experience or something like that. Still, it looked marvelous. The banners on the ceiling were all orange and black, and had spiders crawling around them and bats flying back and forth between them. None of them seemed to descend below a certain area, however, so they were most likely illusions of some sort. The rest of the hall was still beautiful but the main attraction was definitely the cieling.
Immediately, Patricia dragged him over to the end of the refreshment table. "Alright, look here, he's over there. Try to look without being conspicuous, ok?" Al turned his head as she said this and spotted Scorpius dancing with Dane and felt his heart ache. He looked away almost immediately, not really being able to stand the sight of it. "So, here's the plan..." Patricia began, a mischievous smile dancing at the corners of her mouth.
Scorpius had just managed to wake himself up enough to look presentable and had on his black and green dress robes, representing his house proudly. He also pinned his family crest to the side of his robes. He'd decided that if he had to go out like this, he'd go out with pride. He was a Malfoy and couldn't do anything halfway. It was all or nothing. Just as he deemed himself ready to go out and meet Dane, the man himself appeared. He entered just as Scorpius was intending to leave. "Hmm, you look good enough to eat." Dane said with a smile, running his hands through Scorpius' long hair and pulling him close for a hard kiss. By the time he pulled away, the Slytherin was out of breath and flushed, which the Hufflepuff seemed to enjoy.
"You'll have to wait until later." Dane said, grinding against his 'boyfriend' lightly and tracing his lips with his fingers. With that, he took Scorpius' arms in his and began leading him towards the Great Hall. Scorpius was trying to get his blush under control, trying to regain composure. Dane always seemed to set him off balance and he didn't know what to do. He needed to be calm... dignified...
By the time they reached the Great Hall, which was fairly full already, he had regained himself and was pulled on to the dance floor by Dane. He ignored the stares from not only other students but from the teachers as well. He knew how this looked and he hated it, but he was going to pretend that this was fine. For now, it would be fine and he'd wait until later to break down. As they began to dance, Scorpius plastered a smile on his face and clenched his body tight, willing himself to look happy. He would sit through this and maintain himself, even if it killed him.