A/N: Okay this update was quicker than expecting because I finished Chapter 14 and it was taking aaaaaages so I thought I'd be nice and post this chapter. Hope you enjoy!
Also, a massive thank you to everyone who's reviewed - MiMiLovesFanFiction, HugsandBugsSmileyface, ItsMalecNotLeviosA, secretlysmitten, Olive, fatosg, effie88, KekuleSalvador, issydragonheart, Harley S. Quinn, and Buford the Table. I can't tell you guys how happy your reviews make me. :)
Chapter 10: Fourth Year – Part Two.
When Albus returned to Hogwarts in early January after a particularly dull train ride, he was pleasantly to find the grounds blanketed in a thick layer of snow, as it had been unseasonably warm that December. The next few weeks were then inevitably spent having snowball fights and building igloos, when not in lessons or completing the veritable mountains of homework they were given, until at last the snow turned to ice and melted as spring began.
The teachers were giving far more homework than Albus had ever received in his life, to prepare the Fourth Years for their O. next year, and Albus found he was already dreading what the workload would be like. Luckily he was doing well in all of his lessons, especially now he had Rose to work with in Potions, and Marcus to help him with Transfiguration on the odd occasion that he needed it.
In Care of Magical Creatures, the class moved on from unicorns to hippogriffs, and Albus laughed just as raucously as everyone else when Scorpius recounted the tale of his father's encounter with a hippogriff to him, Marcus and Astrid. In fact, Rose, Scorpius, and Astrid were slowly but surely becoming a part of their large group of friends. The fact that their group had people from all four houses in made Albus smile, as inter-house friendships were what his father and Professor McGonagall had strived for at Hogwarts after the war.
However, the group of Gryffindors that James had once been part of had begun to notice that Albus and Scorpius were slowly but surely becoming friends, despite the fact the two of them weren't even on a first-name basis. The group remarked it casually whenever Albus passed them in the corridor, and sometime around the middle of March, thanks to them, he managed to pay back some of the debt he owed Scorpius.
He was just on his way to the Room of Requirement to catch up on some of his favourite TV shows, since he'd at last managed to finish all of his homework for the weekend, when he spotted the group of Gryffindors up ahead. When he saw the shock of blonde hair that was unmistakably Scorpius', he approached cautiously, hiding around a corner so he wouldn't be seen but could still eavesdrop.
"They're really not that bad," Scorpius was saying, his voice slightly raised, "Now, if you could just let me get past, I have somewhere to be."
"Now, we couldn't possibly let you do that," A feminine voice cackled. All of a sudden there was a low thumping sound as the rest of the group burst into laughter.
"What the hell?" Scorpius yelled. Albus risked a glance around the corner, where he could see Scorpius sprawled on the floor and trying to clamber to his feet. He considered intervening, but he didn't fancy getting beaten up again. If they tried anything else, he decided, he would have to intervene, but only so that Scorpius didn't have to suffer the same embarrassing fate he had.
"We'll let you go when you promise to stop hanging out with those snakes from Slytherin," Matt declared as Scorpius stood up straight, "After all, they don't really serve a purpose in the school. All they've done is cause evil and wrongdoing to spread through the school. But then again, your father is Draco Malfoy, so we wouldn't expect anything less really. What a filthy coward."
"How dare you," Scorpius said, raising his wand despite the obvious shaking of his hand. Before he could do anything, one of the Gryffindors had managed to jinx him and he began reciting Shakespearean sonnets very loudly. The rest of the group clapped and high-fived as Scorpius struggled to get a jinx out between verses.
Before Albus could think about the consequences, he called out the counter-jinx so Scorpius could fend for himself and ran forwards, angrily hexing and jinxing without a thought as to who was at the receiving end, just as long as it wasn't Scorpius. Chaos ensued as the Gryffindors tried to fight back, but the two boys had already hit them all, and so without another thought Albus grabbed hold of Scorpius' hand and pulled him along the corridor at full speed, glancing back at intervals to ensure no one else was following.
They kept running hand in hand until they reached the Room of Requirement. Albus dropped Scorpius' hand absently and paced back and forth in front of the blank wall, all too aware of the shouts in the distance. At last a door appeared in the stone wall, and Albus shoved Scorpius through, fervently praying that the door would disappear before the bullies saw it and tried to pry their way inside.
Albus was surprised to find the room exactly as it had been the time Scorpius had dragged him inside unconscious. Glancing at Scorpius, it was obvious that he realised that too, if his wide eyes were anything to go by. He simply stood in the middle of the room, dumbfounded, as Albus took a seat in his usual armchair.
"Are you alright?" He asked Scorpius. The other boy jumped as if startled.
"What? Yeah, I'm fine." He replied, as if it was the clearest and most obvious fact in the world, which to Albus it clearly wasn't. He sighed deeply and took the other seat.
"Sure," Albus replied, shrugging and relaxing back into the armchair, pulling his legs up with them and wrapping his arms around them the way he usually did.
"The thing is…" Scorpius began hesitantly, "There's been a lot of talk in Gryffindor recently, about getting rid of Slytherin, and saying that it's as bad as all the evil witches and wizards it's produced. As if every Gryffindor was a saint! It started off as just that group, but now it's sort of spreading and well… Quite honestly, I'm scared that it's going to get out of hand."
Albus stared at the other boy in shock. Scorpius pulled his legs up to mirror Albus, though he put his chin on his knees as if the weight of holding his head up was just too much to bear. Albus considered what he said. James hadn't mentioned anything of the sort at Christmas, but he refused to believe his brother or any of his cousins had any part of it.
"If that's the case," Albus began, biting his lip, "Then I guess you should know that there's been talk in Slytherin. Not by me, of course, or any of my friends, but a few people are still held back by that idiotic, age old idea that the only people who deserve to go to Hogwarts are Purebloods, and that everyone else is somehow lesser. Which is, of course, a load of bull."
"What are we going to do about all this?" Scorpius wondered as Albus finished recounting what he had heard while eavesdropping, as well as his housemates' attempts to bully Marcus.
"What can we do? We could go to a teacher, but I don't know if they would listen. None of them seem to believe there's any animosity between the houses, not after all the attempts to create unity." Albus sighed, rubbing his temples.
"As we're proving quite well, Potter," Scorpius said with a smirk. Albus glared at him. After all that had happened recently and today, and he had the time for jokes? He truly was insufferable, and Albus had no problems letting him know.
"Oh, don't worry, I'm perfectly aware," He grinned a dazzling smile that was clearly meant to annoy Albus as much as possible.
"I notice you still haven't thanked me," Albus said, getting to his feet and stretching with a yawn.
"I'll thank you when you save my skin again. It's only fair," Scorpius responded, leaning back in his chair in the most casual way possible.
"You know, sarcasm is the lowest form of wit," Albus quipped as he flopped back into his chair.
"Well, I do try to cater to my audience," Scorpius grinned, not even bothering to duck the cushion that Albus immediately lobbed at his head with a satisfying thud.
"You're such a prat, Malfoy," Albus declared, "No wonder we hated each other for four years!"
"Who says we don't still?" Scorpius asked, laughing at Albus' dumbfounded expression, "Anyway, I'm presuming the coast is clear now, so… see you around sometime."
Without another word, Scorpius was out of the room and slamming the door shut behind him, leaving a dumbstruck Albus alone with his thoughts. Had he just had an actual conversation with Scorpius Malfoy?
After a few blissfully quiet months in which nothing much really happened, Albus began to think that maybe all of the commotion earlier in the year was something he had imagined. Scorpius acted just as he had before Albus had rescued him from those jinxes, and while they still worked together in Arithmancy, they rarely talked outside of class, much to Rose's annoyance. She was still determined that they become friends, but it just didn't seem to be happening.
However, around the time that Slytherin won the Quidditch final for the second year in a row, everything began to change, though it would take Albus a long time to realise. The Slytherins were hosting a party in the common room, and when Stella offered him a beer she had found, he didn't turn it down. It was the first time he had drunk anything alcoholic at all.
"Great party, hey!" Stella enthused as Albus used his wand to remove the cap from his beer and took a very cautious sip, grimacing at the unusual but not too unpleasant taste.
"It's awesome!" Albus said, soaking in the atmosphere, "And well done on the game, you're so amazing!"
Stella blushed as she took a swig of her own drink, though it was difficult to tell in the dimly lit room. They spent most of the rest of the evening talking, as Marcus had invited the Gryffindors to the party and was to be found talking to Rose and Scorpius in a corner as Rose looked a little embarrassed at his attempts to flirt.
A little later into the evening, after Albus and Stella had downed several more beers, they were dancing casually and attempting to talk over the loudspeakers. Albus felt warm and happy and decided that maybe alcohol wasn't so bad, since everyone around him seemed to be having a very pleasant time. The fact he was dancing was unusual in itself, but he didn't mind at all, despite the glares Scorpius seemed to be giving him from time to time across the room, though that could have just been his drunken imagination.
He wasn't sure in the slightest what possessed him to do it, but suddenly he found that he had his hands around Stella's waist and was kissing her gently on the lips. When she didn't immediately push him away in disgust, he kept kissing her, all too aware of the butterflies in his stomach and the oppressive heat on his cheeks, not to mention all of the eyes the scene would no doubt be drawing. Seconds later, Stella pulled away, her dark brown eyes wide and shining in the dim light.
"What the hell, Albus?" She demanded, shoving him backwards. Albus stumbled further than he felt he should have, his head spinning wildly.
"Stella, I'm sorry, I don't even know what –" Albus began, but she had already turned and vanished into the heavy crowd of people mingling and dancing. He felt more foolish than he had ever felt in his entire life. He didn't even like Stella that way, not to mention that she was pretty much in love with Marcus!
"Smooth move," Scorpius sneered from right in front of them. Albus had no idea how he had gotten there so quickly, but he stood there awkwardly with a bottle of Muggle cider in his hand as if he wasn't quite sure himself how he'd gotten there.
"Where are Rose and Marcus?" Albus asked, peering around but seeing no sign of them.
"I dunno, I think maybe Marcus finally got through to her. Quite amusing, really, but I left them to their own devices. It's much more fun to come and bother you," Scorpius shrugged, chugging the rest of his cider before promptly making it vanish.
"Wow, I'm honoured, Malfoy," Albus responded sarcastically, "I didn't think you could possibly deign to speak to me in public."
"You're not that bad, I guess," Scorpius said, giggling suddenly. Albus raised an eyebrow at him, "What? Alcohol makes people more honest, so here I am, telling you, Potter, that you're not as bad as I thought."
"Right," Albus responded, raising his drink to his lips despite the almost overwhelming sense of warmth and dizziness in his head, "Here I was thinking we were the best of friends. I guess I'll have to put up with 'not as bad as I thought'."
"You know, I don't even get why we aren't friends. I mean, so what our parents were enemies? What the hell does that matter now? So what if we had a few disagreements? I can forget the potion you spilled on me and that snowball you threw at me. I'm still not entirely convinced it wasn't on purpose, but whatever. Forgive and forget, live and let live, carpe diem, whatever," Scorpius gesticulated wildly as he spoke, causing Albus to break down laughing.
"Spoken like a true poet," Albus said between bouts of laughter, "But I agree. From now on I, Albus Severus Potter, promise to be friends with you… Malfoy."
"Your middle name is Severus?" Scorpius snorted, throwing back his head and laughing as if it were the most hilarious thing he had ever heard, "But anyway, I, Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy, promise to be friends with you… Albus."
"Dude, how can you possibly mock my middle name when yours is Hyperion? That's the stupidest name I've ever heard in my life," Albus almost cackled as he grabbed Scorpius' shoulder for support, "Does this mean we're on a first name basis now?"
"Sure, but only if you promise not to mock my middle name again, or vice versa," Scorpius held out his hand, but Albus, feeling warm and drunk and happy, slapped Scorpius' hand away and wrapped him up in a big hug before reaching up to peck him lightly on the cheek. He had no idea why he'd done it; it just felt like the best thing to do.
"What the hell," Scorpius said, cringing as Albus pulled away, "I think it's pretty obvious what kind of drunk you are… The overly affectionate kind. How disgusting."
"At least I'm not a sarcastic arsehole," Albus muttered as he steadied himself, "But then again, you're a sarcastic arsehole all the time so why am I surprised, really?"
From then on, the evening was a blur, though Albus had made the probably wise decision not to drink anymore. Once he had sobered up, he found Stella with Haruko and Kofi and apologised profusely, which she thankfully accepted. He found himself comforting Marcus after Rose had turned him down as kindly as she could and left with Scorpius and Astrid, and once he had sent his friend off to bed to cry away his sorrow, he chatted to the two Ravenclaws until they had to head back to the Ravenclaw tower.
All in all, it was a messy but enjoyable evening, although Albus didn't think he would be drinking again anytime soon. As if trying to get off with Stella wasn't embarrassing enough, all of his friends had apparently seen him kiss Scorpius on the cheek, and he had the feeling they would be teasing him about it for a long time to come.
Once the Quidditch season was over, along with the strenuous end of year exams, the Fourth Years were glad to be able to just relax, especially Stella, who had become rather frazzled from the almost lethal combination of Quidditch and revision. When not in lessons, days were spent lounging around the castle grounds and soaking up the sunshine and wasting time in the most brilliant of ways, to the extent that for the first time ever Albus almost dreaded returning home.
When he was younger, Albus' parents had often said that your school years were meant to be the best years of your life, and for the time being he could well believe it. Most people at Hogwarts seemed to have finally gotten over the fact that he was Harry Potter's son; in fact, he was just so ordinary that even being in Slytherin didn't seem to resonate with anyone anymore.
Not to mention he had the most amazing and supportive group of friends in the world. He and Stella had made up in no time at all and there was no animosity between the two, as sober, they both found the situation completely hilarious. Marcus had at last accepted that Rose was never going to like him back, however with the knowledge that Stella liked him, Albus always felt slightly like he was third-wheeling in his little group of friends.
The strangest part of it all was that he and Scorpius had somehow become good friends. They regularly talked in Arithmancy, much to Rose's delight. He wasn't just doing it for her though; he genuinely did like the guy, even if he could be a bit of a sarcastic prat at times.
Sometimes when the group were outside, relaxing in their usual spot by the Forest, Albus would find himself abandoning Marcus and Stella to spend hours talking to Scorpius, even if the conversation was mostly made up for their usual sly digs at each other. He was just so easy to talk to, and Albus felt as if he could forget all of his problems when Scorpius was around.
Scorpius seemed like such a friendly and easygoing guy that it came as an absolute shock to Albus when, a few days before the end of term, he strolled casually into one of the school's many boys' toilets to find Scorpius hunched over the sink, his body shaking as if racked by sobs. He had a tissue in his hand and was scrubbing furiously at his eyes, which was how he hadn't noticed Albus, who froze in the doorway, completely unsure of what to do.
Just as he was about to turn to leave as quietly as he could, Scorpius glanced up and saw his reflection in the mirror. He jumped and spun to face Albus, his red-rimmed eyes wide with shock as he dropped his tissue onto the floor and began fumbling awkwardly with his sleeves instead.
"Sorry, I was just about to leave, I –" Albus stuttered as the door closed behind him. He had always been terrible at comforting his friends, and if anything he just seemed to make them cry more. He just never knew what to do or say, and while he certainly didn't want Scorpius to be upset, he desperately wished he was anywhere else in the castle at that moment.
"No, yeah, go ahead," Scorpius said in between sniffles. Thankfully it seemed that his crying was subsiding, though Albus wondered what could possibly have caused it in the first place, "Hardly anyone uses this bathroom anymore, so I just thought…"
"You know," Albus groaned internally as the words left his mouth, "If you want to talk about it or anything, I'm – uh, I'm always here."
"Thanks," Scorpius said, smiling faintly, "I really appreciate that."
"No problem," Albus shrugged nonchalantly, "If you ever want to talk and you can't find me and no one knows where I am, I'm usually in the Room of Requirement. I mean, I like the solitude, but I also don't like the idea of my friends being sad. Anyway, I'm meeting Marcus and Stella now, if you want to join?"
"That would be lovely," Scorpius stuttered, his cheeks flushing slightly, "Just, uh, give me a few moments, okay?"
After Scorpius had washed and dried his face and Albus had gone to the bathroom as per his original intention, they headed outside, meeting Stella and Marcus by the lake under a blazing hot sun. The afternoon was one of the best Albus had had in ages, especially when Rose and Astrid showed up later in the afternoon with sandwiches and cakes from the kitchens. They stayed outside as the sun set, laughing and joking absently. That was what made the day so fantastic; the complete absence of stress and the feeling of utter contentment as the sun set and the stars began to twinkle in the vast sky.
Albus lay on the grass, staring up at that unfathomable sky and pondering his place in the universe. It was utterly pretentious of him to do so, and he knew it, but he just loved thinking of how vast and impossible the universe was and how small and equally impossible he was. After a while of gazing listlessly into the night sky he sat back up and found that everyone had left, save for one other person.
"Welcome back to earth," Scorpius chuckled, tugging unconsciously at the grass by his side a few feet away from Albus. With his hair all illuminated by the moonlight like that, Albus could kind of see why so many girls found Scorpius attractive, including Stella, which never failed to make him laugh, "Everyone else left, by the way. But I'm nice, so I stayed. What were you thinking about?"
"Well, the universe is just so fascinating, you know?" Albus blurted out as he lay back down and stared wondrously up at the stars, "Like, we don't even know how big it is or what's out there, yet here we are, able to think of and try to comprehend what we're part of. I just find it really humbling."
"That's the most pretentious load of crap I've ever heard," Scorpius responded, but a few seconds later he flopped back down next to Albus and the two of them simply lay there in silence, watching the stars. If someone had told him a few months ago that he'd spend an evening stargazing with Scorpius Malfoy, he would have told them to piss off, but here he was.
Eventually the night began to get a little chilly; they were in Scotland, after all. The two of them headed inside, casually discussing their plans for the holidays, which were imminent, and directing their usual insults in each other's direction, before they parted ways and Albus began to head down to the Slytherin common room, his head spinning at just how quickly his perceptions of Scorpius had changed.
"Hey," Scorpius said suddenly. Albus stopped and turned to face him, eyebrows raised. Scorpius' cheeks were red, but then he was so pale that that could have been for any number of reasons, "Thanks, for today. I know you probably didn't want to find me there or help me or anything but I'm glad you did."
"Uh, it's no problem," Albus said, running his hand absently through his hair, "I hate to see anyone upset so – yeah. Goodnight, Scorpius."
"Goodnight, Albus." Scorpius responded a few seconds later, just before Albus turned the corner. He couldn't help but grin at Scorpius' awkwardness, a grin that remained on his face until he reached the Slytherin common room and was instantly distracted by Marcus and Stella.
A few days later, the school year came to a close. Hufflepuff had won the House Cup, which Lily wasn't afraid to flaunt any time she saw Albus in the corridor or during breakfast on the last morning. Albus didn't mind, however; he just sipped his coffee in silence and let his sister and her Second Year friends gloat as his friends collapsed with laughter around him.
The train ride was as uneventful as ever as everyone came to terms with the idea of six weeks away from Hogwarts. In the rush for the train, Albus had managed to lose his friends but find a miraculously empty compartment all to himself. He was later joined by a group of Second Year girls from Ravenclaw who whispered and giggled obviously about him as he stared out of the window, watching the Scottish wilderness become the rolling hills of the English countryside.
A third of the way through the journey, just as Albus thought he was likely to go insane if he had to listen to any more of the Second Years' gossiping, there was a knock at the door. He turned to see Marcus and Stella gesturing frantically at him to join them. Without a thought, he grabbed his trunk and rushed out of the room, following his friends down the corridor to the compartment where the entire group was squeezed in.
The rest of the journey was much better, even though he and Marcus were forced to sit on the floor. They played exploding snap and chatted aimlessly as everyone around them had their own conversations. Stella spent the entire journey deep in conversation with Rose as the pair of them laughed and giggled. Scorpius rolled his eyes at them from across the compartment where he sat with Astrid and Kofi as Albus and Marcus tried their best to eavesdrop, to no avail.
At long last the train pulled into London and everyone piled off to join their families. Albus gave his parents a brief hug and handed his bags over before saying a quick goodbye to his friends, promising to meet up with them over the summer. As the family headed out of the train station, Albus couldn't help but wonder if Scorpius was included in that group.
A/N: So! Albus and Scorpius are *finally* friends. It only took four years. Hopefully it won't take four more years for things to move on even further. :P (Don't worry, I wouldn't do that to you. Probably.) I also hope the next update will be nice and swift but I can't promise anything.
Next time: People are jinxing the Slytherins left right and centre. Oh, and some Albus and Scorpius friendship fluff because hell yeah.