Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. This is only for entertainment purposes.

Becoming of a friendship

Chapter XIV

David sat on a couch, his head between his hands.

"Hey, get up!" Ethan exclaimed. "I told you I wanted to show you something."

David looked up at him. "I'm not following you anywhere if you don't tell me what the hell happened."

"So, if I tell you, you'll follow me?" Ethan asked seductively.

David rolled his eyes. "Ugh, okay, yes. I don't have much choice anyway."

"Perfect. Get up now."

"What? What did I just tell you?"

"You're too naïve, Collins. I have no reason at all to tell you what I talked about with someone else, so you do as I say and then I'll tell you. Let's call it a compromise."

"You bastard!" David hissed, gritting his teeth.

Ethan smirked and held out his hand. David pushed it away, annoyed. "I don't need your help to get up!"

Ethan raised his hands in the air. "As you wish!"

David glared at him, but he still got up. "Fine. Be quick."

Ethan stood aside to let him pass. David looked at him suspiciously. "Since when are you such a gentleman?" he asked the taller boy in a sarcastic tone.

"You know nothing about me," Ethan said simply. "Just walk."

When Scorpius saw Albus enter in the dormitory, he immediately knew something was wrong. The dark-haired boy walked past him, completely ignoring him, and collapsed on his bed. He remained motionless for several minutes, then sighed loudly. Scorpius went to sit next to him.

"What's the matter, Al?"

"Nothing."

"I know you too well to believe this pitiful attempt at avoiding my questions."

Albus sighed again. "Is everyone gay in this house, or what?" he finally asked.

Scorpius laughed heartily. "Don't laugh, I'm serious," Albus interrupted him.

"Um, okay, I don't know about everyone, but I'm sure about two people."

"Who?"

"Well, me, and Ethan," Scorpius answered.

"WHAT? Ethan is gay?" Albus seemed utterly astonished.

"Of course he is! Everyone knows it!"

"I… I didn't…"

"Well, you know it now." Scorpius said and smiled. "And it seems that he has a lot of success, if you see what I mean…"

Albus' cheeks went pink. "Have you… Have you two ever…?" he asked tentatively.

"What? NO! We've never… I've never…"

Scorpius rarely blushed, but he knew that right now his entire face was a bright shade of red.

"Not with anyone?" Albus insisted.

Scorpius was a little taken aback by Albus' persistence. He didn't reply, but the answer must have been clear on his face, since he got the impression that the dark-haired boy looked somewhat relieved. "Wait, why are you asking me?"

"Oh, nothing, I'm sorry." Albus mumbled, avoiding his gaze, blushing even more.

Scorpius couldn't resist asking. "Why, have you?"

Albus shook his head shyly.

"Um, let's return to your problem," Scorpius mumbled quickly, trying to prevent his mind from drifting away to inappropriate thoughts.

"Huh? What problem?" Albus asked, surprised, his train of thought probably interrupted by Scorpius' question.

"Er, you were asking me if I knew any other gay people in Slytherin…"

"Ah, yes… Let's just say that you can add someone else to the list."

"Who?" Scorpius asked, hopeful. His heart rate accelerated.

"David."

"Oh, him…" Scorpius' face fell.

"What? Did you already-"

"Hold on, since when do you know it?" Scorpius cut him off.

"Ethan just told me that… that David… er, likes me…"

"What? How does he… Why did he… Ugh! Where is that idiot? "

"Which one?"

If he wasn't angry, Scorpius would have laughed at Albus' question.

"Wilson!"

"He went somewhere with David…" Albus informed him.

"Since when do these two… Oh."

"What?" Albus asked innocently.

Scorpius snickered. "Holy crap! Don't tell me that that Collins is his new prey?"

"Huh? What the hell are you talking about? That's impossible!" Albus exclaimed.

"I don't see any other reason! They're supposed to hate each other, so why would they hang out now if Ethan didn't have an ulterior motive?"

"That's completely insane! Maybe they just realized the way they treated each other was stupid and now they see that they're not as different as they thought…"

"I'm not buying this. I'm sure something's going on," Scorpius said firmly.

"But you just said they hate each other! How could they be together?"

"Al, haven't you ever heard of love-hate relationships? As they say, hate is a passionate feeling… Besides, guys like Ethan are often mean to the person they like precisely in order to hide what they truly feel."

"I still don't believe this." Albus declared.

"Why? I think it's pretty obvious. Unless… Maybe you're jealous?"

"No! Of course not! I'm not jealous! Why would I be? I don't love him."

The way Albus had accentuated that last word made Scorpius' heart sink. Albus must already love someone. A girl, probably. Even if sometimes Scorpius seriously questioned his friend's sexuality, Albus had never said anything about it… And if he really was gay, Albus would have told him so when he had come out of the closet. Right?

"I don't understand you, Albus. You should be happy."

"Why should I be happy?"

"Because if they're really going out, it would mean that David finally got over you."

"Hey! I never mentioned the fact that David was in love with me!"

"What? You just did! Besides, that's not the point!"

"Oh, no, it is! It looks like everyone knew it except me! I'm always the last one to get informed! At least you should have told me!" Albus cried.

"I didn't want you to know it! I was afraid that if you knew, you might… you know…"

"What? Become his boyfriend? I never liked him that way, he's my friend!"

"I'm your friend too…" Scorpius risked, eyeing Albus carefully.

The dark-haired boy blushed furiously and broke eye contact. "That's not the point," he said. Scorpius smiled faintly, hearing the reiteration of his own statement. And then his smile became wider, as he realised what Albus' response could mean. Maybe he wasn't in love with a girl after all…

"Where are we going?" David asked for the fifth time.

"You'll see," Ethan repeated just like the four previous times.

He really was grateful that David didn't like Quidditch. Because if he did, he would have guessed where he was being led, and would have probably gotten suspicious.

"I'm losing my patience… And since when are you offering to share something with someone like me, as you'd say?" David asked.

"You'll understand when we get there…" Ethan answered. "Oh, here we are!"

Ethan stopped in front of a small wooden door and pointed his wand towards it. "Alohomora." He opened the door and gave David a nod. The shorter boy looked at him suspiciously but stepped in.

"What the hell? It's almost completely dark in here!" David exclaimed.

Ethan quickly entered too and locked the door behind him.

"Where are we? Is this a prank or something? There's nothing to see!"

Ethan smirked and got closer to him. David stepped back and stumbled on something. There was a loud thud.

"Careful, Collins. Those are broomsticks. You wouldn't want to break any of them and get a detention, would you?"

"What? We're in a cupboard?"

"Yes, so stop moving so much, there isn't much space."

"Why did you bring me here?" David asked, his voice shaking slightly.

"Take a guess…"

Ethan was starting to wonder how he managed to be so patient. David was really getting on his nerves.

"I don't know…" David mumbled.

"Ugh, you're talking too much!"

Ethan grabbed him by the waist and kissed him full mouth. David tried to free himself but tripped again, causing the fall of both of them. Ethan couldn't have asked for better. David was under him, at his mercy. Ethan leaned and kissed him again. David struggled and finally managed to push him away.

"What are you doing?" he asked in a breath.

"I thought it was obvious. I'm helping you to forget Potter."

"Who said I wanted your help?"

"If you didn't need some help, you would have forgotten him long ago. And don't tell me you don't want to, because there's no reason in obsessing over someone who doesn't like you back, Collins."

"Can you stop calling me that?" David asked angrily.

"Why? That's your name, right?"

"It's my last name! I have a first one too! And you could use it, especially since you're…"

Ethan raised an eyebrow at him. "What? You think I actually like you, Collins?"

David didn't answer. Ethan sneered.

"How pathetic! I'm a man, I have needs, I'm sure you can understand me…" he explained.

David straightened up so abruptly that Ethan almost fell. "I'm not a whore!" he yelled.

"But you like it, don't you?" Ethan whispered and violently pushed him down, before starting nibbling his bottom lip. David growled but didn't move. Ethan's mouth found its way down to David's neck. He got rid of David's tie and slowly unbuttoned his shirt. To his surprise, David didn't try to stop him. Ethan started sucking on the sensitive skin of the side of David's neck.

"No, don't you dare make a hickey," David whimpered.

"Already done, sorry!" Ethan announced with a smirk and pressed his lips on those of David. This time, David kissed him back. And with tongue. This was enough for Ethan to completely surrender to his desire. He slid his hands in David's pants and squeezed his arse. David moaned loudly and finally put his hands on Ethan's hips. Ethan took it as a 'yes'. He rubbed his growing erection against David's crotch as he pressed their bodies together. He felt that the boy beneath him was hard too, and this excited him more than anything. Ethan kissed him passionately while trying to get rid of David's pants. But David grabbed Ethan's wrist before he had the time to get them off.

"No," David muttered.

"Why?" Ethan asked, extremely disappointed.

"I just… I can't."

"You can't or you don't want to?"

Ethan could feel the anger rising.

"Both," David said, looking away.

Ethan narrowed his eyes. "It's because of him, isn't it?"

"No, it's not that…"

Ethan got up abruptly. "Well, I suppose it's better we don't, you see, I wouldn't like it if you called me by the wrong name while fucking." he spat.

David seemed taken aback by his bluntness.

"What?" Ethan asked him, "You wanted a more polite formulation? Like, I would be completely heartbroken if you happened to call me by the wrong first name while we would be happily making love?"

The other boy didn't answer and this made Ethan even angrier. It was better when David talked, actually… Ethan didn't know what he wanted anymore. The only thing he was certain about was that he couldn't stand the fact that that Potter was constantly on David's mind. Right now, he didn't know which one of them he hated the most.

"I can explain, if you want." David said in a low voice.

"I don't want to hear anything!" Ethan yelled and kicked the wall.

There was a loud crack! as his big toe broke. The tall boy refrained from screaming in pain and rage and limped to the door.

"Ethan!" David shouted and got up. "Don't go!"

When he heard his first name, Ethan almost turned back. He clenched his hand on the doorknob.

"Just go fuck yourself, okay?" he eventually said.

He had hoped David would have answered back, but the other boy remained silent.

One week had passed and many things had happened. Albus had told Rose everything because he really needed to talk to someone. He had been surprised by her reaction. Albus had thought she would get angry or be really shocked. When he had admitted he was gay, she had just laughed and said that "it was about time you realized it." And when she had stopped teasing him, she wished him "good luck with Blondie", which had made Albus' entire face turn a bright shade of red.

He had also gone to find Daisy, and had told her that unfortunately he had realized that he already liked someone else. She had simply said 'okay' with a smile. It must be a Gryffindor thing, Albus had thought.

Then, he had tried to talk to David and had told him that he still wanted them to stay friends, but David had replied that this was the most stupid thing he had ever heard and that he didn't want to say anything more about that. He still greeted him whenever they met though, which was quite a relief for Albus.

Ethan hadn't approached David once, not even to humiliate him. And David realized that he missed that bastard and his stupid insults.

A/N: Thanks a lot to Celine for helping me out now that my beta is busy:) Also, I got an anonymous review that made me laugh, so thank you my dear friend that wants to "flay me alive" if the story doesn't end well. How sweet of you! ;P