Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Everything else belongs to someone else and that's the way it's gotta be. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Something To Talk About

Louis waited eagerly off to the side for Rory to exit the Great Hall after dinner. This was one of those times when his boyfriend being almost six foot six helped, Louis thought as he absently waved good night to one of his friends. And using his own six foot one height to his advantage Louis stood up on tip toes and did another scan of the students who had yet to make their way back to their respective dorms. Finally spotting him, with Malfoy unfortunately, Louis resigned himself to possibly having to speak to the annoying Lucius wannabe. Waving at Rory to get the man's attention Louis smiled widely when the Slytherin waved back.

It took some work on his part but by the time they'd reached the Gryffindor Rorake managed to convince Scorpius to go on without him. Even though he'd let his friend drag him to the Medical Wing and allowed Madam Pomfrey to look him over, Scorpius still didn't believe that Louis wasn't someone bewitching him, Rorake thought as he watched his roommate stride off without him. Which was a little annoying, but it was sort of nice that Scorpius was actually worrying about him.

Moving to stand in front of the Gryffindor Rorake gave the man a questioning look. "What's up?"

"The sky."

Lips curving into a small smile Rorake nodded his head in acknowledgement of the man's sass. "If we don't hurry up people will start to wonder what we're talking about, Freckles." He pointed out dryly, enjoying the way the nearby torch's light shimmered across the blonde's hair. But he was still well aware of the eyes watching, and not all of them were fan club members.

"Eager to get rid of me?" Louis inquired, calling upon his best puppy dog eyes to tease the Slytherin. "After all, after tomorrow you won't be seeing me for a whole week. Aren't you going to miss me horribly?"

Rorake had to work to keep a straight face. "I think I'll survive." Then he had to laugh at Louis's reaction, the blonde puffing out his cheeks in annoyance like a very adorable chipmunk. Reaching out Rorake cupped the man's cheeks, pressing them in teasingly. "Yeah I'll miss you, Freckles, stop pouting."

"I'm not pouting." Though of course he had been. "Aren't you going to ask me if I'll miss you?"

"Why ask a question when I already know the answer." Stroking his thumbs against the other man's cheeks Rorake smiled and then let his hands drop. "Bonne Nuit, Freckles."

"Bonne Nuit, Mon Cheri."

)

The next day there was most definitely an annoyed twitch to the swing of Al's hips as he made his way through the train compartments, heading for the one reserved for the prefects. They were ten minutes away from London and all the prefects should have been patrolling their assigned areas, making sure that the students were aware of this and were prepared to disembark from the train as quickly and as orderly as possible. But one prefect apparently thought he didn't need to do his duties, Al inwardly fumed. It was always the same and the fact that they were now lovers didn't give the damn Slytherin a get out of duties card.

Letting himself into the compartment Al walked over to where the stretched out Slytherin lay, drumming his fingers against his crossed arms while he tapped his foot in annoyance.

Cracking one eye open Scorpius's lips twitched. He couldn't help it. The man was just so damn adorable when he was trying to be all strict and bossy.

"You're supposed to be getting the rest of the spawns of Slytherin under control."

"Are they rioting without me?"

Looking down at the man Al braced a hand on Scorpius's shoulder and lean down so that their noses were almost touching. "I don't know about a riot, but I'll certainly trample you under my feet if you don't get your pretty ass out there ASAP. Move it, Malfoy."

"I can think of better ways to spend the next ten minutes." Reaching out with one hand Scorpius squeezed then started to rub another very pretty ass with knowing skill, his eyes daring the Gryffindor to play.

Al raised an eyebrow, fighting back the urge to grin back at the blonde. "Ten minutes is nothing to brag about. And I don't think either of us wants to meet up our parents smelling like sex and each other. So hands off and get to work."

"I like smelling like you." Scorpius purred, giving the man's ass a friendly slap.

And both men froze when they heard a third party make a strangled sound from the compartment's doorway.

Turning his head Al was tempted to drop to his knees and give thanks to the fates when he saw that the unexpected intruder was Frankie. His heart still beating like mad in his chest Al worked up a smile as he straightened, giving the shocked boy a reassuring look while he quickly changed gears.

"Guess you need me, huh, Frankie? Let's go then, shall we?"

Looking at Scorpius one last time, the Slytherin eyeing Frankie the way a lion eyed a wounded gazelle, Al knew he had to get his friend away from the Slytherin ASAP. Shaking his head Al reached down and reassuringly ruffled the blonde's hair in an easy affection that betrayed the extent of their relationship to the watchful Hufflepuff even more than the ass patting. "Come on, Frankie. His Sytherin-ness is apparently too delicate to do his job." Al gave Scorpius a look that said he'd handle Frankie, winking to lighten the mood before he walked over to link his arm through his friend's, leading the still in shock Hufflepuff out of the room before anyone else could think to speak.

"Al…Al he was touching your bum." Frankie mumbled as he let his friend lead him through the train.

"Yeah, he's rather fond of it, which I'd appreciate you keeping to yourself for the time being." Letting go of Frankie's arm Al slugged an arm over the Hufflepuff's shoulder instead. "He's not Gryffindor house broken yet and I still have some work to do before I'm ready to admit my interest. Be a pal? I'll give you chocolate."

Frankie just stared at the Gryffindor, slowly shaking his head as the whole thing slowly sank in. "Who would believe me?"

"That's the spirit."

)

Stepping out of the train Scorpius looked around, trusting that Al would have taken care of the Hufflepuff problem by now. And if not, it wasn't like he couldn't convince the little git to keep his little mouth shut. Looking around as the other students hurried off to find their various family members, Scorpius spotted his own family waiting for him off to one side, away from the rest of the crowd as per usual. It was tradition for his parents and their parents to meet his train, the seven of them then going out for a meal together. His mother's sister lived in Austria with her much larger family, they'd be coming for Easter dinner on Saturday.

This was his maternal grandmother one on one time with him so to speak. His cheeks hurt just looking at her.

"You look worried."

Turning Scorpius lips curved into a hint of a smile at the sight of his lover leaning up against the train. "The badger taken care of…or do I get to try my hand at taxidermy?"

Al rolled his eyes and then straightened up. "Frankie won't be a problem, so you'll leave him alone unless you want me turning you into a belt, Snake boy. See you next week." Giving the Slytherin a two finger salute Al moved to join the others, a smile twitching at his lips when he heard the Slytherin give a low but unmistakable whistle.

Ears just catching the sound of the Gryffindor's laughter Scorpius couldn't help but smile in return, though he caught himself quickly when a couple of his housemates gave him weird looks.

Since he hadn't bothered to bring anything home with him Scorpius didn't join the throngs looking to retrieve their bags, making his way instead through the crowds with relative ease since nobody wanted to risk bumping into him. As per usual his grandmother rushed him on sight, hugging him so hard Scorpius thought it a wonder his ribs didn't shatter like dropped crystal. Then came the cheek pinches and the how big he was getting spiel. And then it was time for his mother's father to give him the usual three whacks on the back and his own mother to hug him enthusiastically, thus completing the ritual for that side of the family. Now his father's parents and father nodded and greeted him in a dignified, civilized manner, as one would expect of them.

After ascertaining that he didn't need to retrieve anything the seven started heading out, Scorpius noticing his paternal grandfather glaring at someone as they made their way towards the exit. Turning his head to see who it was, Scorpius wasn't at all surprised to see that it was several some ones, the Potter/Weasley clan all gathered together for hugs and hellos. With a start he spied Andromeda as well, standing on the outskirts of the group but still a part of it none the less. Scorpius blinked when she suddenly turned her head to look in his direction, even though he shouldn't have been surprised. Nodding his head in her direction Scorpius watched her return the acknowledgement.

"Scorpius."

Just the way his grandfather said his name told Scorpius that the patriarch of the Malfoy family had caught him acknowledging his great aunt's presence and that he strongly disapproved. Big surprise there, Scorpius thought sarcastically, though he knew better than to say that out loud.

"So how have you been doing since Christmas, Dear?" His maternal grandmother asked, keeping one wary eye on Lucius and the other on Scorpius.

What had he been up to since Christmas, Scorpius silently mused, having to fight back the urge to laugh hysterically at the mess that had become his life since last he'd seen his grandparents.

Well, Grandmother, Scorpius silently began in his head, he'd come up with a rather stupid plan to seduce Albus Potter into becoming his evil minion, which had backfired horribly as he'd been the one to be seduced and was now so addicted to the damn Gryffindor that he was already going into withdrawal. He also had reason to fear that he might be addicted to the extent that the L word might apply to describe his feelings for the other man, which was not going to go over well with anyone. He'd also renewed his relationship with Rory only to find out that the big git had gone insane, hopefully only temporarily, and appeared to be quite infatuated with the Gryffindor he/she. And finally he'd been forced by his disinherited great aunt and his lover to come to the conclusion that his paternal grandfather was somewhat delusional to think that the Death Eaters could ever become the super power they had once been, and therefore the group no longer interested him which was going to piss his paternal grandfather off in ways he couldn't begin to imagine.

"I've been well, Grandmother. How have you been?"

)

Astoria left her husband in their bedroom and headed for her son's under the guise of having forgotten to tell him good night. Something was most definitely up with her only child, the woman mused as she headed down the stone hallway. Her son had been abnormally nice to her parents and had actually made the effort to appear somewhat interested in what they all had to say instead of concentrating solely on Lucius. In fact, she'd almost got the feeling that Scorpius was deliberately putting some space between Lucius and himself. Lucius had certainly seemed to think so. Her father in law had not retired in a good mood, and had actually gone straight to his rooms with Narcissa as soon as they'd arrived home.

Had Scorpius and Lucius had a fight? By Merlin she hoped so.

Stopping in front of her son's door Astoria timidly knocked, knowing how Scorpius hated to be bothered once he'd retired for the evening. But he called out for his visitor to enter and so Astoria let herself in, blinking in surprise when she spotted her son sitting in front of the fireplace, brushing out his hair as it dried. Walking over to him Astoria took a seat on the rug beside her son, smiling at him as she reached out to stroke his hair, forgetting for the moment why she'd come as she got lost in her memories. "It's gotten so long. I can remember brushing it for you when you were little, you used to love that. You'd tell me all about your day and I'd braid it for you so that it wouldn't be a mess in the morning."

To his surprise Scorpius realized that not only could he remember those times, but he actually remembered them fondly. He had actually looked forward to it when he was a boy. Studying the brush he held in his hand Scorpius was holding it out to her before he thought about what he was doing. And then her face lit up like a Christmas tree and Scorpius could only marvel at how something so small could delight her so much. Shifting to give her his back Scorpius held still while she ran the brush lovingly through his hair.

"Thank you for being so kind to my parents tonight." Astoria said softly as she worked. "I know how you dislike my mother's...overly affectionate nature and my father's love of talking about his business." Reaching out to shift over some of her son's hair Astoria blinked when she noted the slight discolorations near where her baby's neck joined his shoulders. Shifting the hair further away Astoria's brows furrowed as she leaned in closer, realizing what she was looking at with a mixture of amusement and exasperation. Her son the ladies man. In a twisted sort of game Astoria started counting the visible bites, rolling her eyes expressively when she counted six of them. How many were beneath his night shirt Astoria wasn't sure she wanted to know.

"Something wrong, Mother?"

"No. But you might want to think about wearing a turtleneck again tomorrow."

Belatedly Scorpius remembered why he'd worn the turtleneck earlier. "Damn. He did it on purpose too, because I told him not to." And then Scorpius realized what he'd said and started cursing under his breath with a great deal more heat. Twice in one day, Scorpius thought as he waited for his mother to call him on what he'd said. He was slipping, dangerously so.

Frozen in place Astoria opened and closed her mouth several times, so struck by what he'd said that she didn't even register the curse words coming out of her son's mouth. A man…a man had put those marks on her son's skin? Her boy had gone through all the women at Hogwarts so he was starting on the men now?

"I don't suppose you could just forget everything I've said?" Scorpius asked hopefully, when she said not a word.

"Is it Rory?"

"Rory? Really, Mother, of course not. He'd flatten me like a bloody pancake." Just the thought had Scorpius shuddering. Rory was practically his brother. "Rory's interested in the Gryffindor he/she, for reasons that are beyond me." Scorpius grimaced at the thought, then had to grin just a little as he imagined the two lovebirds breaking up the first time Rorake flattened the vain blonde.

The Gryffindor he/she? Who on earth could that be? What could that be? But more importantly, if not Rory then what boy was nibbling on her son? And even more important than that… "Scorpius…are you aware of the laws concerning…certain behaviors between wizards?"

"I was informed. How do you know about such things?" Scorpius asked, genuinely curious. The arcane laws couldn't be common knowledge since he hadn't known about them until Albus had told him.

"Oh. Uhm." Astoria ordinarily wouldn't have told her son the truth, but since he was apparently messing around with another man the woman couldn't see the harm in answering truthfully. "I had a great uncle who preferred wizards in that way. The family money bought off the law and it was never talked about outside the family. I myself only learned about it because my grandmother couldn't hold her liquor to save her life. She was a very talkative drinker and she'd never been fond of that brother in particular. He was their mother's favorite until it came out why he was refusing to marry."

So he'd gotten it from his mother's side of the family. Why did that not surprise him, Scorpius thought as he looked towards the heavens with a faint sigh. But since they were on the subject…. "So what happened with that great uncle? Did he get married?"

"No. He shared a flat with another wizard for many years I believe. They presented themselves as simply colleagues and roommates to the outside world. Both came from well off, influential families, and were Slytherins to boot. Messing with them would not have been in anyone's best interests I suppose. Is…is your…friend in our house?"

"That he is not. They aren't at all fond of him in our house and vice versa. Ours is a very, very, very…actually, there aren't really words that come to mind that adequately express my relationship with him. Suffice to say we're both fighting it like two wet cats in a sack."

Astoria nodded slowly, doing her best not to smile. "Hence the bite marks."