Year 1: More than a Crush
Chapter 9: May 2018
All too soon, Albus realized that exams were approaching and that he needed to buckle down and get studying. It wasn't that he hadn't been keeping up, because he had. In fact, Albus was one of the top students in his year, along with Rose and Scorpius Malfoy. But Albus had been spending all his time focused on spending time with Hayley and now he needed to put that aside for a couple of weeks and dedicate himself to reviewing everything he'd learned over the course of the year.
Suddenly, it became less important for Albus to find time to study with Hayley and more important simply to study, because he needed to put his full attention into his work.
Rose was very on board with Albus' new attitude.
"Now you're seeing sense," she said. "If you'd applied yourself throughout the term, you might be beating Scorpius instead of tying him for second place at the top of the class."
"Hey!" Albus protested. "I have been applying myself. And I think tying Scorpius for second is pretty good all things considered."
"All things considered?" Rose asked.
Albus shrugged. "It's not like Hermione Granger is my mother," Albus said.
"Hey, I work for my spot at the top of the class," Rose insisted. "It's got nothing to do with who my mother is."
"If you say so," Albus shrugged. The truth was, Albus was pretty sure that having Aunt Hermione as her mother was what drove Rose to work so hard for the grades that she got. If Albus worked as hard as she did, he would probably be tying her for top of the class instead of tying Scorpius for second. But he didn't say anything, because he didn't want to say something that might hurt Rose's feelings.
"Come on, let's go over transfiguration theory," Rose suggested, pulling Albus back into their studying. "What's the difference between an animate to inanimate transfiguration versus an inanimate to animate transfiguration?"
"Well in one case you're turning an animal into an object, and in another you're bringing life to something that previously didn't have life," Albus replied.
Rose rolled her eyes. "Okay but in terms of the transformation theory," Rose insisted.
Albus smirked. "The Z-factor," he stated. "For an animate to inanimate transformation, it's 5, but for an inanimate to animate transfiguration, it's 3."
"Correct," Rose declared. "What about when it comes to switching spells?"
"Then it's a 2," Albus stated. "But you also have to take an average of the body weight for the two objects and use it on both sides of the equation."
"Right again," Rose nodded.
"And since you didn't bother to ask," Albus continued, deciding to show off a little. "For a basic inanimate to inanimate transfiguration, the Z-factor would be 1, which is to say nothing."
"Obviously," Rose agreed. "I didn't realize that needed to be stated."
"They might ask on the exam," Albus pointed out. "It's good to be prepared."
"Do you want to switch subjects?" Rose inquired. "Or stick with transfiguration?"
"Transfiguration," Albus decided. "But I'll ask the questions now."
AaAaAaAaAaAaA
The next day, as Albus was on his way to study with Rose in the library, he was stopped just as he was approaching the portrait hole.
"Hey Albus!"
It was Albus' dormmate, Keith Landon. Albus paused and turned around to find all four of his dormmates clustered at a table together and studying.
"What's up Keith?" Albus inquired.
"Come and join us," Keith insisted, pointing to a free open chair. "We're studying for exams."
"Yeah, I was just about to go and study in the library with Rose," Albus stated.
Keith shook his head. "Leave your cousin alone and sit with us for a change," he suggested. "Us guys have got to stick together."
Albus considered his options. On the one hand, Rose was waiting for him in the library. On the other hand, she was probably so absorbed in what she was doing, that she wouldn't notice if he was late or even if he didn't show at all. And Albus had spent precious little time with his dormmates over the course of the year. Perhaps it would be good to get to know them a little bit.
"Alright," Albus agreed, crossing the room and taking a seat next to Cory Wood and across from Darren Madley. "So what were you working on here?" he inquired.
"Potions," Cory stated, shifting to include Albus in the group. "We're trying to memorize the properties of all the ingredients we've learned this year."
"Okay," Albus nodded. Memorizing the properties of ingredients wasn't so hard. In fact, Albus had been doing it throughout the year. Each time they'd learned a new potion and added an ingredient to the list of ingredients they were supposed to know, Albus had memorized their properties on the spot. It was clear that his dormmates hadn't taken the same approach, but it would still be useful to go over the information again anyway.
"We just finished reading up on moondew," Shane Darnell said.
"What's next?" Albus inquired.
Shane checked his notes. "Wiggentree bark," he stated. "Go."
The boys immediately began throwing out facts they knew about the ingredient.
"It's extremely alkalinic," Keith declared. "And as such should never be used in combination with highly acidic substances like bundimun secretion for example. Instead, more mildly acidic substances should be used to reduce alkalinity."
"Such as?" Shane prompted.
"Shrake spines," Darren took over. "Or billywig stings."
"Correct," Shane confirmed upon verifying his notes. "What else?"
"It's extremely useful in healing potions," Cory spoke up. "In its raw form, contact provides magical protection from dark creatures. When used in potions that are meant to counteract the negative effects of having had a run-in with a dark creatures, it can strengthen the effectiveness."
"What kinds of run-ins?" Shane pushed.
Cory frowned, but Albus took the opportunity to jump in.
"Nundu poisoning," Albus provided. "Assuming the potion is consumed before the toxin kills you."
Shane frowned. "That's not in my notes..."
Albus sighed. Technically nundu poisoning wasn't an example that had been provided in class, but it was a fine example just the same.
"Anything else?" Shane asked, recovering.
"Fresher bark is more potent," Darren supplied. "But expired bark has its uses too."
"Elaborate," Shane demanded.
"Expired bark can be used in non-healing potions," Darren explained. "As an alkalinic element. It won't provide the same healing properties to the potion, which is good if the potion isn't meant to be a healing potion. This way it can be used to balance a highly acidic potion without compromising the function."
"Good," Shane nodded. "Anyone want to add anything?"
"It's best to add prior to boiling," Albus spoke up, "as it can take a while to fully disintegrate into a potion. If it's added after the potion's been turned down to a simmer, you could end up with a lump of bark at the bottom of your cauldron with the healing elements still trapped inside. It could render a potion useless."
"Correct," Shane said. "That's everything on my list."
"Alright, next up, lethe river water," Darren said, the turn to quiz shifting.
"Oh, that's an easy one," Keith insisted. "Prime ingredient in memory potions, particularly the forgetfulness potion. Not to be used as a substitute in any other potion without high risk of memory loss. Neutral in terms of PH, and typically added right at the end of brewing as it doesn't require any chemical changes to render it effective."
"That's right," Darren nodded.
Albus would have been impressed, except that lethe river water was one of the first, most elementary potions ingredients they'd learned about. And there wasn't much to it. It wasn't an insanely multi-faceted ingredient like valerian sprigs or knotgrass, and it wasn't particularly complicated like horklump juice or horned slugs.
"Come on, let's take a break," Keith suggested.
"But Albus just got here," Cory pointed out.
"Exactly," Keith said. "Come on Albus, tell us about yourself."
"Oh," Albus said in surprise at being put on the spot. "There's really not much to know..."
"You're near the top of the class, along with your cousin," Keith pointed out. "How do you manage that?"
"You must study all the time," Darren supplied. "Is that why we never see you?"
Albus shrugged. "It's not that - I wouldn't say that I study all the time. I study a fair bit - "
"You spend a lot of time with that Slytherin chick," Shane commented. "What's that about?"
Albus felt his heart jump at the mention of Hayley.
"Oh her," he said. "Yeah, she's pretty cool."
"She doesn't get top grades though," Shane noted. "So why do you spend so much time with her? You know, instead of people from your own house?"
"I spend time with Rose," Albus reminded the guys. "She's in Gryffindor."
"But she gets top grades like you," Shane said. "Or is that why you hang out with her? Because she helps you with your work?"
"No," Albus shook his head, confused at the millions of directions this conversation was going. "I get my grades on my own."
"And the Slytherin is what? Your charity case?" Shane frowned.
"I don't hang out with her to help her with her homework," Albus insisted. "It's just that we often do our homework while we're hanging out."
"What's so special about her?" Keith inquired. "There must be something. I mean, you're Harry Potter's son. There's got to be a good reason why you spend half your time with a chick from Slytherin."
Albus swallowed. He hated it when people called him Harry Potter's son. He hated it even more now that he was being grilled about Hayley.
"I just think she's cool," Albus shrugged, trying to be nonchalant. He didn't want to get deep into his feelings with his dormmates, who he'd never really talked to properly until now. His relationship with Hayley was personal. "It's no big deal."
"Well I just think that if you're going to do your homework with anyone, it should be with people from your own house," Keith stated. "You know, help out your friends instead of the competition."
"The competition?" Albus frowned. "Since when is Hayley the competition?"
"Since she was sorted into Slytherin and you were sorted into Gryffindor," Keith explained. "If anyone's going to benefit from studying with you, it should be us."
"Yeah, she's already got Malfoy to study with," Shane agreed. "She doesn't need the both of you."
Suddenly Albus realized why his dormmates had asked him to study with them. It wasn't to get to know him, or because they wanted to include him. It was because they wanted to benefit from the fact that he was near the top of the class while they were mid-level at best.
Albus pushed his chair back.
"Rose is waiting for me in the library - " he began.
"She doesn't need your help," Keith insisted. "You'd really be doing us a favor if you stuck around."
But Albus had had enough. He wasn't interested in being used. It would have been one thing if his dormmates had specifically asked him to help them out, but they were pretending to be friends with him just so that they could use him for their own gain.
He stood up to go, but Keith blocked his path.
"Come on, man," he insisted. "You've been avoiding us all year, and now we ask for your help and you're just going to bolt?"
"First of all, I haven't been avoiding you," Albus insisted. "You've had every opportunity to invite me to hang out with you, but you haven't. I haven't either, and I'll take part of the blame for that, but certainly not all of it. And second of all, you didn't ask for my help, you lured me here pretending that you wanted to study as equals and then now you expect me to give you my secrets?"
"So you admit you have secrets?" Keith insisted.
"No!" Albus cried in frustration. "I study, that's my secret. I study all year. If you have a question, a specific topic that you need clarification on, I'd be more than happy to help shed some light on it. But I'm not going to sit here and teach you the entire curriculum after you attack me and accuse me of being a traitor to Gryffindor house for spending time with someone from Slytherin."
"That's not - " Keith began, but couldn't seem to finish his thought. "We didn't - "
"You did," Albus said, shoving past Keith. "But I'll forgive you for it. Just don't let it happen again."
And with that, before any of the other guys could say a word, Albus left.
He made his way straight down to the library and collapsed into a chair at the table that Rose had entirely claimed with open textbooks and loose notes.
"Hey Albus," she muttered distractedly as she compared her herbology notes to her potions notes - there had been a fair bit of crossover between the two in their first term.
"Hey," Albus grumbled, still a little peeved that his roommates had shown him so little courtesy.
Rose looked up from her work. "What's wrong?" she asked, immediately sensing Albus' mood.
Albus sighed. "It's nothing," he muttered. "I just don't appreciate being used. Maybe it's a side-effect of being my father's son."
"I don't think anyone appreciates being used," Rose said. "What happened?"
"It was my dormmates," Albus shrugged, the anger already seeping away. "They thought that if they pretended to want to be friends, I'd help them pass the exams."
Rose nodded knowingly. "I'm sure they didn't mean to hurt your feelings," she assured Albus. "I'm sure they're just stressed with exams right around the corner."
"It would have been one thing if they'd been upfront with me, asked for my help studying. But they pretended to want me to join their group," Albus sighed. "I don't want them to fail, but I want to be appreciated and acknowledged."
"I couldn't have said it better," Rose stated. "Now do you want to study, or do you want to stew?"
"I want to study," Albus said immediately, grabbing a handful of Rose's notes to start reviewing.
AaAaAaAaAaA
It was a few days later, Albus was studying alone in the library and out of nowhere, Hayley Sullivan sat down next to him. Albus almost had a heart attack when he realized that she was alone and that Scorpius was nowhere to be seen.
"What are you doing?" Albus asked in shock.
"Studying," Hayley declared with a smile. "Scorpius is in the after-hours potions lab. He says the cure for boils he brewed in class wasn't up to snuff and that he wants to give it another go."
"And you're not with him?" Albus questioned.
"My cure for boils was perfection, thank you very much," Hayley sniffed.
"Of course it was," Albus nodded in agreement.
"But..." Hayley hesitated as she pulled out her potions textbook. "Would you mind helping me with the theory? Because if I'm being honest, I have no idea why my potion turned out so perfectly when I had no idea what I was doing."
Albus laughed. "Of course," he agreed. He pulled his chair closer, his breath catching when he realized that they were close enough that they could touch, and bent over her notes with her, to help her make sense of things.
The sound of a throat clearing drew Albus' attention away from Hayley for a moment and he saw his dormmates, Keith, Cory, Shane, and Darren, all sitting across the library and watching him with cold expressions.
Albus knew how it looked. It looked like he'd refused to help them the other day, and now here he was helping Hayley, a Slytherin. But the difference was that she'd come to Albus and asked for help. They'd assumed that they could coerce him into helping them. And they hadn't so much asked for help on a specific topic as general help passing their exams. Specifics Albus could do, but he wasn't going to walk four school-aged boys through the process of learning how to study. That was their own responsibility.
"Thank you so much," Hayley said emphatically once Albus had cleared up the bits of the theory that had been confusing her. "It makes so much more sense now."
"No problem," Albus smiled, happy to have helped.
Perhaps his feelings for Hayley had also played into why he'd been more willing to help her than his dormmates, he thought. But then he decided that wasn't it. His feelings for Hayley just made this instance more enjoyable. Plus, he knew that Hayley wasn't using him. If she just needed potions help, Scorpius could tutor her just as well as Albus could. His grades were just as good as Albus'. No, Albus knew that Hayley was here because they were starting to become friends.
"How long until Scorpius finishes his potion?" Albus inquired.
Hayley sighed. "I should probably be meeting up with him soon," she said. "But this was nice."
"It was," Albus agreed. "Hopefully next time Scorpius needs to brew a more time-consuming potion."
Hayley laughed, and Albus couldn't help but laugh along with her.
"Hopefully," she agreed.
As she left, Albus returned to his own studying, feeling much lighter than he had before.