~*Chapter 8*~

Kiss for Luck

Scorpius cornered Al just after breakfast at the end of the week, seizing him by the arm and practically dragging him behind a statue without breaking stride, giving Al's friends no time to react beyond startled stares. Al, who was was still on cloud nine and had been sharing shy glances with Vincent across the table all through breakfast, felt as if he'd been yanked back down to earth with a bump.

"Scorpius, what the-"

The instant they were away from prying eyes Scorpius released him, turning to offer him a menacing look. "Time's up, Potter."

"Wh-what?" Al glanced around nervously, suddenly afraid that the other boy had decided Al was just too annoying to put up with. Were Slytherins about to pop up out of thin air and jinx him into the sun? "What did I-"

"Your week," Scorpius snapped. "I've been tutoring you, and if you're still failing Transfiguration, that's on you for having a brain the size of a walnut. Time to hold up your end of the bargain. Can you or can you not make a Patronus?"

Oh. "Yes."

Scorpius took a small step back, eyeing him oddly as if that was not the answer he'd expected.

"It's not corporeal," Al admitted. "Like... it doesn't have an animal shape. But it doesn't have to. Not everyone can do a corporeal Patronus, especially not at first. James said it will still work." He straightened his robes a little huffily. "And no, I'm not still failing Transfiguration. Professor Switch actually said she was really pleased with my progress." He paused, then added grudgingly, "Thanks."

Scorpius ignored this news about Al's triumphant success in class completely. "It's your turn. Teach me how to cast Patronus. Tonight."

"You realize it's not something you're going to learn instantly, right?" Al scoffed, unsure whether to be amused or exasperated by Scorpius's ego. "Even my Aunt Hermione, who I'm pretty sure was a better wizard than you when she was your age, didn't get it right away."

Scorpius waved this away impatiently. "We'll see. We start tonight, Potter. Where have you been practicing?"

"We can't start tonight," Al protested immediately. Internally he cursed himself for his lack of foresight. Where on earth were they going to practice? He was still reluctant to give up the secret of the Room of Requirement. "Maybe you don't care about Quidditch, but I'm not about to miss Lily's first game."

"That's tonight?" Scorpius scowled, transferring his gaze towards the statue as he mulled that over for a moment. Al observed this hesitation with mild surprise. Was he actually considering going? Teresa would be playing, and perhaps he felt a good boyfriend would go to show support, even if watching her do loops forty feet in the air was probably going to make him nauseous. Did he worry that Teresa might fall off her broom and hurt herself? How had he even forgotten about the game when his own girlfriend was Seeker on the team? He asked as much, and got a withering look in return.

"Teresa's entire life doesn't revolve around a stupid game, unlike a certain family I could name," Scorpius said acidly. "Fine. Not tonight. Tomorrow. Let me know by Potions tomorrow where we're meeting." He spun on his heel and strode off just as Vincent came around the corner, frowning darkly.

"What was that about?" he demanded, watching Scorpius's retreating back with narrowed eyes. "Was he picking on you?"

"No. Discussing our, uh, study lessons. You know, Transfiguration." Al steered him back towards the main hall. "You know he doesn't like anyone to know he's helping me."

"Hmm." Vincent draped his arm casually over Al's shoulder. It was a buddy-buddy motion he'd done once or twice to both Potter brothers, so no one would look twice at it, though Al got so flustered he almost tripped over his own feet twice. "Speaking of secrets..." Vincent cleared his throat self-consciously, keeping his voice low. "It doesn't bother you, does it? Keeping... whatever this is to ourselves while we figure it out? It's just... your brother..." He gave a shake of his head. "Not that I think he'd notice anything right now, to be honest. Him and Emma had another of their stupid fights. Probably about Quidditch again, knowing them. They're not talking and he's too busy sulking to pay attention to much else."

"It's fine," Al said hastily. He was no more interested in seeing James implode than Vincent was. He kind of liked having a secret with Vincent, and having the time and privacy to figure out where they stood. Mostly. A small part of him twisted in uncomfortable displeasure, as if the secrecy made the whole thing something shameful. He pushed this nagging feeling far back into the depths of his subconscious and instead smiled up at Vincent. "We don't need James trying to give me a lecture or knocking your head off. And I don't feel like answering a million questions from the others."

"Good." Vincent squeezed him in a quick one-armed hug before peeling off to head towards class. "See you at lunch!"

Despite their attempts at secrecy, there was one who wasn't fooled.

Felicia managed to contain herself admirably all day, but under cover of the raucous noise of the Gryffindors hyping themselves up for the Quidditch match in the common room just after dinner, she pounced. "Something happened, didn't it? With you and Vincent."

Al glanced around quickly, but no one seemed to be close enough to hear, aside from a pair of fifth-years who were whooping too loudly to even notice them. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"And now we will sing you the song of our people," Roxie was announcing pompously, drawing a crowd of laughing students.

"You are SO red," Felicia said a bit too gleefully. Ignoring whatever tomfoolery the Weasley siblings were up to, she seized him by the hand and yanked him onto the couch, pushing aside the first-year seated there with uncharacteristic zeal. Startled, the boy hurried off to find somewhere else to sit. "Well? Did you confess? Or did he beat you to it? Are you dating? Ohmygod did you kiss?"

"Felicia!" Al sputtered, feeling as if someone had cranked the temperature up in the room to well above comfort levels. He pulled his hand free, wishing he could hide under something. "What's an omigod, is that some Muggle curse?"

"Unbelievable. Never mind, you nerd. Stop avoiding the questions."

"We didn't- I mean..." Al looked around again, hoping no one would notice how red and flustered he was. But just about everyone was busy cheering on Roxie and Fred, who were juggling half a dozen apples between them and singing some song he vaguely recognized about a Weasley King. It was hard to make out the words over the noise of the laughs and whoops. He scooted closer anyway, unwilling to risk being overheard. "We... talked. I think we're dating? I'm not sure. We're kind of, uh... figuring it out. Don't you dare tell anyone. How did you even know? We don't want to tell anyone yet until we've sorted it ourselves."

"I'm not blind," Felicia scoffed. At the look of horror that flashed across Al's face, she amended hastily, "I mean, I was already looking for it. You guys aren't being super obvious or anything. I don't think anyone else noticed anything different. Certainly not James or the guys. Rose will clue in sooner or later, though, I'm sure. But that's a good thing! We can watch your backs, right? Like keep everyone else distracted, or like... if you want a few minutes alone, we can make sure you aren't disturbed."

"I guess," Al admitted slowly. This was a perk he had not considered. And it would be nice knowing he could talk to someone about this if he needed to. "Thanks. But I'm not sure I want to talk about it just yet. It's still too... new. I don't know what I'm doing, so it's kind of awkward, and because we can't talk about it openly, it's just..." He shrugged helplessly, but couldn't quite hold back a shy grin. "It'll be great though. Once we've settled things and also figured out how to, I guess... actually date. Without James blowing his top. Or those two miscreants," he sent an aggrieved look towards Roxie and Fred, "teasing us about it literally nonstop, which I think is inevitable."

"Probably," Felicia agreed with a laugh. She gripped his hand eagerly. "I am happy that it worked out for you, though." Her smile faltered. "I mean... you guys won't keep this a secret forever, right? You are going to be open about this, right?"

"I dunno." Al shrugged, uncomfortable. "I mean... I guess it doesn't really matter, does it? So long as he and I figure it out, it's not really anyone's business. And then I don't have to worry about James giving us grief about it."

"It's your business," Felicia agreed slowly. "But don't you think some people will be hurt if they find out you didn't tell them? If Andrew started dating some girl, as unlikely as that seems, wouldn't you feel hurt if you found out months later on accident? And he'd never bothered to tell you? Or what if he was dating Rose? She's your cousin, he's your friend... wouldn't you feel.. I dunno... doubly betrayed? They're both important to you but decided not to tell you? Like they didn't trust you to be happy for them?"

Al shrugged again, displeased with the way the conversation had gone. It only made the niggling feeling in the back of his mind get more noisy.

"And besides how other people would feel, how would you feel, having to keep such a big part of your life secret all the time? Wouldn't that get exhausting?"

Al pulled his hand free once more. "Ok, enough."

Felicia looked abashed. "I'm sorry. You're right. You guys should have time to figure this out first. Just... don't take too long, okay? Even if James throws a tantrum, he's your brother. Vincent's his best mate. He'll get over it. Don't feel like you have to hide just because he can be a prat sometimes."

"I'm not hiding," Al said defensively.

Felicia nodded, tugging nervously at a braid. After a few awkward moments, she asked tentatively, "So... have you snogged him yet, then? Is he any good?"

Al laughed despite himself, red all over again. "No. Not yet. Don't be nosey."

She laughed as well, then they both turned as the noise in the room spiked.

"Right!" Olivia was pushing through the crowd, snagging her teammates one by one and shoving them towards the exit. "That's enough of that, we're going to be late! Get your behinds down to the field, on the double! It's time to give Slytherin a thrashing."

Al stood up hastily, searching the room with his eyes until he spotted Dustin. He waited until the big boy happened to glance his way, and gave him his best impression of a Scorpius Malfoy warning glare. Ducking his head and looking troubled, Dustin hurried out of the common room after his team.

"Honestly, Al," Felicia sighed. "Stop that. He's a Beater. Lily's a Chaser. It's his job to try and hit her. You know he'll be careful."

"I just want to make sure he is," Al said firmly. "He's twice her size."

"And he knows it," Felicia snapped. "You know he's always careful. He's always aware that he's bigger than the other kids his age. You don't need to practically bully him, you know."

Al arched a brow at her, amused despite himself at her defensive flare-up. "All right, all right. I won't bring it up again. I'm sure he'll be careful."

"You should be more worried about Fred. Quidditch is super important to him. He won't exactly try to hurt Lily, but you know he's not gonna hold back much, either, right? He wants to win as badly as James does. They'd rather die than willingly lose to Slytherin." She shook her head in displeasure. "Stupid boys and their sports."

Al frowned uneasily, wishing now that he'd spoken to Fred. Well, perhaps James had. James cared a bit too much about the game, but surely he didn't want to see his baby sister knocked off her broom any more than Al did. He tried to shrug off his concerns, trailing after the rest of the Gryffindors as they poured excitedly out of the common room.

The rest of the school was moving noisily through the halls on their way out to the Quidditch pit, and there were the inevitable scuffles and threats as Slytherins and Gryffindors jostled each other. Prefects had their hands full wading through the crowd and breaking up arguments before they dissolved into fights. Al got separated from his friends for a moment dodging a pair of boys shoving each other roughly, and stepped up against the wall to wait a moment until the way was clear. He nearly jumped out of his skin when a warm hand wrapped around his wrist and spun him around.

"Vincent?" He stared up at the other boy, baffled. "What are you doing here, you're supposed to be with-"

Vincent was grinning his infectious grin. "I hung back, I can catch up. I was wondering if I could..." he faltered, then rushed on, "Maybe get a good luck kiss?"

Al felt a burst of laughter, more nervous air than noise, puff out of his lungs. "What? We're surrounded by-"

"No one's looking," Vincent murmured, and before Al could protest further, swooped down and brushed a very quick, almost chaste kiss against his cheek. A wink and a grin later, and he'd already stepped away and gotten swept up in the crowd.

Al stood frozen for a long minute, unsure if he'd imagined the whole thing. But he could still feel the faint warmth on his cheek, though as a furious blush took over, it faded. He looked around belatedly, afraid someone had seen, but Vincent had been right; everyone was caught up in the excitement of the game, no one was looking his way.

Except one. His sweeping gaze caught another, and he found himself pinned to the spot as if nailed there by his own terror.

Scorpius Malfoy was less than ten feet away, and he was standing stock still, staring straight at Al, his eyes a little wider than normal. He seemed oblivious to the students bumping into him as they went around him.

He'd seen. And he looked just as shocked as Al felt.

Realizing he'd been caught staring, Scorpius wrenched his eyes away and quickly moved on with the crowd. But Al felt unable to move, his heart hammering in his ears. What if Scorpius said something and word got back to James? The thought spurred him into action, and he began pushing his way through the packed students, desperate to catch up to the other boy.

"Al, there you are!" Felicia and Andrew appeared at his side. "It's a madhouse in here, let's hurry and get outside. I hope we get good seats." Felicia looked at him curiously. "What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Huh?" Andrew threw a bewildered look towards Nearly Headless Nick, who happened to be floating nearby. "What does-"

"It's an expression," Felicia huffed. "I mean he's really pale."

"It's nothing," Al said quickly, desperate to change the topic. He would just have to corner Scorpius later, though that was not a conversation he was looking forward to. "C'mon, let's just go." Trying without much success to push the issue to the back of his mind, he tried instead to focus on more immediate concerns.

Like watching a game where Lily might end up with her teeth knocked out by her over-zealous family.