The next morning I woke up before him, intent on starting the day early. This time I had asked the elves to prepare food for us to save myself the extra work of cooking. We'd have to start going to the great hall soon to socialize. It wouldn't do to keep him all to myself down here. As much as I would've liked that I knew he needed people to help him through this.
It hit me all of a sudden. I realized I hadn't the faintest idea who any of his friends were. I made a mental note to ask lily later. No doubt a bunch of unsavory slytherins. Although why had nobody thought to visit him?
"For now at least it's time for a shower." I shot to myself stretching my arms above my head with a yawn. I made my way through the kitchen and towards the upstairs bathroom, trying to make as little noise as I could. I slipped into the room making sure to leave the door ajar enough so it wouldn't lock itself. I turned the shower on and retrieved my eyepod from its case, scrolling through my library until I found the title 'in gold' by submotion orchestra. Father never understood my fascination with muggle music. James on the other hand loved it. He and I would stay up late at the Potters over the summers listening to song after song.
I placed the eye pod in the corner of the room so that the sound would echo louder. It was a trick Harry said he'd learned from some of his muggle friends to amplify sound. I stripped out of my clothes stopping momentarily to check myself out in the mirror. "Not bad Scorpius, not bad" I whispered, admiring my abs. My hand found it's way to the scruff on my chin as I massaged my jaw. A quick shaving spell sent all the little hairs tumbling into the sink. "Better"
Steam began rising from the shower which told me the water was hot enough by now to bathe. I hopped in and began rinsing myself off, noting Al's selection of soaps and shampoos. Five minutes later I was done and so was the song. Before I could grab a towel to draw around myself I turned and came face to face with a sleepy Albus Potter. He was looking straight at me, midway through brushing his teeth.
"I'd fox whistle but my mouth is full" Albus joked, half garbling his words through the foamy toothpaste.
"Hey! Some privacy please—oh" I shot trying to conceal my groin before realizing stupidly that he couldn't see anything. He raised an eyebrow in my direction before turning back to spit in the sink.
"As much as I'm sure there is to see... I don't think privacy is something you'll be in short supply of with me around." He quipped before rinsing his mouth. "Beautiful song by the way. Amazing actually."
"Thanks, it's one of favorites. And since privacy isn't a concern I guess you won't mind if I start walking around naked all the time?" I inquired, stepping suggestively closer to him as I spoke.
At that he did blush, backing himself up against the sink. "Fun-ny Gryffindor. Very funny"
"Can you hand me a towel? They're right behind you." I asked. I was still dripping wet from the shower and he was now blocking my access to the towels on their shelf. Al turned around and felt along the counter for the fluffy mooncalf wool fabric. Just as he handed it to me his finger brushed mine and he gasped. A static shock had sparked between our fingers causing him to drop the towel in surprise.
He got down on his knees to pick it up. "I'm sorry. That was clumsy of me." He shot back, rising. A sighted person might have just bent over to pick it up. Especially since it was so large an item. It wasn't for the first time that I contemplated how much we take our vision for granted watching him fumble for things. Or how vulnerable he must have felt.
I had to physically shake my head to ward off the image of him on his knees in front of a still naked me.
He felt my breath on his face and stepped back quickly, realizing when he'd stood back up that he was too close to me. "Sorry" he mumbled again.
"What for?" I asked grabbing the towel. I told him fifteen times to stop apologizing already. I started by drying my hair as I moved around him to the mirror. "Merlin though I am rather fucking fit." I shot examining myself for the second time.
"A little vain though aren't we?" Albus quipped wryly.
"Listen I have to appreciate what few things I've actually got going for me." I tossed back at him lightheartedly.
"Suuuure. You mean aside from being kind, loyal, heir to one of the largest fortunes on the planet, prodigiously talented at charms and incredibly handsome?" He retorted. "Yeah I don't think anyone as gifted as you ALSO has the luxury of being arrogant too. It wouldn't come off terribly well" he joked. "James gets away with it because he's rather crap at everything. Not, I think, a good look for you"
"You think I'm handsome?" I asked in surprise. He had said 'incredibly'...
"Objectively? Yes, quite." He spoke flatly but he was blushing slightly again. I chose to leave it there. "At least from what I remember" he added as an afterthought. The thought of him on his knees before me kept trying to creep its way back into my minds eye. I slipped on some black underwear and walked to the kitchen to serve the food.
"Want some breakfast? I had the elves whip up a couple dishes. Do you have a favorite? For next time?" I called from the other room.
"I like ashwinder egg omelet, oh and blueberry pancakes."
I burst out laughing. Just then the sound of the shower sprang back to life and I realized he must have hopped in himself.
"What's funny?" He yelled back, his voice was echoing from within the glass.
"The little dark wizard and his blueberry pancakes. Makes for a fantastic tale."
When he was finished he emerged bare chested with still damp hair. He was unbelievably toned for someone who didn't play quidditch. He was slender but his muscles reminded me of a swimmers.
"Could I have a shirt please?" He asked standing uncertainly by the dining table. I quickly retrieved a shirt from his dresser and draped it over his shoulders, watching him do up the buttons with ease. At least the simple things would be easy to learn. How he would discern which shirts were which or retrieve everything he needed to brew potions was another matter.
We sat down for breakfast and I found myself staring at him again. I loved drinking him in.
"I know I mentioned but I loved that song you played earlier. What was it called?" He inquired before beginning to trace the outline of his plate with his fork. "What's on the plate by the way?"
"French toast and orange wedges. Also I'm glad you enjoyed the music, it was a muggle band called Submotion Orchestra. The song was In Gold"
"Hmmm" he hummed, slowly placing a slice of French toast in his mouth experimentally.
"Would you like me to play something else?" I asked after a few minutes elapsed of us eating in silence.
"That would be nice actually"
"Sure. Just give me a second"
'Crying cus I'm sure there was something here. Is this all we get? Tell me everything will be alright!' I got up and started to dance to the song. Albus seemed to be enjoying the beat too.
"I love this one too!" the brunette shot referring to the song.
"Come on Al! Why don't you join me!" I shouted over the blaring music.
"No! I can't see you dancing! I don't want you staring again! besides I'll look silly if run into anything."
I walked over to the back of his chair to whisper into his ear.
"Then I promise I'll close my eyes too. Just come dance with me." I grabbed his hand and pulled him up from his chair. "Ok they're closed." I offered beginning to move. I heard him do the same. I peaked just once to make sure he was actually dancing. He was grinning from ear to ear as I caught a glimpse of him. He was actually pretty good. True to my word I closed my eyes again and continued to the beat.
Two songs later and the music stopped abruptly with an electrical scratch. My eyes shot open to the sight of my father holding my eyepod cord which had been disconnected from its speaker.
"Glad to see you two are hard at work." my father said, raising an eyebrow at us. Albus had definitely acquired the same gesture from watching his mentor over the years.
"Draco!" Albus yelped In obvious surprise, turning bright red.
"Are you alright Albus? You look like you might have a fever." Father asking drawing nearer to us. I guess father had never seen him blush before.
"I'm fine sir. Just flushed from the exercise."
"I'm glad to see you're enjoying yourself Albus, but this is no time to slack off. You have a lot to do still." It wasn't exactly a reproach since he was smiling but Al couldn't see my fathers grin.
"Of course professor. Scor and I were merely— I mean Scorpius and I were just finishing breakfast." The brunette stumbled still catching his breath. "What can I assist you with?"
Father's expression changed again when he heard Al's use of James's pet name for me. He shifted from examining al to watching me. I was still in nothing but my microfiber trunks.
"Actually I came to collect you Scorpius. To see if you still were intent on working with me on that charm we spoke about? Lily will come to take Al to his next class since you don't share a herbology section."
"Of course father! I am!" I looked to Al who seemed curious and a little worried. "You'll be fine to go with lily?" I asked, almost afraid to leave him alone. He took a moment before nodding quietly.
"What charm is this Draco?" He inquired coolly.
"A project for Flitwick." Father lied. "if Scorpius can successfully achieve a positive result for this project the school will waive his NEWT requirement in charms with an automatic O. Which will give him free periods to catch up on potions and assist you."
"Wait seriously? If I'm successful at this—"
"—You'll be excused from charms and acknowledged as a master. It is that difficult. So take heed" father added. Al wrinkled his face, suspicious at the tone of our conversation. Whatever he thought he made no comment.
"I'll see you later Al, ok?" I offered.
He nodded again. I turned to leave with father when I heard him speak again.
"Would you mind taking me to see Lilith later this evening? She has called to me each night but I've not had time to go see her."
"You will not allow that creature to harm my son Albus, am I understood?" Draco added with a sharp command.
"Don't be absurd Draco. As if I would allow such a thing" Albus bit back with tension in his voice.
"Well... if you'd like to put some clothes on Scorpius... We can begin upstairs." Father eyed me questioningly having ignored Albus. The brunette flung his head towards me. He hadn't realized I was still only in my underwear this whole time.
When I'd slipped some robes on I followed my father out of Al's apartment to his own. When we arrived in his study he motioned for me to sit at his desk directly across from him. Without a moments hesitation he proceeded to hand me a pile of papers as high as my torso was long.
"Start with those. They are Albus's notes on his web theory and some of the charts we have managed to catalogue for potions ingredients thus far."
"Start? This looks like a months worth of reading" I balked.
"Yes, start. You didn't mishear me. Then you can get to these—" he began, dropping an equally tall stack of papers next to the first. "—which are Flitwick and my notes on the charms theory behind developing a property revealing spell."
"All this while catching up at potions and helping Al navigate his blindness..." it wasn't a complaint so much as a realization of how much I was taking on.
"You can always back out now if you wish. Just don't get his hopes up if you're going to quit mid way through. This could take years, not months Scorpius. You barely know this boy... are you certain you want to spend the next two years at hogwarts doing all of this for him?"
"Let's not waste time discussing it. I told you already that I did."
"Well then let's begin discussing this when you've worked your way through those." Father shot motioning to the stack of documents before sitting down behind his desk. He was always intent on returning to his own curriculum work.
"No. We begin with some questions I've compiled to narrow down my field of inquiry." I corrected, pulling out a list of notes and formulae I'd written in the dead of night.
He made a face that I knew well. He was Impressed.
"For a start: How many nodes exist for each ingredient? In other words do all ingredients automatically share the exact same number of properties irrespective of what category they fall in?"
Again his impressed face. "Excellent question actually, there are a vast number of individual properties that different ingredients can confer or affect... strength, desire, luck, fatigue, flammability, frost, water breathing, night vision, etcetera... however one of Albus's breakthrough discoveries was that every ingredient known to wizardry all have exactly fourteen properties on one chart. two times seven. And usually we can trace the nodes to form a constellation."
"Fourteen each!"
"Yes. Although not recommended one could theoretically work with an incomplete web. The strongest properties in an ingredient are easiest to discover and sometimes if you are missing one or two of the weakest properties you can still attempt to use the ingredient in a potion without knowing them."
"Next question would be... the steps in classical potion making are unwittingly intended to enhance the desired properties of an ingredient while negating the negative ones am I right?" I inquired again.
"Another fantastic question. Yes without knowing it that is how we developed potions as a culture. Stirring counterclockwise on low heat in a pewter cauldron reduces the paralytic toxicity of aswhinder egg when combined with powdered moonstone in amortentia. Both ingredients affect desire but also rate high as paralytics on albus's web."
"Which is why both ingredients are also used in a paralyzing poison." I noted absently. "The process of brewing the poison then is designed to augment those ingredients paralytic effects while reducing competing properties like desire."
"You've grasped this much just from one lesson of the web theory?" Father looked beyond surprised. "Thats astounding considering you were failing a couple weeks ago."
"The credit belongs entirely to Albus. This isn't normal potion making. What he's caught on to… It's pure art."
"Any other questions then Scorpius?"
"Not at the moment father."
"And yet it looks like you have more to say."
"I will certainly read all of these notes ... however I should warn you… I have a nagging feeling that a spell cannot be devised for this task without a potions help. It is for a discovery in the discipline of potions after all." I paused briefly before continuing. "The goal is to heal Albus. For that we need a comprehensive list of all potions ingredients with great healing potential. For that we need a web revealing spell. For that we will need a significant amount of study and a companion potion to assist."
"Methodical thinking. You're smarter than I'd ever given you credit for."
I rolled my eyes at my father for that.
"If you'd ever seen fit to share a tenth of the time you spend with Albus with me you might have realized that." It was a backhanded remark.
"Well you know very little about potions. If this task requires you to start from a potion I fear our cause is lost." My father sighed leaning back in his chair.
"You and Albus are masters, I will leave that to you both as soon as I've learned more about the subject. The properties we need for the potion are luck, clairvoyance, clear headed ness… or focus and rational thought… and also loyalty."
"Loyalty? An ingredient to increase loyalty or reduce it?" Father asked confused.
"Well neither. An ingredient fueled by loyalty or that recognizes it."
"Scorpius that's not exactly how it works—" he stopped realizing my suggestion. "How did you figure out the core property principle? I'm certain Albus would have no need to explain that to you so soon."
"He drew the nodes of properties from several ingredients in our first lesson. One chart had a node that sat at the meridian of its axis, right at the center of the web. Why would an ingredient have a property appear on its celestial chart if it was in a zero position. It couldn't do nothing. And you confirmed my hypothesis when you said each ingredient has fourteen properties."
My father's eyes grew wide. "Which ingredient was it that led you to guess this? Which property?" He was clearly astounded.
"It was the web chart for lacewing flies. The node for the property of transformation was very high on its axis. To be expected from the key ingredient in poly juice potion. But then why did it need to be stewed for twenty one days? Seven times three. There was a node on the chart that sat at the center of the web. The property symbol was for self. One end dissociation the other self knowledge. The middle is neutral space. More than about transformation this ingredient is about existing in the moment… or less metaphorically about something akin to individuality. Retaining Individual identity is key to a polyjuice potion. In fact If I recall my potions history correctly invention of the potion in its earliest days resulted sometimes in permanent transformation or horrible monstrosities. If you didn't stabilize the lacewing flies core property… It's neutral identity... you could never hope to successfully brew a potion for transformation. Especially human transformation which transfiguration cannot even achieve. It's a rarity that only metamorphmagi can perform." I finished.
"So you've guess at the rare core property." Father whispered to himself.
"Yes and an ingredient that recognizes my sense of duty and loyalty to the endeavor of healing Albus will be vital to devising a potion to assist our creation of the revelation spell" I explained. "Now. Moving on. Do you have a page on Latin prefix or suffix construction in here yet? Did you settle on a revelio base or something else?" I asked changing the subject.
"Here, these pages are Flitwick's and these are mine." Father offered retrieving six or so pages from the center of the second stack in front of me. "We were still debating other options aside from some incorporation of revelio"
I licked my thumb and worked through the pages. "Aperio... no. Monstro... 'show' interesting but also no..." I offered examining the notes. I grabbed a quill and dipped it into fresh ink. You and Flitwick should discuss these over the next two days while I review the entire theory." I offered handing my father a list. I blew softly on the ink to dry it.
"Ostendeo. Fateor. Detego. All excellent ideas. But Denundo? We aren't trying to pry the secrets out with force. I will run them by Flitwick though." Father assented. "You do know that this half is the easier segment. 'Reveal' yes obviously but 'reveal' what? Your Secrets? Your Nature? Your Gifts? What we seek to extract from these ingredients is highly specific.
This is foundational knowledge we are dealing with here."
"I surprised you though. Didn't I?" I was almost challenging him to deny it.
"It's day one and you haven't even read our notes. Don't get cocky Scorpius. Get through as much of this as you can before tonight. Harry and Flitwick have excused you from DADA and Charms for today. This is all you need concern yourself with until Albus returns from class. Oh and take him to dinner in the great hall. I don't want him isolated and the subject of even more speculation and rumor."
"Yes father"
"Oh and Scorpius... " I looked up at him before he continued. "Twenty five points will be awarded to Gryffindor." I could scarcely believe my ears.
"Twenty five! What on earth for?"
"You have surprised me greatly. Don't stop. I'm curious what my lion son will achieve next when such loyalty and determination drives him." He waited to break eye contact until the last of his words had sunken in. I thought to myself for the first time that he was proud of me. He had hugged me yesterday, reassured me that I was not at fault. Today he had praised me greatly. And now we'd be working on the same project together. It occurred to me that we had never been so close as we might be now.
"You honor me father. I will endeavor not to fail you." I replied, stressing with every word the full measure of formality and tradition he expected from his slytherins. For once I felt like a Malfoy. He nodded his approval and went back to work.