Chapter 13: Entertain Me

Scorpius has a habit of treating people like they're a line of toys his well-meaning parents have set out for him to play with. He judges each one critically and chooses his favourites, judging on how they can entertain his easily straying mind. His decisions are made quite consciously, his ingrained rebellious streak often playing a large part in reaching his conclusions. As a first year he'd been quite aware of the reaction befriending Albus Potter would inspire, but he'd heard all the awful things people would say about his father and he made every decision he could to differentiate himself from him. It was too late not to be sorted into Slytherin but everything else that he could do, he did. He grew his hair long and wore it messy, befriended old enemies of his family and acted openly and affectionately where he his father was closed and stiff, creating a riff between father and son that Scorpius never truly realised. Draco didn't want the same for his son as he'd had for himself. He wanted his son to have freedom, a choice in the person he was to become. He left him to grow up as he liked, without the overbearing prejudicial views that had been ingrained into him. So in response Draco's lips had twitched and his eyes had looked disapproving but his face remained impassive and he spoke not a word against it. Sometimes it was like Scorpius was trying to push for a reaction from his father, any reaction. Sometimes it was just like Scorpius wanted to choose the newest, shiniest toys on the shelf and play them off against each other to relieve the boredom that always shadowed him.

There were some people that just seemed to go against his usual pattern, however. Rose Weasley was one of them. Sometimes her dramatics amused him and sure they stirred things up, but she irritated him too. He felt like she was one of those toys that looked brilliant and inviting on the outside, drawing him in with glossy paint and promises on the packaging, but once you'd opened it up you realised how repetitive its function was and you were bored after an hour. But he was stubborn and he still persisted with her, poking and prodding to see what more she could do.

The result left him angry and frustrated, and agitation still pumped through his veins as he stalked through the corridors after his confrontation with Rose, hoping the movement would bring him some calm. It worked in that it pulled his mind from the disagreement, but then he'd never been too involved in it anyway. The urge for confrontation, to pick a fight or just do something was still there however, and the reckless energy picked at his mind, causing it to reach out, to think of whom to move onto now. A name, an image, came automatically to his mind and he said to himself that they were currently just the best toy on the pile. Somewhat new to his attentions, hadn't yet been fully tried out, but he was smiling to himself without even realising it as he reached into his pocket to pull out the map it still contained.


Back up in their dorm, the laughter of the current conversation died in Rorie's throat as the girls around her began to grill her for the gossip on Louis.

"I think he's just shy," said Norah reasonably.

"Shy?" repeated Hayley Gibson, whose outspokenness usually made Rorie laugh, but now just made her feel a little sick. "If I looked like him I'd parade about all day saying whatever I liked. Naked." She flicked her blonde hair over her shoulder. "I think he just doesn't have anything to say."

"That's a bit harsh, Hay," said Norah.

Hayley shrugged, not looking too apologetic. "Or he's just not that into her."

"Well done, Hayley. That was much nicer," scolded Norah sarcastically.

Hayley grinned in response. For all their differences, she and Norah were the best of friends.

Rorie wasn't paying a lot of attention to the two of them, the words they spoke hitting her hard, the possibility playing through her mind. The whole thing had sounded too good to be true…

"Don't listen to her," said Cassie fiercely, glaring at Hayley. "Of course he likes you. How could he not?"

Rorie managed a small smile. "He was really nice in Potions," she said in defence of herself. Her voice came out more confident than she felt and she was glad that she could say that confidently. He was only different with more people around, she knew it.


Being alone must have given Scorpius the perfect moment to pounce, because Louis can't think of any reason why Scorpius would be perched upon that ledge and why he'd jump down from it the moment Louis passed by if it weren't that he'd been waiting for him. It was mere seconds before their footsteps fell into line and Louis found that Scorpius was walking right beside him and it was like he'd been injected with a joint jolt of apprehension and exhilaration and he just wanted to ask "Why?" but his mouth couldn't seem to open to form the words so he strode forward like there wasn't anyone beside him and he kept his eyes fixed in front like he wasn't forcing himself to resist the urge to give in to the luxury of a sideways glance. Curiosity always seemed to be his undoing.

"What are you doing?" Louis managed to ask eventually. His voice was cracked slightly, as if from lack of use, and his mouth felt dry.

He didn't look at him but he could just hear the smirk that must be creeping across Scorpius's smug face as he answered, "Walking."

"Could you do that …somewhere else?" It was a lame response but Louis's brain was in such a state that it's miraculous he managed to word anything at all.

Scorpius's response didn't quite seem to match up with what Louis had just said or maybe it did and Louis just heard him wrong or maybe Louis doesn't even know what he said in the first place because all he knows now is that there's about a 94% chance that Scorpius just touched his wrist and said, "I'm lonely," in a voice that implied a thousand different things that can't be said without blushing.

Louis's breath hitched in his throat and he pulled away from Scorpius, scowling heavily at the smirk that played at the corner of Scorpius's mouth. He walked on, increasing his speed with hopes of further separating the two of them.

"Come on, Louis," calls Scorpius. "Entertain me."

"I'm busy." The words are short, forced, and entirely untrue.

"Oh, I won't be a bother," assured Scorpius in a voice that was far too innocent to be anything but the opposite.

Louis started walking faster.

Scorpius matched his determined pace, trailing just at Louis's heels. Louis kept casting him nervous glances out of the corner of his eyes while Scorpius looked entirely unbothered by the proceedings.

"Where are we going?" asked Scorpius after a minute or two.

Louis stopped abruptly. "We are not going anywhere," he hissed, turning around. He found his face far too close to Scorpius's and immediately spun back around, heart beating erratically. He wasn't even sure where he was going anymore. If he'd started off with a predetermined destination in mind he'd sure as hell forgotten it now.

"Where are you going?" Scorpius corrected. Louis could hear the grin in his voice. He wanted to punch him.

Hot breath tickled against the back of Louis's neck. He stuttered out an answer. "Err, that way," he said vaguely, pointing down a random corridor and abruptly turning to head that way. Scorpius followed and Louis could hear him humming under his breath. In his pocket, Louis's hand clenched around his wand.

They continued on for a few more minutes, Louis taking random turn after random turn as if trying to lose Scorpius, even though he followed far too close for that to happen. They reached what appeared to be a dead end. "That's it," he said, spinning around so suddenly that Scorpius who'd been walking just behind him stumbled to the side. In one swift moment Louis had his wand at Scorpius's throat and he only needed to step forward to have Scorpius step backwards in turn, ending up pinned up against the cool stone of the wall behind.

"I love it when you play dirty," purred Scorpius and his eyes flashed mockingly in a way that made Louis wonder if Scorpius was trying to drive him to breaking point.

Louis's eyes narrowed. "You are so- so-" he broke off, unable to even think up a word strong enough for how he felt right then.

"Amazing?" supplied Scorpius, not looking too bothered by the weapon pressing into his pulse point.

"Distracting," corrected Louis, lowering his wand and stepping away. "Oh god, you're so distracting." He screwed eyes shut and shook his head, as if trying to shake off Scorpius's presence.

"Don't pretend you don't like it." Scorpius's voice sounded like an attack.

Louis shot him a disgusted look. "Are you really that arrogant?"

Scorpius was silent.

Louis rolled his eyes. "Just leave me alone. I don't care for your games."

Louis wouldn't believe that he saw Scorpius's face fall. He glanced down at his watch. It was just past curfew. He could've sworn he hadn't set out that late. When Louis looked back up Scorpius was leaning back against the wall, arms crossed, surveying him from under hooded eyes.

"What do you want?" he asked, not caring at how harsh it came out.

Scorpius lifted his shoulders in the slightest of shrugs.

Louis laughed, devoid of humour. "You don't even know, do you?" He asked, stepping forward. Scorpius watched him wearily and Louis strangely liked the feeling that the tables had turned. That he had the upper hand. "Come on," he said, hand twisting into the hem of Scorpius's shirt. "You were asking for it."

Maybe he was bluffing. Maybe he wasn't.

But it seemed Scorpius was buying his call. He stepped forward, closing the gap between them. It was eyes on each other's and breathing just a little heavier than normal and Louis could feel his heart beating through his chest and then Scorpius's against his as the final distance was covered and their lips met and Scorpius' hands were on him, pulling them even closer together.

The moment was just long enough for them to lose themselves in it until unbalanced, they fell back against the wall and it was the sudden impact of body against hard stone that snapped them out of. Unmistakably too in the quiet, came the sound of a voice. Too rough, too familiar, too close.

For a moment they stared at each other, breaths rising and falling in double time. There were no words to be said. The next Scorpius was grabbing Louis's hand, pulling him after him. "I know a way out," he said, almost dragging him towards a nearby tapestry. The thud of approaching footsteps echoed off the walls and Louis decided to trust him for this moment and together they ran, away from the pursuing caretaker.

Scorpius shoved the tapestry aside, let go of Louis and pulled himself up into the space inside. Then he turned, offered a hand, and pulled the other boy up after him. "This is just a way through," he explained, not stopping the hurried pace. "He'll know it, but it'll take us up a corridor and then there's away outside."

"Outside?" asked Louis. "Aren't we on the top floor?"

Scorpius turned around just long enough for Louis to catch the white of his grin. "It goes to the roof."

Sure enough moments later they broke out into another corridor, where, alarmingly, the caretaker's cat sat -wide-eyed and could it be smiling?- as if it'd been waiting for them all this time. It probably had been.

"I'm not often frightened of cats," said Scorpius evenly as they stood stock still and staring. "But there is something about that one's eyes..."

Louis smiled and ducked down to the cat's level. "She's actually quite lovely," he said quietly, holding his hand out towards her.

"Oh," said Scorpius, "You're on first name basis with the demon-cat?"

"Her name isn't She, Scorpius."

"I thought you said Sheep," he countered shortly.

"…It isn't that either."

"Drats," announced Scorpius, tone nonchalant. "Shall we move on?"

Louis nodded. "Preferably before we can be hung from the ceilings by our ankles."

Scorpius's tone was grave. "Or drowned at the bottom of the lake."

They made their way through, well Louis wasn't quite sure what it was, but it opened out like a window and stepping through it brought them into the cold night air. He shivered and pulled his thin school robes tight around himself in attempt of warding out the freezing wind.

When Scorpius stepped out after him, his attention was less on the elements, more on their surrounds. You could practically see the thoughts ticking behind his grey eyes before a small smile crept across his face. "Seems this spot is already taken," he said in a quiet voice that made Louis blush and wonder how Scorpius could be suggestive about everything. Louder, he spoke again and there was the distinctive sound of a devilish grin about his voice. "Well, well, well. Isn't this scandalous?"

Curiously, Louis followed his line of sight. In the split second before they pulled away he saw just what it was that had caught Scorpius's attention. It struck a bolt of guilt right into Louis' stomach and he breathed a sharp intake of breath, because how could he forget that Scorpius had a girlfriend? Next, a flood of feelings overwhelmed him. It majorly confusion, but there was anger too. Confusion overwhelmed because Scorpius was grinning, looking pleased, eyes alight even, and it didn't make sense. None of it made sense. Rose Weasley shouldn't have been before them at all, let alone snogging another guy. Especially not this one. What was she doing, kissing Teddy Lupin?