Dark Duchess and Shadow Queen: ooh, I know! Wish I had a Scorpius of mine own to..have fun with. xD

Disclaimer: Is my name J.K. Rowling? No.

Chapter 5

A little over a month had passed since the "stripping club" and surprisingly - though Albus should not have been the least bit surprised - Scorpius was back to being his bastardly self. No mention of what had happened came from either boy. No conversation occurred among them. It was back to banter and insults, or rather, it was back to Scorpius insulting Albus and Albus ignoring the insults for the most part.

But Albus was dying inside from the torture. He had thought that maybe - just maybe - Scorpius were gay. It was a tiny flicker of an idea that had passed through his mind that day at the lake, but Albus had to quickly vanish the idea. He could not allow himself to think such thoughts simply because he absolutely could not like Scorpius Malfoy. Albus hated being so masochistic.

Thankfully, immediately following that day, Scorpius avoided Albus as much as possible, and when he couldn't, he made petty jabs with his friends at the Gryffindor boy. The git was so bloody confusing! And the worst part was that Al was most likely reading too much into what Scorpius did or didn't do to him, just as he had with Eros. I give up on boys altogether. I'll just die alone. It's better than going through all this stupid trouble. Or maybe I'll just have a platonic, arranged marriage with a drama-free girl. Yet, no matter what he did, he could not get the tall, platinum blond Slytherin out of his mind.

"ALBUS SEVERUS POTTER!"

A burst of pain suddenly flooded his left ear. Al immediately shot up in his bed and looked to his left. Andrew was kneeling beside his bed post.

"Finally! I've been saying your name for the past minute. It's time for potions."

"Hngh?" As if he were in a trance, Albus remained stationary, merely blinking at his friend.

"What is wrong with you mate? You've been lying in this bed for two hours. And you're not even dressed in your robes!"

Finally realizing that someone was speaking to him, Al woke from the trance. "Shit, sorry. Guess I lost track of time."

"Get dressed, you git!" Andrew threw Albus' robes at him and went to wait in the commons.

Five minutes later, Albus, his robes wrinkled and his black untidy hair sticking out more than usual, sprinted out the commons, grabbing Andrew with him. They power-walked toward potions as fast as they could without getting yelled at by a prefect or a professor.

"Hey, have you been feeling alright? You haven't quite been yourself lately. And, well, I'm a little worried," Andrew said to his friend as they walked fast down the hall.

"I feel fine," Albus lied.

But Andrew saw right through it.

"You don't seem fine. You know you can tell me anything, right Al?"

"Duh. So don't worry about it." Another lie. Obviously he couldn't tell anyone, not even his best friend, that he might possibly have a miniscule crush on Malfoy, their sworn enemy. It had already been hard enough for Andrew to accept in the fourth year that his best mate was gay.

They made it to potions two minutes late, got a scolding by Professor Donovan, and hurried to their seats.

While Albus and Andrew were brewing ingredients for the Fire Protection Potion, Rose, having already finished, stood by them. She had seen that they were nowhere near done and took pity on the two Gryffindors. "Hey Albus, what do you think of Lysander Riviera?" Rose casually asked her cousin as she stirred the contents in their cauldron. By this time, she had just decided to take over since Andrew almost blew everyone up. Potions was not Albus nor Andrew's strong point.

"Is he that greasy loser from Ravenclaw?" Andrew asked Rose. Rose scowled at Andrew, fearing that he might ruin her master plan.

"He isn't a loser, Andrew," Rose sharply said. Andrew just shrugged, unconvinced.

Albus curiously studied the auburn Ravenclaw. "Why?" He slowly asked her, suspicious that she was trying, yet again, to set him up with this gross and flamboyant fifth-year Ravenclaw. Seriously, Lysander Riviera gave a bad name to the homosexual community. And personally, Albus was 98% positive that Lysander had decided to like boys after he couldn't get any of the ladies. It wasn't just his looks, though the greasiness and severe acne were pretty off-putting; the guy was just bloody annoying and not to mention a know-it-all.

"I don't care much for the guy to be quite honest." He shrugged and began to stir a bit so that he was contributing something to this stupid assignment. "And no, Rose, for the millionth time you are not setting me up with him."

Rose let out a frustrated huff. "Why not? He's-"

"Gay?" Albus curtly interrupted her. "Not all gay people have to like each other, you know. We can be picky too."

"Actually, I was going to say that he's nice. And if you weren't soo glum about being so lonely, I wouldn't be asking."

Albus glared at her, then quickly turned to his cauldron. Rose softened a bit as she said, "Sorry Al. But please can you just do this for me? A favor for me, your favorite cousin? I'll get you treacle tarts and chocolate cake." She sweetly smiled, batting those big brown eyes of hers at him. His own bright eyes widened, then narrowed. "You little sneak! You've already told him that I'd go on a date with him, didn't you!"

She smiled sheepishly and replied, "Tomorrow at the library at 4:30. Please, Albus. You might find that you really like him." Albus highly doubted that.

"Ugh, why are you so persuasive?"

"You're just a big softie," she laughed.

"Fiiiine. I'll go. But you owe me big time, and it'll take more than delicious sweets." Rose jumped, squealed, and hugged her cousin. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Albus shook his head and sighed. The things he did for people. But inside, he hoped that Lysander would be just the thing to keep his mind off of Scorpius. And Al was sure that there was a remedy for acne and greasy hair.

---

Albus spent more time than usual in the mirror to get his hair just right, or rather, not as crazy as it usually was. After about ten minutes of trying to tame his medium-length black hair which inconveniently stuck straight up rather than flopping down over his eyes, he decided he needed major help so he sought out Tilly to cut his hair. With anyone else this would have been a terrible idea, but Tilly had the best hair of all the Gryffindor girls. She was always changing and cutting her hair in funky ways. Right now her hair was a long dark purple with blunt bangs.

Luckily he saw her studying in the commons. Albus frantically ran up to Tilly, comb stuck in his hair, and said, "I need your help!"

Tilly took one look at him and hurried him to her room. A big vanity mirror stood near the window. Albus tilted his head at the dresser. "Are you sure you're allowed to have this here?" She shrugged and nonchalantly replied, "Probably not. But no one has said anything about it yet, so it stays."

Good enough for him. I don't think anyone, if they had a problem with it, would say anything to Tilly anyway because they know that she'd spread vicious rumors. Two rules about Tilly that Albus had learned early on was to not share anything personal with her and to not make her mad. And it'd worked so far.

He sat patiently on the ground while Tilly tousled his hair. "So I'm thinking hot pink," she declared, half-joking.

"No, that's okay. I'd rather you just cut it all off. I'm tired of messing with it. But make it look nice, k?"

"Trust me, I know what I'm doing." Then Tilly transfigured her quill into scissors.

Ten minutes later, Albus' hair was short and tame. He glanced in the mirror and ran his fingers through his hair; it looked much better. "Thanks, Tilly. I owe you one."

"Don't mention it," she grinned. "But are you sure you don't want hot pink? Just on the bangs?"

Albus laughed and replied, "Positive." Then he power-walked to the library, hoping that he wasn't late.

Once there, he immediately spotted Lysander at a table near the door. Al grimaced because not only was he not exactly looking forward to this so-called date, Lysander just had to sit at a table in which everyone could see them! As he slowly approached Lysander, Albus tried to be open-minded, but it was pretty difficult. Lysander's greasy, long black hair was slicked back and he had huge wire-rimmed glasses perched on the tip of his nose. Albus stifled a sigh, not wanting to judge a book by its cover. But again, this guy was making it extremely difficult for Albus to be polite.

Lysander looked up at Albus and smiled. "Hi Lysander," Albus greeted the Ravenclaw, sitting down in a chair across from him. "How are you?"

"Exuberant now that you've finally arrived. I thought you weren't going to show and I was getting a little worried." He let out a spurt of nervous laughter. Albus slightly raised an eyebrow at how shaky his fingers were. "There's no need to be nerv-" Albus stopped, having gotten a whiff of something that smelled like charcoal.

"What's that smell?" Albus asked, his nose wrinkled.

Lysander grinned, glad that Albus had noticed his cologne. "It's a dragon scent. Rose told me that you liked dragons so I figured this would win you over."

I'm going to kill her, he thought. "It's, uh, very nice." Albus put on a faux smile. This kid is a freak! "So, uh, do you play Quidditch?"

"No, no. I'm afraid of heights and it's bad for my sinuses. But I watch you play. You're brilliant up there."

Kill me. "Um, thanks I guess," Albus politely replied. "What do you like to do, then?"

"I'm actively involved in the choir. I'm a first tenor," he said proudly, pushing his gigantic glasses higher on his nose. "But mostly I just hang out at the library and look up interesting facts."

"That's...that's fascinating," Albus tried not to come across as sarcastic, even though he was.

"I know. I get all the solos. And for a fifth-year, that's almost unheard of."

"I see."

"Don't you want to know why?" Before Albus could say 'not really,' Lysander continued, "Usually the first- and seventh-years get solos. Know why?"

Albus was just about fed up with this annoying, smelly fifth-year. As Lysander continued his rant, Albus invented ways of ditching the guy and getting revenge on Rose.

Suddenly, he heard a familiar, snarky voice behind him that interrupted his thoughts.

"Nice hair, Potter."

Albus turned around, thankful to see Malfoy (though Malfoy had probably just insulted his haircut) interrupt the worst date ever. But his face fell when he saw Malfoy's arm around a blonde Slytherin's waist.

"I like his hair. It looks positively dashing and works well with his bone structure," Lysander remarked, taking Albus's hand. Al's face grew red not because he was blushing but because of embarrassment. He quickly removed his hand from Lysander's sweaty grip.

"Wait, you two are together?" Scorpius asked incredulously.

"Ew," the blonde said.

"Yes, do you have a problem with that?" Lysander shot back at the same time as when Albus loudly said, "No!"

Lysander stared at Albus, open-mouthed. "Wait, what do you mean 'no,' Ally?"

"Only Rose can call me that," Albus retorted coldly and irritated. "Actually, I have to be somewhere. This was, um, interesting." Then Albus abruptly stood up and was about to bolt out of that library faster than a golden snitch when Scorpius dropped his arm from the girl's waist and said, "Yeah, you have to help me with that Charms assignment, Albus."

Albus looked at Scorpius questioningly, debating whether he should go along with Scorpius or run. Then the blonde wrapped her arms around Scorpius and purred. "Scorpy," she kissed his neck and continued, "I thought we were going to the back of the library to-" and then she murmered in his ear.

That's it. Albus was running.

Scorpius shrugged off the girl and exclaimed, "Sorry. Busy." And with that, he grabbed Albus' wrist and pulled him into a secluded spot in the back of the library. The shelves held books upon books about Divination so they'd be safe and alone.

Albus was acutely aware that Scorpius was still holding his hand. "Do you mind?" He sneered, freeing his hand from Scorpius's grip.

"Oh, sorry."

"What exactly are you doing? Bringing me here so that you can hex me once and for all?"

Scorpius laughed and replied, "Surprisingly, no. I'm saving you from that greasy poof."

Albus grinned, disregarding the term "poof." "Thanks. I was dying there. He is the epitome of my worst nightmare, and is probably my biggest stalker."

"You should be flattered. I would be."

Albus raised his eyebrows. "If that freak were your biggest fan, you'd be flattered? Well then, let me tell him how much you want him so that he'll get off me!"

"Hell no! You do that and I really will hex you."

Albus laughed. Then he stopped. "Are we having another cordial conversation?"

Scorpius grinned sheepishly. "Guess so. Weird, huh?"

"No kidding. You're really confusing."

"What do you mean?" Scorpius asked the Gryffindor.

"Well, I can't figure you out. I mean, you're nice to me one minute and you're mean to me the next."

Scorpius thought about this a moment before saying, "Actually, I don't think I've ever been nice to you."

"Then what are you doing now?"

"Please, I had to get away from Olivia. She's so annoying."

Albus tilted his head, confused. "Wait, so you two aren't-"

"Hell no. She's a good kisser and that's pretty much all she's worth."

Albus rolled his eyes, still confused. I guess he's straight then. Huh. I'd have never thought. He sat on a table, wondering how long he had to stay here before Lysander and Olivia went away. He was feeling a bit deflated now when he should have been relieved. He wanted to be relieved, but his head and his heart didn't exactly see eye to eye.

During the silence, Scorpius sat on the table next to Albus. He finally spoke, "Actually Albus, I..well, I sorta.." Scorpius didn't finish his sentence and got lost in thought.

Albus turned to Scorpius, his heart beginning to beat faster being so close to Scorpius' face..his lips...Stop, focus on the eyes. What pretty eyes. No, dammit, focus on the poster near him. It wasn't working so he closed his eyes.

And in that three seconds of his eyes being closed, Albus felt wet lips upon his own. He immediately opened his eyes and saw Scorpius' nose. He pulled away, shocked and flabbergasted.

"Shit, I'm sorry." Scorpius looked just as shocked and flabbergasted as he. "I don't know why I did that. Shit."

Albus' heart started beating a faster, and before he could stop it, a big grin appeared on his face. "No way, I knew it! But I didn't want to."

Scorpius still looked completely shocked. "Uh, knew what?" He was physically shaking.

"You're a poof too!"

Scorpius started to say no, then stopped. He opened and closed his mouth two more times before answering, "I don't know what I am. But I do know that for some daft reason unbeknownst to me, I like you. And I might be under the Imperius curse because that's the only explan-"

Albus interrupted Scorpius' thoughts by snogging him. His head was swirling but all he wanted to do - and had wanted to do for awhile now - was snog the gorgeous blond boy. Scorpius and he shyly madeout for three minutes before pulling away.

Scorpius' silver eyes were glowing, which made Albus smile. "This is unreal. Pinch me."

"Okay," Scorpius said, pinching Albus hard in the arm.

"I didn't mean literally, you git!" He cringed and rubbed his arm, then laughed. Scorpius joined in. They snogged for another 30 seconds before Scorpius pulled away, a serious look upon his face. "This has to be secret. No one can know."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that. If I told anyone that I'd snogged Scorpius Malfoy, I'd have dementors after me."

"It'd be worse than dementors," Scorpius grinned, reassured.

I know I said that I'd have this chapter up by yesterday, but a 4,000 word essay had to take precedence. So don't hate me :)

R&R