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Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, but I can pretend.

Chapter 8

Andrew and Albus were getting dressed into their muggle robes for Hogsmeade, and Albus was thrilled for the trip; he had been craving Honeydukes fudge for a few months now. Plus, he'd get to actually spend time with Scorpius outside of the library. They hadn't met up since that Ravenclaw had caught them together two weeks ago. And with studies piling up in time for mid-year exams and Quidditch practice, neither boy had had a free second.

As Andrew pulled his wind breaker over his head, he asked Albus, "Where do you want to go first? Honeydukes?"

Albus turned around, smoothing his light-blue polo which nicely accentuated his semi-tight dark-washed jeans. He frowned to himself. He and Andrew always hung out together at Hogsmeade. "I'm so sorry, I forgot to tell you that I made plans with, uh, a friend."

Andrew blinked, a blank stare plastered upon his face.

"Well, er, I thought you were going with Arabelle and I didn't want to be a third wheel," Albus hurriedly tried to explain himself. It wasn't a lie; he truly had thought that Andrew and Arabelle would be going together. But from the look on Andrew's face, Al had thought wrong.

"Why haven't you asked her out? You two seem to be hitting it off pretty well."

Andrew shrugged his shoulders, mentally kicking himself that he hadn't asked her. "I honestly didn't even think about it."

Albus just stared at his idiotic friend. "Seriously? Merlin, you are the worst with girls."

"Well, I don't want to freak her out. We've only just begun to talk."

"Yeah, and that means she's interested, you git."

"Oh. Really?" Andrew thought about this and grinned, his hopes rising.

Meanwhile, Albus rolled his eyes at how naïve Andrew was. "So this is what you're going to do," he instructed his friend, "You're going to find Arabelle and ask her to get a butterbeer with you. But, make it clear that it's a date, or else her friends will follow." Albus' face meant business so Andrew didn't dare protest. He nervously nodded while building up his courage and hoping that he wouldn't get rejected. To change the subject, he asked, "So who's this friend?"

The question caught Albus off guard a little. He, Andrew, nor Tilly had mentioned Albus' "crush," and he preferred it that way. "Uh, just, er, no one," Albus quickly muttered. "I gotta go. Good luck with Arabelle!" Then, Albus bolted out of the dorm.

---

As Albus made his way into Honeydukes to get some fudge before meeting up with Scorpius, he bumped into Rose, Lily, and Blake.

"Hey lil' sis," he said to Lily, ruffling her hair. She frowned and made a face, obviously not liking the term "lil' sis." As she grabbed a lollywand, she turned to Albus and asked, "Where's Andrew?"

"Um, I believe he's with Arabelle Trotsky." He'd better be, or I'll hex him.

"No way!" Both Lily and Rose shouted, shocked. "He actually talks to her? Because from what I've observed, anytime he's tried to say even one word to Arabelle, he stammers like a bumbling idiot," Rose said.

"I've been giving him girl advice," Albus proudly declared. At this, all three kids burst out into laughter. Albus frowned and defensively stated, "It seems to be working."

Blake, laughing the hardest of the three, managed to say, "Albus, even if you...were...good with the, er, ladies, Andrew is..well, he's sorta awkward."

Albus opened his mouth to defend his best friend but closed it, realizing that Blake had a point. Andrew couldn't talk to girls. "He's getting better though. See for yourself; they're at Madam Puddifoot's," he said, grinning, as he paid for his chocolate and caramel fudge. He knew that they'd want to spy on Andrew; and so did Albus. Unfortunately, he had slightly more important matters at hand. Matters, Albus thought as he looked at the clock, to which he was late. After he put his wrapped Honeydukes fudge in his pants pocket, he quickly said to his friends, "Gotta go. See you guys later!" And before anyone could ask where he was going and why, Albus ran to the Shrieking Shack.

When he arrived, out of breath, Albus glanced around; it was deserted. Why is Scorpius always late? He thought to himself, scowling. He sat on the dewy grass, waiting for the tardy Slytherin.

Not a minute later, Albus spotted a tussle of platinum blond hair a few yards away. Scorpius leaped out from behind a tree and rolled around James Bond-style to the next tree. Looking to his right then left, he ran to Albus, knocking the Gryffindor over on his back. Albus started laughing and asked, "Suspicious much?" Scorpius just grinned as he stood up and brushed the grass and leaves off his black jeans and his fitted gray cashmere sweater. "I thought someone was following me," he joked.

"You're so odd."

"And stealthy."

"And adorable," Albus remarked, smiling wide.

Scorpius moved closer to the brunette, a devious gleam in his eyes. "Just adorable?"

Albus firmly nodded as Scorpius came even closer, not wanting to boost his ego.

"You think I'm hot," he arrogantly exclaimed. "Say it, Potter." He pinned Albus on the ground, an inch above his face. Their lips were almost touching and Albus' heart skipped a beat. Still, Albus refused to give in to Scorpius' pride, however true the statement was. But this made Scorpius move closer to Albus' face, their nose and lips lightly brushing against each other. Scorpius' mouth brushed against Albus' cheek then to his ear as he whispered, his hot breath on Albus' skin, "Say it."

The closeness and Scorpius' hot breath tickling his skin were enough to make Albus hard. "You're gorgeous," he breathed, feeling pleasure rushing through his groins. Scorpius smiled in satisfaction and pride. He wrapped his arms around Albus' back and tenderly squeezed as their lips met for the first time in two weeks. Albus rolled over so that he could be on top. He started kissing Scorpius' neck, causing the Slytherin to shiver from pleasure. Then he lifted Scorpius' sweater up and licked each nipple, lightly sucking on each one. Next, Albus kissed his way down Scorpius' chiseled stomach. He stopped right at the hip bones and unbuttoned Scorpius' jeans, then lifted the waistband of his boxers and sensually kissed his way from one hipbone to the other. All this caused Scorpius to have a boner. Albus smiled triumphantly and brought himself back to Scorpius' face, kissing those red lips; Scorpius smiled in delight as he kissed Albus back. "You can't stop there, Albus. Go farther down," he instructed. Albus smiled wider, surprised that Scorpius wanted to take this step; he, himself, was ready.

"Let's go to the shack for more privacy," Albus softly said as he helped Scorpius up. Hands held, they opened the rusty gate which led to the Shrieking Shack. Then they saw a tall, blond figure walk out of the Shrieking Shack. As the man came closer, Scorpius realized that man was none other than Draco Malfoy. "Shit, my father! Albus, hide!"

"Where?" Albus let go of Scorpius' hand and, quickly glancing around, dove into a bush. "OW," he cursed as thorns pierced his skin. He, biting on his tongue to keep quiet, slowly took the thorns out and healed the minor wounds with a flick of his wand. Meanwhile, he tried to remain still so as not to be pierced with any more thorns and hoped that Mr. Malfoy would leave soon.

"Father, what are you doing here?" Scorpius asked as his father, who was wearing black robes and a velvet black cloak, approached his son. Taking note of his father's morbid clothes, Scorpius joked, "Did someone die?"

Draco ignored his son's last comment and said, "I could ask you the same question. Why are you here alone?" His long white-blond hair, which was held back in a ponytail, shook slightly.

Scorpius sighed. His father was an expert at avoiding difficult questions. "I'm meeting someone here," he convincingly lied while subtly adjusting and buttoning up his pants.

"Olivia Nott?"

Scorpius stared at his father, confused as to why he said Olivia's name. Olivia was a blonde Slytherin in his year, and had had a massive crush on him since he'd met her. They dated last year, but it hadn't lasted long. She was not only slutty, but extremely annoying.

"You two are still dating, aren't you?"

Scorpius groaned as he said, "Over my dead body."

Draco's face showed distress as he sighed, his tired wrinkles visible. Scorpius suddenly wondered if his father really were in trouble. "You need to date her, Scorpius. For my sake, at least."

"Why?" He scowled, knowing that he'd never date that Slytherin again. One of the biggest regrets of my life, he thought. Besides, he had Albus. Or do I? What are we? His thoughts about his and Albus' weird relationship were interrupted when his father said, "I've been meaning to explain all this to you in a letter, but I suppose now is as good a time as ever." He deeply sighed before quietly continuing, "But I can't explain too much for the Ministry is probably watching me closely."

"Father," Scorpius tentatively interrupted, "you didn't steal the money, did you?"

His father hesitated, which caused Scorpius' stomach to drop. "Not exactly," Draco said with difficulty; he didn't want his son to be disappointed in him, but knew that the truth had to come out, nevertheless. "Scorpius, there are bad people in this world. Voldemort's" - he had difficulty saying that name - "death didn't get rid of all of them. And I've made quite a few mistakes in my life, borrowing money from some very wealthy, powerful men while building my business from scratch. But with business slowing down because the Ministry can't handle their own money, I haven't been able to pay off everyone."

Stunned and upset with this news and with his father, Scorpius sank to his knees. "I-I don't believe this." He can't have stolen that money. My father's not a - . He had trouble even thinking the word "thief," afraid that if he did, it'd be true. Draco kneeled next to his son and placed a strong hand on his son's shoulder. "Scorpius, listen to me. I promise you that I did not steal that money. Without that money, MPE might as well declare bankrupcy." He sighed, the lines of struggle appearing upon his forehead. "I believe that someone - or someones - got angry and wanted to shut me down while keeping the money for himself." He glared at the ground, infuriated with the bastard who ruined his life, his family, and his pride. After all that hard work he'd gone to build a better reputation for himself and for his family, it was ruined now. Draco felt like killing the son of a bitch.

"What about Grandfather?"

Draco grimaced and said, "I'm afraid my father took my trust fund away when I declined to become a member of this new death eaters ordeal." That had been the first time he'd ever stood up to his father, and it had come at a price. Now, he and his father barely spoke. His mother still sent letters and visited every now and then, but it was done in secret.

Scorpius processed all this information and decided to believe his father. After all, Malfoy's weren't liars. "I believe you. But what does this have to do with Olivia?"

Draco helped his son up and explained, "Olivia's father, Theodore Nott, is the Judge, so it's imperative that I be on his good side. And what his daughter wants is you."

"But father," Scorpius protested, "I don't like her. She's bloody annoying." Not to mention, she's snogged every other guy in Slytherin. I could get STDS. But he decided against telling his father that.

Draco sighed again, rubbing his temples. "Please, just do this for me, Scorpius."

Scorpius glanced at the ground and thought of Albus. He was mortified that Albus had to hear this conversation, but on some level, he was also relieved that he'd have someone to talk to.

"And it'd be best if you didn't come home for the holidays. But you can stay at either the Dolohovs or the Goyles, okay?" Draco squeezed his son's shoulders and was about to leave before he said, "Oh, and Scorpius? Why do you have a grass stain on your sweater?"

Scorpius glanced at his sweater, then brought his eyes back to his father's. "Er, I fell," he lied, sheepishly smiling.

Draco frowned in disapproval. "Merlin, at least show some poise and appreciation for gravity, would you? We are Malfoys after all, and I'd like to keep whatever dignity we have left in tact."

Scorpius fought to roll his eyes. Leave it to father to take every possible moment to criticize me. Scorpius just nodded and mumbled sorry while he quickly hugged his father. Then, saying goodbye, Draco headed to Hog Head's Tavern.

Albus waited until Draco had completely gone before carefully coming out of the bushes. He saw Scorpius trembling and immediately went over to give him a hug. Scorpius wrapped his arms around Albus' back and buried his head in Albus' shoulder, fighting back tears. Malfoys don't cry, he repeated in his head.

"I'm so sorry," Albus softly said. He wanted to ask what they should do about the Olivia situation, but decided that now wasn't the best time. Instead, he said, "At least your father didn't steal the money;" he hoped it'd cheer Scorpius up, but knew that it probably wouldn't.

"I guess, but this isn't much better." Scorpius lifted his head and sighed. "What am I going to do? He could go to Azkaban."

Albus rubbed Scorpius' back as he promised, "I'll help you in any way I can."

"Just being here for me is enough, Albus. Thank you," he softly said, kissing Albus' neck. Albus smiled softly, but knew as well as Scorpius that everything was about to change.

Tell me what you think and what you want to happen!

Just as a warning, it may take me a couple of weeks to update because I have finals soon. Please don't throw lollywands and Honeydukes fudge at me!