"Good morning Al." Scorpius sat down next to his best friend and helped himself to the platter of toast and eggs in the middle of the table.
"Ger' murmurph." Albus said through a mouth full of food. Scorpius rolled his eyes. Sometimes he couldn't believe how unmannered the youngest Potter boy could be.
"Enjoy yourself at Hogsmeade?"
"Yeah. Didn't see you though. Where'd you run off to?" Albus asked in-between draining a glass of pumpkin juice and stuffing another bit of toast slathered with jam in his mouth.
"Looking for some new books in the book store."
Albus scoffed "For six hours? Are you also not aware that we have one of the largest libraries in the world?"
"Well yes, but there was this new book and the library didn't have it and it was really interesting."
"Oh really." Albus narrowed his eyes. "What was it about then?"
"This really interesting case that happened like 400 years ago but the thing is..."
Albus cut him off. "Never mind. I just remembered I have an essay to write for Binns. I'll save the being bored to death until then. A man can only die of boredom so many times a day."
Scorpius smiled and nodded, relieved he did not have to tell Albus about the fictional case. He was also relieved that he would have several hours of free time while Albus struggled to write his essay. History of Magic was not exactly a subject Albus excelled in. And seeing as how Scorpius had finished his essay three days ago he would have time for "other" activities.
"What did you do in Hogsmeade?"
Albus gave a devilish grin. "I acquired not one, but two interesting tidbits for my blackmail folder."
"And people wonder why you were put in Slytherin. Care to share?"
"Nope. My blackmail is my blackmail. Made the mistake when I was younger to share my blackmail with my brother and then he used it against me."
"Who is it about then?"
"My cousin Victorie and my dear old brother Jamesy."
"Victorie? She doesn't even go here anymore. Why get something on her?"
Albus leaned in and whispered. "She missed her period three weeks ago."
Scorpius looked at Albus like he was crazy. "Why do you know this?"
"Her and her best friend were at The Three Broomsticks. I overheard."
"You know that's not really black mail considering she's married and all."
"So?" Albus smiled happily. "I'm going to be an uncle, Scorpius!"
"But Teddy's not your brother he's your cousin by marriage."
"My mum and dad practically raised that boy! He's as much my brother as James. You obviously don't know how us Weasleys work. If you're alone in the world but have even just one of us as a friend, you're a Weasley. Even my dad's family had this tradition. My great-grandparents pretty much adopted Sirius Black when his parents abandoned him for being sorted into Gryffindor."
"Great." Grumbled Scorpius. "So my family has a tradition of abandoning you if you're different."
"Well," grinned Albus, "You could always marry Rose. Then you'd be half Weasley." He paused to refill his glass with pumpkin juice. "Why's your face all red?"
"Umm, umm...I think I'm allergic to the jam. I'm gonna go run up to the hospital wing to make sure it's not too serious."
"Umm...okay?" Albus said as Scorpius streaked past him as if a Hungarian Horntail was after him. Albus shrugged and hoped his friend wasn't in too much pain. He walked over to the Gryffindor table to talk to Rose and Lily before class started.
"Good morning ladies."
"Good morning Albus." The two girls chorused, joined by a couple other random relatives as well.
"Where'd Scorpius go in such a hurry? And why was his face bright red?" Lily asked.
"He's allergic to apricot jam or something. He went up to the hospital wing." Rose got a look of panic on her face and bolted out of the Great Hall.
"Bloody hell. Why are my friends so strange?" He questioned his sister. She just raised an eyebrow. "Wait a minute...Scorpius isn't allergic to apricot jam. That fucking liar!" Albus tried to run out of the Great Hall too but both his siblings held him down.
"Cool your jets you loon." James let go of his arm.
"Did you not know?" Asked Lily.
"Know what? That Scorpius is a dirty li-MERLIN'S SAGGY Y-FRONTS." A look of comprehension dawned on Albus' face. "I bet he wasn't at the bookstore all day yesterday either. He MUST have been with a girl. That's why he got all red faced when I suggested that he marry Ro-"
Albus was suddenly quiet. He started shaking his head. "No. No, they couldn't have. No. It's just impossible. They're both too dense. Neither one could ever figure it out." He looked at Lily. She nodded her head.
"Oh but they did big brother. Or should I call you Al-the-omnipotent-unless-it's-the-obvious-relationship-and-sexual-tension-between-his-two-best-mates?"
"Just Al will be fine."
James was shocked too. He'd never seen his brother insulted without a witty comeback.
"Come on." James pulled Albus off the bench and dragged him out of the Great Hall down to the Slytherin common room. "What's the password?" Albus just looked at him with a shocked expression so James had to stop a fifth year and made her give him the password. James propped Albus on a couch and waited until his brother started talking again.
"They…they." Albus stuttered. "They didn't need me. They figured it out by themselves. And then lied to me about it." He frowned. HOW DARE THEY. They were his best friends. If he couldn't trust them to tell him the truth then who could he trust?
"They've lied to all of us Albie." James consoled him. "Some of us just knew when to call bullshit. And others had magical maps…" He shrugged. "We all thought you knew already. Hell we figured you started it."
"No. No, I tried to start it. But I guess I took too long…or succeeded?" He sighed. "How long has this been going on anyways?"
"As far as we can estimate, a couple weeks, possibly a month."
"What's up with you and that girl?" Albus remembered seeing James snogging her a couple times the last weeks and James wasn't one that stayed with one girl for long.
James shrugged but smiled. "Oh, nothing much."
"Oh really?" Albus raised his eyebrows. "Because that kiss this morning was not nothing. You wouldn't do that in the Great Hall with just anyone."
"Okay, fine. So she's my girlfriend." James' smile grew wider.
"I've never seen you this happy about one of your girlfriends. Usually you get tired of them in a week. I've been seeing you with her for a couple weeks."
"Yup."
"And you didn't tell anyone because…?"
"Because our family is huge and I'll take every bit of privacy I can get thanks. Also no one has asked me. Which is a little weird."
"We figured she'd be gone soon. Didn't want to get too attached."
"Your lack of faith in me is very depressing."
"Well, your track record is strong evidence."
"My feelings for her should be strong evidence otherwise."
"All right, all right. Don't get your knickers in a twist." Albus smiled. "When do I get to meet her then?"
"When ever, as long as you don't scare her away."
"Who me?" Albus laughed evilly and James smacked him.
What's this? An update? IMPOSSIBLE.
Sorry! I've had SAT/prom/end of the year crap. Teachers just loooove giving us projects that take forever but are pointless.
Ron's reaction last chapter will be explained later, but keep in mind he's gone a bit soft over the years and not quite the fiery redhead he was before.
~Lavender