The next morning, Al risked a peek over at Slytherin's table. Sitting in his usual spot down the end, furthest from the teacher's table, Malfoy and his friends were gathered over plates heaped with eggs, toast, beans, and bangers. The Prince of Snakes was watching him from the corner of his eye, even as Brick Flint was talking up a storm in his right ear.

Mortified at being caught peeking, Al quickly looked away, turning his attention to Mac instead. "So, um," he began, clearing his throat and lifting his tea cup to his lips, "Duelling Club tonight, right?" He took a sip of the spiced morning tea that was his favourite cup of the day.

He'd signed up for the Hufflepuff Duelling Club last year at Mac's insistence. The practical application of his classroom texts was what had helped pull up his grades in D.A.D.A., Charms, and Transfiguration, thus making him eligible for a Skulls bid. He wore the D.C.'s small, round pin prominently on the lapel of his uniform robes like a pip, as even though it was forbidden while pledging the Skulls to share one's tie with other organization's pins, he still wanted to show his pride in the Hufflepuff D.C. in some manner.

His friend nodded. "See you there?"

"Wouldn't miss it."

Mac placed a warm hand on his shoulder and squeezed. "That's the spirit we like to see in our pledges!"

Al blushed at the touch…

…and felt a blast of jealous anger directed his way from across the room.

He immediately recognized the owner of that particular aura, and paused with his cup half-way raised to his mouth again, trying to decide what to do in response. Should he move away from Mac, or should he let it lie?

He made a firm decision on the spot: no one – not even Malfoy - would dictate his friendships or their level of importance in his life. It was bad enough he let his dad's expectations push him around.

Besides, Scorpius had made it clear that he wasn't into popping cherries, so that meant there was nothing for them until Albus decided to give it up to someone. Therefore, the guy had no right to be upset at Al if he found any sort of sexual comfort from another man.

Not that he was looking in Mac's direction for that sort of thing, because he wasn't. He was thinking more in terms of a generality.

With a smile, Albus changed the subject to Quidditch, paying no matter to Malcolm's lingering touch, before finally feeling it leave off. He also attempted to ignore Scorpius' blatant irritation, which flared up several more times over the course of the meal, as he and Mac joked and talked. He didn't look towards the other side of the room, either, when gathering up his satchel and walking with Mac to classes.

Thank the Founders he didn't share any classes with Malfoy today, though, because he wasn't sure he was one who could keep up a false act for long.

X~~~~~X

It was a few days later, on a dreary, gray Saturday evening that Al stumbled across something that changed a lot of his understanding of the world.

He had decided to go on a long, solitary walk to brood over what to do about the situation with his father some more. As his feet took him in the direction of the Ravenclaw stands, he heard noises around the corner that made him stop in his tracks. It was the sound of wet, smacking kisses.

Al's first thought was to turn around and mind his own business, but then he heard something that glued his feet to the floor.

"Fuck, it hurts! Stop!"

"Shhh, pretty boy. I'll go slower. Just relax. Your first time takes some adjusting. Trust me."

He knew the owners of the voices, and as he stretched out his feelings, he recognized their auras. Hugo was having sex with Malcolm. He was losing his virginity to a man… on the grass outside the Quidditch arena.

Holy. Shite.

"That's it. Just relax for me. Let me in. Gods, you're so tight!" There was a moment's pause. "I'm in all the way now. You okay?"

Hugo was panting, and his voice was a bit pained. "No, you're splitting me in two…. fuck! Okay, okay. I think… just… move slow, yeah?"

"I will. Relax for me. You're gripping me too hard and that's why it hurts. Let go, and it'll start to feel so good." Soft kisses punctuated his words. "That's it. Relax around me, my pretty boy."

Al pressed his back to the wooden wall of the stands and listened, feeling the residual heat from a Warming Charm seeping into his skin, keeping him from experiencing the cold of the outdoors. The way Mac talked Hugo through the pain and the awkwardness was sexy and romantic, and when the sounds of them began to move with increasing heat, Hu was right there with his lover, moaning and enjoying it.

This was how he imagined Scorpius might talk to him if they…

He heard Malcolm groan and murmur something unintelligible as he came, but he didn't hear Hugo give his own roused shout or moan, and thought perhaps he hadn't released. Unable to quell his curiosity any longer, he peeked around the corner.

His best friend was on top of his cousin, who was lying on his back on a woollen blanket, and they were facing each other. Mac slipped from his lover's embrace and slid down Hugo's body in a quick glide. When Malcolm's mouth was even with Hugo's still-erect cock, he stroked it in his hand a few times, and then took it in between his lips, suckling hard. Hugo groaned, planted his heels into the grass and thrust his hips up. His fingers found Mac's soft, dark hair and held on, as he let loose a string of profanity that was tinged with awe.

In the fading light, as twilight approached, Al could see everything… and the sight unexpectedly turned him on. It wasn't because of Hu, though. It was because of Malcolm. The man's loving attention to giving his partner pleasure was something Al had dreamed of always having for himself with a man his first time.

That his cousin was getting this kind of kingly treatment, when the guy had previously given no clue as to his sexual orientation, seemed a bit unfair. Still, Albus was unable to pull his eyes away. He watched as Mac expertly sucked his lover off, and as Hu's backside rose off the grass with a final thrust as he came. Al's best friend seemed to drink every drop of semen down, his throat convulsing with swallow after swallow.

When it was over, Malcolm crawled back up Hugo's limp, pale body and knelt over him. His thick cock was silhouetted in the last of the light, dipping down between their bodies, and rubbing against his lover's.

The two men kissed.

"So, what did you think?" Mac asked. "Was it everything you wanted?"

Hugo folded his powerful arms behind his head. "It was different than I expected, but yeah, it was amazing. Did you really learn how to do this from Jamie?"

Albus' eyes nearly bugged from his head. He and Hugo only knew one bloke named 'Jamie', and that was James, Al's older brother.

Mac kissed Hu again with a quick, chaste press of lips. "Yeah. Your cousin was my first. And now I've been yours." He began scrambling to get his clothing together.

Quickly, Al hid again behind the safety of the wall, continuing to listen.

"You think you're going to want to do this again?" Mac asked his lover.

Hugo was quiet for a bit. "Not sure. Like I said before we started, it's just a bit of-"

"-experimenting, yeah," Malcolm finished for him. "That's fine, if this was all you wanted. No hurt feelings on my end."

Albus heard the two of them shift about, replacing clothing, and considered a quick escape route.

"You know, Mac, I heard you say his name. Right when you came, I heard you whisper it."

There was a silent moment, and it was obvious from the flare of heated emotion that Al felt reach him that Malcolm was embarrassed by whatever gaff he had committed.

"You won't tell him, will you?"

"No," Hu said, "But I want the truth: did you secretly wish I was him the whole time? Is that why you called me 'pretty boy'? Because, let's face it, we both know Albus is much prettier than I am."

Al froze, completely floored by what he'd just heard.

"I won't tell him," his cousin promised the other man. "And I can take the truth. I won't be hurt."

Mac didn't immediately respond. It took him at least a good minute more before he did. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for that… You were fantastic, Hugo. I know you said it was just to try it out, but you should know, you're a wonderful lover. Your honest passion is a real turn-on."

"You didn't answer my question," his cousin dogged him.

Albus' palms were sweating, and he realized in that moment just how much he wanted the answer to the question, too. Had Malcolm really imagined he was having sex with Al while he was screwing his cousin?

"I didn't mean for that to happen. This was supposed to be about you. I've gone and bollocks it up," Mac despaired. "I just… never realized how much I loved him until recently. But… fuck, he's my best friend, and… he's in love with someone else, so it's hopeless."

"You mean, Malfoy," Hugo stated, and there was an uncomfortable pause. "Yeah, that's been obvious for years. Listen, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked you to do this with me when you have feelings for Al."

"No," Malcolm protested, and the sound of him kissing Hugo to shut him up was loud in the still air. "You should have. You wanted a good first experience, and… I just hope I gave you that. I hope this thing with Albus hasn't made you feel badly. I didn't want that for you."

Hugo gave a small huff and Al could just picture the affected smile on his face that he knew would be there. "Nah. You and me, we're good. Not sure I'll want to do this again, though. I think… I might be more into girls."

Mac's voice shifted into a lower, sultry tone that made the hairs on the back of Al's nape stand to attention. "How do you know? You've never fucked a girl. You might not like it. Besides, you haven't topped yet. I get the sense from what we did that you're not a bottom, but you might enjoy taking the dominant position instead. Want to give it a try and find out?"

"You're a horny one, you know?" Hugo laughed, and then moaned. Apparently, Malcolm was touching him somewhere that felt good.

Mac chuckled. "Yeah, Jamie said the same thing."

They started kissing again, and Al took the opportunity to slip away unnoticed, hurrying back towards the school.

He got back to his dorm room, and found it empty. Assuming the others were at dinner, he hurriedly shucked his clothes, jumped into his bed, closed the curtains and bespelled them for privacy, and wanked – hard. His fantasy involved Scorpius speaking to him as Malcolm had done for Hugo, and when he came, he released a powerful surge of seed all down his hand and across his belly, calling out Malfoy's name.

In the afters, he used his wand to clean up and then lay back in his bunk to think.

Malcolm was in love with him.

Malcolm was in love with him.

Malcolm was in love with him.

Yes, the idea certainly shifted Al's thoughts about his best friend in a way he hadn't expected, but it didn't change anything. He was in love with Scorpius. He wasn't sure that would ever stop, either, until he either grew out of it over time, or until the end of his very long life. Malfoy wasn't easily forgotten.

The revelation, though, cinched something in his mind that had been bothering him for months: his best friend had been the one to support his pledge in the Skulls – had to be. Which belied the question that if the Skulls were up to no good, would Malcolm want Al, the man he claimed to love, to be involved with something as nefarious as sedition? Most likely not.

The case against the Skulls was growing colder and colder the more he learned about them. He privately hoped his initial conclusions would match the reality once he was initiated and learned the truth.

At least something good had come from finding out about his best friend's secrets…

Hugo.

Gods, his cousin had fucked a bloke – and it had been his first time. For someone who wasn't sure whether they were into men or not, that had taken some serious guts. Al envied him. If only he were as confident, maybe he wouldn't still be a virgin at eighteen. Maybe then Scorpius would go there with him, since he obviously didn't like breaking people in, like Mac did.

Mac.

Fuck. What the bloody hell was he going to do about his best friend's romantic interest in him? Al wasn't in Slytherin; he couldn't hide his feelings and he was terrible at lying. Every time he looked at Malcolm now, he would be reminded that the guy wanted him in more than a platonic way, and the guilt of not being able to return such feelings would crush him. How could he deal with that, and not change the dynamics of their long-time relationship? If only he had a confidant.

Jamie.

He could ask his brother for advice. Maybe his sibling would know what to do. The guy was older, wiser, and had personal experience handling men, apparently…

His stomach growled, interrupting his train of thought and reminding him that it was dinnertime. He crawled out of bed, dropping the wards about it, and got dressed. Luckily, he didn't run into Malcolm on the way. He didn't see him or his cousin at dinner, either.

Apparently, Hugo's first time was going to be an unforgettable night.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Author's Notes:

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