Hello again :) my chapters are getting longer every time, this is the longest one yet! Theres more Albus and Scropius in this one too, hopefully I'll update soon, please keep reviewing!

Albus fell into frightening and disturbing dreams that night, and awoke several times sweating and panting with fear. When morning finally rolled around, Albus touched his face where he had been punched. His eye was somewhat swollen and the bruising stung harshly at his light touch, this wasn't a good sign. Albus crept up before his roommates and checked his reflection. His eye was surrounded by black and blue colours and underneath his eye the tissue had swollen, but not enough that he couldn't open his eye properly. His nose was all fine, but the bruises on his stomach were still as bad and painful. Albus tried quietly to conceal his bruise again, all he could manage to do was make the colours a little less harsh; maybe that was wishful thinking. Why is this spell so bloody hard? He thought angrily as he tossed his wand on his bed, the action only aggravated the painful bruising on his stomach and he clutched it in pain. He got silently dressed into his uniform, but sat on his bed contemplating the mess he was in.

If he went downstairs with the black eye, James would immediately know he was being bullied and demand to know who it was, and if Albus told him it would be his fault if Rowell hurt James or the others. He couldn't hide his black eye, and he seriously doubted James would believe him if he said it was an accident. He could picture James raising his dark eyebrows at Albus saying something like I fell over or a spell backfired. Albus realised it was getting late and walked down to the common room with a slight hunch as his stomach was so sore, Rowell's shoe had hit his stomach with full force. He had hoped that James and the others would be somewhere else, but unfortunately they were already waiting for him. Shit shit shit. Albus couldn't turn back, they'd seen him and James' eyes were fixed on his black eye. He watched as anger, sadness, and confusion flashed through James' eyes all at once. Rose looked so worried it was scaring Albus, and Lily's mouth was open ajar. Albus tried to straighten up but that only made his stomach protest in pain and he winced visibly. Before Albus could say hi James cut in. "Albus, what the hell happened to you?" He said firmly.

Albus stuttered "Well...I um-"

"Don't try and think of a lie Albus, tell me the truth right now." James cut in with a dangerous tone. His brows were furrowed over his glaring eyes, and he had his arms folded. Albus' eyes darted from James to the others and back, he felt like they were closing in on him, like they were walls pressing against him, like vultures circling- Albus realised this was a panic attack coming on and he tried to wipe the sweat forming on his hands and forehead. He began to tremble as he fought to find something to say. " James I- I can't tell you" Albus said weakly. "Of course you can Albus, you can trust us" Rose said. Albus just shook his head as he tried to remember how to breath normally. James suddenly looked more frightened, "Albus, is someone threatening you?" Albus trembled more as his breaths became short and weak. James sensed the panic attack and lead Albus outside the common room. "Come on Al, we'll go somewhere quiet." James said calmly as he walked Albus to the portrait, the others stayed behind watching them with worry.

Albus' eyes were wide as his breaths came out in short bursts of anxiety, his ears were ringing and his hands were trembling slightly. He stumbled out of the portrait after James, and he felt the coolness of the stone corridors hit him. He leant against the nearest wall and slid down it, with his hands in his head. Albus was on the verge of a breakdown, he couldn't escape not telling James about Rowell but he wanted to be brave and protect James and the others from him. James knelt in front of him, looking more worried than before. "Hey Al, it's ok, we're all here for you, nothing's going to hurt you here." James said soothingly. Albus couldn't lift his head out of his hands, he could feel tears and didn't want James to see him cry, James would probably think he was weak and a baby. "Come on Al, tell me who did this, please. I'm your brother."

"James I-I can't, you'll get hurt" Albus replied through suppressed sobs. James tensed, "Someone is threatening you aren't they! Albus please tell me, this is serious." Albus couldn't hold back his crying now, which only made his panic attack worse, he felt like there was no air in his lungs. James put a gentle hand on Albus' shoulder "I'm sorry Al, you're ok" James said gently. As Albus took a deep breath, he aggravated his bruises on his stomach and winced visibly as he hissed in pain, those bruises were killing him. James drew back his hand suddenly and looked at Albus with fear in his eyes. "Albus look at me." Albus looked up slowly. "They didn't just give you a black eye did they. What have they done to you Al?" James asked slowly. James would only worry more if he saw Albus' stomach, and Albus cursed himself for wincing. "Nothing, I'm fine." Albus replied with as much conviction as possible. "I saw you wince Albus, please don't lie." James sounded more angry now. "What did they do to you?" James asked again. Albus was shaking, he didn't want to relive it, talk about, he wanted to run away from James and the mess he was in. "It's just some bruises...on my stomach." Albus stuttered nervously. James swore. "Please James, not now. I'll tell you more soon but I just want to calm down and forget about it for now." Albus almost pleaded to James, looking at him with watery eyes. James stood and thought for a moment, "Alright Albus, but you have to promise me you'll talk." Albus let out a sigh of relief. "Do you need to go to Madame Pomfrey?" Asked James. "No thanks I'm fine, don't worry." Albus finally began to calm as James helped him up off the floor, he was in the clear for now. "Do you think Rose could cover my black eye? I don't want to draw attention." Asked Albus, wiping the remaining moisture from his face as he got his breathing back to normal. James nodded and they walked through the portrait and rejoined the others.

"Albus, are you ok?" Asked Lily in a timid voice. Albus felt bad for Lily, and not telling her the truth when she was clearly worried. "I'm fine Lil, don't worry about me" Albus said and ruffled her hair, she giggled. "Rose can I talk to you?" Albus asked her, and the others went off for breakfast. "Please could you cover my black eye, if you can, I don't want it to attract attention." Rose sighed at Albus, "Yes I will, but covering up the problem won't help Albus, you know that. You have to open up to us." She said, and she reminded him very much of aunt Hermione. Albus' guilt had escalated, but he knew it was for the best not to tell them about his bullies. He felt Rose's spell work on his eye, and they both set off for the great hall. When they sat down, Albus suddenly didn't feel like eating when he saw the Slytherin table, and saw Rowell looking at him with a malicious smile. Albus tried very hard to listen to the conversation happening next to him, but his mind still wandered to the bad events of last night. He felt vulnerable, exposed to them, like they could strike at him at any moment. This isn't how I should be, I shouldn't be weak, I should be brave and courageous just like my dad, like a Gryffindor.

Albus didn't realise in his musings that he had walked straight into Scorpius outside the great all. He was staring at those sparkling grey eyes and the pixie like face. Before Albus could snap out of his daydream and say sorry, Scorpius cut in, "Can we talk?" He said seriously. Albus raised an eyebrow but agreed, and they went down a side corridor to talk. "Did Rowell and his mates get you last night? I heard them talking about hurting someone, and I saw you wincing a little over your stomach, and Rowell was staring grimly at you just now in the hall." Scorpius began. "I'm sorry if it's non of my business, but I quite like you, and I hate them, and I'm worried for your safety." Scorpius blushed a little.

Albus was a little stunned, but felt that same warm glow in his chest he had got when Scorpius had congratulated him on making the quidditch team. Then he thought for a moment "How did you realise I was wincing?" Albus asked. Scorpius blushed a bit more and bit his lip, he's quite cute... Albus thought. "I just...noticed, when you sat down. I'm not stalking you!" Scorpius said shyly. Albus smiled. "Well you're right, they did get me. I fixed my injuries on my face but my stomach had a brief encounter with Rowells shoe" Albus said, surprised at his calmness in talking about this to Scorpius. Scorpius looked sad "Shit, are you alright?"

"Yea I'm ok" Albus said but didn't quite agree with the words. Scorpius looked like he didn't believe them either."I'm sorry about them, please don't think I'm like them because I'm Slytherin too"

"Course not!" Said Albus. There was a pause before Scorpius said "If you need to talk, you can talk to me-if you want to. I know we don't know each other that well and there's history between our parents, but I don't really care about that." The glow in Albus' chest got stronger. "Thanks, I'd really like that." Albus replied with a smile. Scorpius smiled too, and after a few moments of nervous laughter, they parted with awkward waves.

Albus walked back to the common room with a spring in his step. He never thought he would build up a friendship with Scorpius Malfoy, and he wondered how his dad would feel about it, but he didn't really care. Scorpius had been nicer to him than anyone else at Hogwarts, besides his family, plus he was extremely cute...I think I fancy him Albus thought, and felt his heart speed up a little. The rest of the day passed without event as his lessons were dull, but he couldn't take his mind off his encounter with Scorpius.

Hope you enjoyed! Love Sylvie