Thanks to the very clever Lex for her beta.

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Chapter 7: A visitor

Scorpius couldn't believe he'd been so stupid. He'd let himself forget that the beautiful young Gryffindor had a boyfriend; a mistake he would not make again. Albus had welcomed his flirtatious behaviour all day and even reciprocated at times and Scorpius had simply let himself enjoy it. He'd been admiring the young Gryffindor from afar for many years, and to have him at his disposal now had been intoxicating. It shouldn't have been shocking to see Albus cuddling up to his stud of a boyfriend, but it had been. He was so furious with himself for forgetting Albus Potter was off limits, and furious with Albus for being off limits. Sometimes life seemed extremely unfair.

Scorpius searched determinedly through the bag that contained all the belongings he had brought for this field trip. He couldn't face Albus right now, he was hurt and angry and when he felt this emotional he tended to lash out at people and say things he didn't really mean just to hurt them. He always regretted his words later, but often the damage was already done and he'd have to suffer the consequences. He decided it would be best for everyone if he just went to bed and read a book while he tried not to think about somebody else touching Albus.

"Are you off to bed already?" Albus asked Scorpius when he saw the Slytherin boy with his pajamas gathered up in his arms. It was rather early yet, and Albus had just popped into the boys' sleeping area to fetch his coat before he and Rose snuck out to take a walk around the garden and chat. Scorpius just grunted at him and continued shuffling through his things looking for his toothbrush. "Are you not feeling well?" Albus inquired sounding a bit concerned for his new friend.

"I'm fine," Scorpius snapped at him and Albus recoiled from the harshness of his tone. He'd had a brilliant time with Scorpius that day and they'd even had a hilarious fight at dinner passing Scorpius' mushrooms back and forth after Scorpius kept unloading them onto Albus' plate; Albus didn't understand what had brought on this sudden shift in the blond's mood.

"Oh, yeah, of course," Albus stammered his apology still a little shocked. "It's just a bit early for bed, I thought maybe you-"

"I'm fine."

"Okay, well, sweet dreams then, I guess." The adorable boy looked at Scorpius with wide, worried eyes and Scorpius stared back; he still marveled at how green Albus' eyes were. Albus hid his mesmerizing eyes demurely behind his eyelashes and then turned and left Scorpius to himself in their sleeping quarters.

Albus met Rose by the front doors and they made their way quietly into the front courtyard and settled down together on the dirty stone pavement. Albus didn't feel like walking around the garden anymore, he just wanted to sit. He was quiet, he was still confused about Scorpius' behaviour; perhaps he really wasn't feeling well and he just didn't want Albus to worry. Albus couldn't think what else it would be, nothing had happened to change Scorpius' mood towards him since dinner.

"You look worried," Rose observed.

"Yeah, maybe," Albus replied. He had no reason to lie to Rose; she was his confidant in nearly every aspect of his life. "Scorpius was acting a bit weird when I went in to get my jacket. I think he might be feeling a bit unwell."

"Aw, and you want to go and take care of him?" Rose cooed. "That's so adorable!"

"Shut up, it is not," Albus huffed. "I'd do the same for you. That's not adorable."

"Yes, but we're soul mates, and you wouldn't do the same for anyone else," Rose replied smugly. Rose had always declared them to be soul mates, she said they were supposed to spend their lives together, it was fated – not romantically of course, even if Albus wasn't gay, they were still related, but as best friends.

Albus just shrugged knowing she was right. If anyone else were sick he'd just say he hoped they felt better soon and then leave them to it, he wouldn't constantly be wondering if they wanted a glass of water or more blankets.

"So, do you like him?" she asked, already knowing he did. "Oscar says you've liked him for ages, even before we got here."

"Maybe," Albus admitted reluctantly, blushing slightly. "He is ridiculously hot, but since I've been here I've gotten to know him and he's so funny and smart, and just great. He saved me, you know?"

"He did?" Rose smiled dreamily and he could see how gaga she was going over the romance of it all, but he loved it; he was going a bit gaga too.

"Yeah, we had to remove this Boggart today and I was thinking about Scorpius so much that I wasn't concentrating on it and suddenly there was a swarm of grasshoppers jumping all over me!" Albus explained and shivered in disgust at the memory. "Then they were all gone and he was telling me everything was alright and hugging me and everything."

"Awww, that's the cutest thing I've ever heard," Rose grinned, teasing him with a few annoying pokes. "Did you kiss him?"

"No, not today," he answered, blushing at the memory of the day before when they had shared a kiss.

"But you have kissed him?" Rose pressed. "Come on, Allie, don't hold out on me, I haven't been kissed in weeks!"

"Yesterday we might have kissed," Albus told her as he felt his blush deepen. "And it might have possibly been the greatest thing I've ever experienced."

"Who kissed who?" she asked expertly as if she knew something he didn't about what the kiss meant depending on who kissed who.

"Um," he hummed as he wondered what to tell her. He didn't want to reveal their secret yet, not even to Rose, she would insist on telling one of the Professors, or at least demand to see the room herself and he wanted it to be just for him and Scorpius for now. "I don't remember, it just happened, but I was a bit surprised and I sort of ran away as soon as my brain caught up."

"You ran away?" she asked incredulously. "You idiot!"

"I know," he sighed. He'd been wishing he'd just kept kissing him all day. "I just wasn't expecting it, I thought he was straight!"

"Oh, he's not even slightly straight," Rose sighed knowingly, sounding disappointed about it.

"You didn't?" he gasped, only imagining what Rose might have tried on Scorpius.

"No, I didn't," she huffed. "Kitty did, no actually, Kitty tried." Rose laughed joyously to herself for a while, Kitty was her part-time friend and full-time rival; you know what they say, keep your friends close and you're enemies closer.

"Maybe he just didn't like Kitty," he shrugged.

"Yeah well, she didn't want him to like her," Rose said and Albus shivered in revulsion. The thought of Kitty O'Halleron slutting herself onto Scorpius was a disturbing thought; in fact, the thought of Kitty slutting herself onto anyone was disturbing. Yet slut herself around she did and she was welcomed for it by a large percentage of the males at Hogwarts, including James and, rumour had it, Professor Slughorn – another disturbing thought, and most likely completely untrue.

"That's disgusting," he commented and Rose just giggled even more.

Later that night Albus stared out into the darkness letting himself get lost in his thoughts. He felt like his life was changing, but he wasn't sure how. Everything was still normal, he was still him, Rose was still there, and he still had the same family and friends, but he felt like everything was changing, or was – somehow – on the cusp of changing. Change was a scary thing sometimes, but he felt like this change might be a good thing. All was going well, Scorpius might very well become his boyfriend soon and he would have to openly address his sexuality with his family rather than have everybody skirt around it, or not mention it at all. He'd finally be himself completely and he was actually excited about it.

He shifted to turn and face where he knew Scorpius was lying asleep in his own bed, he sighed into the darkness and wished he was confident enough to creep over and slip in with Scorpius. Disappointed with himself for his cowardice – some Gryffindor he was –he wriggled back to face the ceiling again.

"Potter, stop moving," he heard Scorpius growl tiredly.

"What?" Albus asked in surprise; he didn't even think any one else was awake.

"I can hear you fidgeting and it's distracting, I'm trying to sleep," he complained harshly.

Albus cringed at being so unfairly told off by the boy he was hoping to call his own. "I thought you went to sleep hours ago. What's wrong with you? Why are you being such an arsehole all of a sudden?" he asked feeling hurt at the Slytherin's words. Was he regretting the affection they'd shared that day? Did he not like Albus after all?

"You think I'm an arsehole? I'm not the one who treats other people's emotions like entertainment," he muttered almost to himself except the room was so deathly silent that his voice carried.

"Excuse me?" Albus gasped.

"Right now, I think you're both arseholes, now shut the fuck up I'm trying to sleep," John hissed at both of them before audibly changing position on his squeaky mattress.

Albus didn't sleep very well that night, he kept waking up and each time he did all he wanted to do was look over at Scorpius but he was too nervous to move about in his bed in case he upset the Slytherin again. He had dropped back to sleep just before sunrise and had just managed to reach the point where he was resting peacefully when a heavy weight dropped suddenly on to his chest.

"Whomph!" he grunted as the air was forced from his lungs and he found himself with an armful of freckles and red hair. "Rose! What the fuck!?" he swore at her angrily.

"Just here to see my favourite cousin," she cooed with a silly grin on her face.

Albus looked around the room with bleary eyes and realized that all the other boys were up already; John's bed was empty, Hugh was lacing up his shoes, and Scorpius was busy brushing his perfect blond hair. He groaned. He was so tired he just wanted to keep sleeping.

Hugh finished up with his shoes and got up to make his way to the door, presumably to breakfast. "Good morning, Rose," he said, throwing her a grin.

She sat up straighter and took a nervous breath, before returning his greeting. "Good morning," she replied, her cheeks pinked with embarrassment and she fluttered her eyelashes and glanced away from him as he grinned smugly at her reaction.

Albus tired to swallow his grin at seeing Rose behave that way for a guy; she was usually the assertive one making bold comments and smugly watching them squirm. She enjoyed calling them out if she caught them checking out her developing figure or if she noticed a nice aroused bulge in their trousers, most of them would stutter and flounder helplessly trying to explain themselves as she giggled at their attempts. She had never been one to fall helpless to a male.

"Here to see me?" Albus commented, "yeah, sure."

"Shut up!" Rose snapped, blushing deeper as she realized he'd noticed her interest in the snoring Ravenclaw. "I am here to see you!"

Albus laughed. He didn't mind that Rose had fallen for Hugh, he was actually a decent guy and smart enough to keep up with Rose. For a while he'd been worried that Rose would end up with a complete wanker, or end up alone, as she could never seem to settle; Hugh would be a good choice for her.

"How's everything going?" she whispered to him and flicked her eyes over to Scorpius to indicate that she was referring to him.

"Not good," Albus sighed, and his worries washed over him afresh as he was convinced that Scorpius didn't like him at all.

"I'm not sure where Rose is, Mrs. Weasley," Albus heard someone declare from the hallway and his eyes flicked up to the door, as did Rose's. "She's not in her room so I would have assumed she'd be at breakfast."

"That's okay Professor," Albus heard his Aunt Hermione reply; their voices were getting louder as they got closer. "Just find Albus and we'll find Rose."

"Oh, well the girls aren't allowed in – Rose! What are you doing in here!?" Professor Kettleburn exclaimed, stopping short as she entered the boys' room.

"I've never been able to keep these two apart," Hermione commented trying to hide her smile. "I don't see why you'd do any better than me. Hello, Darling."

"Mum!" Rose squealed as she leapt off Albus' bed and ran over to embrace her mother. "What are you doing here?"

"Surprise!" Hermione laughed. "I'm here to give you all a quick overview of nineteenth century Healing. Albus, Sweetheart, how are you?"

"I'm well, Aunt Hermione," he smiled, hopping out of bed to greet her. "Professor Faulkner mentioned a Healer coming to show us through the old medical equipment Scorpius and I found, but he never said it was you."

"Scorpius?" Hermione questioned, thinking the name sounded vaguely familiar.

Albus turned around to where Scorpius was watching them through the reflection in the mirror with his back still turned towards them. He turned to face them at the mention of his name and nodded politely towards Hermione.

"Oh, good Heavens!" Hermione gasped; shocked to see a boy who looked very much like Draco Malfoy did at sixteen years old. "Scorpius Malfoy, you're the spitting image of your father." Hermione sighed nostalgically. "Certainly brings back memories."

"Yes, sorry about that," Scorpius commented sincerely and Hermione blushed as she realized what he was talking about; she hadn't really meant to refer to their dark history, simply her time at Hogwarts. "It's been lovely to meet you Mrs. Weasley, but I should go," Scorpius continued. He gave Albus a long, meaningful glance, but the young Gryffindor was not able to discern its meaning – was Scorpius still cross with him? "I'll leave you to your family."

"Oh, um, yes, it was lovely to meet you too, Scorpius," Hermione replied, surprised at Scorpius taking his leave so quickly. "I'm sure I will see you again today."

"Of course," he nodded and he was gone from the room before any of them really knew what had happened.

"What was that all about?" Hermione asked and she noticed immediately that Albus was suddenly looking everywhere else but at her. Her daughter's grin was showing even through her attempts to hide it as she bit down on her bottom lip.

"I dunno what's wrong with him," Albus said eventually. "He's been off since dinner last night."

"What happened at dinner?" she asked.

"Nothing."

"Okay, I get it, you don't want to tell your fuddy-duddy old Aunty," she teased, but he could tell it wasn't all joking.

"No, Aunt 'Mione, that's not it," Albus assured her profusely. "Seriously, nothing happened at dinner."

"What was he like before dinner?" she asked curiously and Albus decided that it was a very good time to begin finding his clothes for the day so he could change out of his pajamas.

"They've been getting on like a house on fire," Rose answered for him. "Practically bought the wedding bands already."

"Rose!" Albus scolded, looking scandalized.

"What? It's true!" she huffed.

"Its okay, Sweetheart, if it is true," Hermione assured him. "The whole family loves you, and we'll all love Scorpius too if you do."

"Aunty 'Mione! I don't love him!" Albus exclaimed. His whole face was glowing red and it was starting to creep into the neck of his pajamas as the conversation grew more uncomfortable for him.

"He does," Rose told her mother seriously.

"Shut up, Rose," Albus snapped. "What about you and Hugh?" he retorted, deciding to pay his cousin back for blabbing about his love life.

"What!?" she gasped, looking nervously at her mother who was looking extremely interested. "There's nothing about me and Hugh!"

"Do you have a boyfriend, Rosie?" her mother asked with an interested grin.

"No!" Albus and Hermione both stared at Rose unconvinced. "I don't!"

"Please," Albus scoffed. "What was that this morning then?"

"He just said hello, that's it!"

"Yeah and you turned redder than a tomato when he did," Albus quipped. "You got all faint and fluttery."

"If you don't stop talking I'm going to maim you in your sleep," Rose growled.

"Alright, alright," Hermione interjected, holding both her hands up to stop them arguing. "Why don't we all agree that Albus does not love Scorpius Malfoy and that Rose doesn't have a boyfriend?"

The two Gryffindors murmured their agreement and the girls left so that Albus could quickly dress and meet them for breakfast.

Albus arrived in the dining room and breakfast was well underway for the Hogwarts group with a few people already finished. He took a seat next to his Aunt, but glanced over at Scorpius who looked up at him mournfully as he did. The blond looked over at the empty space beside him before getting up to rinse out his bowl – Albus wondered if the Slytherin was saving the seat for him.

"So Albus," Hermione whispered, leaning into him as he sprinkled raisins into his porridge, "which one is Rose's boyfriend?" she asked and he smiled back at her glad for the distraction.

I know it's so frustrating you could cry, right?

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