A/N: Hi! Oreo (Samantha72) here with Al's side of the story! Just to explain a few things, these first two chapters are actually the prologue. Chapter three begins the actual story, and Poptart and I will be alternating every other chapter. She writes Scorpius, and I write Al. Now on with the story!
CHAPTER TWO: THE DIFFICULTIES
Albus Potter was a Slytherin for a reason. He was no stranger to lies and secrecy. And Gryffindor courage? Yeah, he definitely didn't have any of that. When it came to owning up to how he felt and letting people in, he ran into some problems. How could he be honest with anyone else when he wasn't even honest with himself?
It had never really been a problem before. His friends would ask him what he was thinking, and he'd say nothing. Then the subject would drop. The thing is, hardly anyone actually cared. And the one person that he knew cared the most? He was kind of the center of Al's current problem.
He and Scorpius had always been best friends- since that very first day on the Hogwarts Express. Their friendship had always been easy; simple. Not anymore, Al thought ruefully. It hadn't been simple for a while now. Around their third year, Al had begun to realize a few things. The most important being that Scor was actually rather attractive. He'd blamed his thoughts on hormones, and tried his damndest to get the taller boy out of his head, but he just thought about him more and more as time went on...
He was one of few people that knew Scor's sexual preference. Not that that changed the fact that he couldn't do anything about his feelings for the boy. Their friendship was the most important thing in the world to Al. Just because Scorpius liked blokes didn't mean he liked Al. If Al told him how he felt, everything would change. Scor wouldn't want anything to do with him.
He had a sneaking suspicion that Scor might already know, though. He was always flinching away when Al got too close, and he looked uncomfortable whenever he touched him. Al felt bad whenever that happened- he tried to resist the urge to just casually touch the other boy, he really did!
He's too attractive for his own good, he thought bitterly.
But he had to resist. Scorpius's friendship was so much more important than admitting his schoolgirl-esque crush. Scor wasn't the only reason Al couldn't own up to anything, though. He wasn't even out of the closet! His parents would both have heart attacks if he suddenly came home with a boyfriend. And the school? Al had tons of friends, but he knew. They wouldn't accept him. If he so much as hinted that he was gay, nobody would want to even be near him!
A rustling in the bed next to his jarred Al out of his thoughts. Was Scor awake? The blonde groaned in answer to his unspoken question. Wait- groaning?
He resisted the urge to turn and look at his friend. Scor wasn't actually...? He wondered idly who his friend was thinking about. Was it too much to hope that it was him? Probably.
Al sighed dejectedly. It was still early- he really should be going back to sleep... Glancing out the window, Al watched the sun rise with a hopeful smile. Sleep was reluctant to come, leaving the middle Potter child very much awake with his thoughts. Maybe everything would turn out alright.
Lalala~
Maybe everything would be alright in the end, but things were about to change, and quick. Whether Al could handle it or not is another subject entirely.