CHAPTER THREE: TRIPPING

It had been immensely hard waking up the next morning. Scorpius trudged around slower than a snail, yawning every few steps as he grabbed his robes and combed his hair. Al, too, was incredibly slow moving. He was usually energetic as he went about getting ready. The Malfoy didn't question his friend about it, however, deciding that he still had things to order in his head when dealing with him.

It was as they were walking down the halls that the blood starting running and the drowsiness smoothed out. Al grinned beside him, telling jokes and laughing after he'd told them—even when they weren't funny. It was easier than predicted interacting with the green-eyed boy, especially after nearly spending an entire night analyzing their friendship and what-ifs. Breakfast was soon to come and Scorpius wasn't quick enough to stop the chuckle from escaping him when Al swiped up the biggest cinnamon bun and crushed it to his mouth. The Potter blinked those two round eyes and they gleamed for a moment (Scorpius knew it was laughter behind the confection), before flopping down in his seat.

Scorpius daintily ate his meal as Al began to chat; his appetite wasn't as big as his friend's. He was never really a breakfast person—and remembering some of the thoughts from last night killed any need for it. The blonde ate his food in content as he watched Al stuff himself with an endless amount of tarts, going on and on about anything and everything. Some part of Scorpius felt as if it was forced, but he pushed the thought away.

Al was in mid-sentence when he leaned close to reach for French toast. Scorpius held his tongue as a few black strands of Al's hair brushed his chin, the shorter boy's arm outstretched for the slices. The Malfoy shifted somewhat and within a blink of the eye Al was reseated. The boy was licking some of the excess syrup in a type of awkward concentration.

"Anyway, she gave us this Charm and told us to write the entire history behind it for an essay, but then Peter said—"

The end of Al's sentence was drowned out by a sharp prickle that shot down Scorpius' spine. It was that familiar feeling of someone watching you. The reason why—hell if he knew. The blonde slowly let his gaze shift away from Al's face, allowing it to wander absentmindedly over the sea of students. Why would anyone be paying attention to him in a crowded room? A second later an obvious thought occurred to him. Maybe they weren't watching him. He was nothing but another rich privileged student attending Hogwarts. Al was son of the famous Harry Potter, savoir of both Muggles and wizards alike. All of the Potter children were extensively popular for reasons he didn't really think too much about.

"—rpius? Scooorrrr?" A hand was waving in his face and the blonde's attention snapped back. "What the hell are you looking around for? You missed the good part," Al said, frowning.

Scorpius picked up his glass of juice and took a sip before replying. "I just thought I heard my name," he lied easily. Slytherin specialty.

Al huffed -rather cutely- before taking a long drink from his milk. Given the opportunity, Scorpius' grey orbs scanned the surroundings until they rested on a girl who had risen from the Gryffindor table. Brown caught his eyes and a strange expression crossed her face—normal disgust and something else. Being a Slytherin and accustomed to the House rivalry, he raised a brow and smirked at her, as if daring her to do something. The girl looked outraged and whipped around, stalking out into the school and leaving a couple of her curious friends behind. Typical Gryffindors. Blast their so-called courage.

Although having not caught the on-looker, he turned his attention back to Al. His friend was now wiping his face with a napkin and gathering his stuff together. "You didn't talk much," the Potter commented, turning and casting those green eyes on Scorpius. He seemed a bit confused over the other's late reactions all morning, and if not confused, something else too.

"Ah, really?" Scorpius paused, wondering how to get by this one, "I've just been thinking about things." It was all right to admit that, wasn't it?

Al blinked once before adverting the emerald to the book in his hands- part of Scorpius ached to have them turned back. "Things?" he piped up, sliding the book into his bag.

The blonde grabbed his own bag and put it on his shoulder. "Yeah, just work. We said we'd go somewhere later so I'm trying to figure out if I'll have assignments." Scorpius was actually pretty proud of the lie—but lying to Al wasn't something to be proud of.

Al had a mixture of expressions on his face when he lifted his head. Scorpius personally couldn't pick anything apart to his irritation. Glancing at the teachers, he got to his feet and so did Al, and then they were off to the main hallways. When they reached a certain section where the hall split, they said good-bye, knowing they'd meet up again later.

Scorpius chewed on the inside of his cheek as he made his way down some stairs, wondering why the bloody hell he couldn't maintain any normalcy when talking to Al during breakfast. What was he doing? Looking all around for someone who might not have been even watching them? Frustrated, a scowl came to his face and people moved around him to stay out of his way. It was normal in Hogwarts to know that Scorpius Malfoy usually had an ugly temper with anyone other than his friends.

Ripping open the door to his first class, he knew that he had to figure out a way to fix this problem of his before he couldn't hold himself back anymore.

-d i f f i c u l t i e s –

Scorpius had a hard time controlling what he directed his anger toward in his classes that day- friends, teachers, and there were times he'd just completely ignore everything all together. Potions got the worst of it seeing as it was the final thing he had to attend. The blonde purposely allowed a full cauldron to fall to the floor when his teacher wasn't looking, the contents splashing out and having the other students stop in their work. When asked what happened, he said through gritted teeth, it slipped.

When dismissed, he snatched his bag and left the classroom with the other students allowing him some distance. The muscle in his jaw was jumping repeatedly and the grey of his eyes smoldered. Everything was just so stupid. Life was stupid. He had been slightly placid and rather worrisome when he had developed that awkward desire for Al – his best mate, the closest one, the middle Potter – but now things had gotten to him. His feet moved on their own down the corridors as his thoughts sizzled away. As he slipped through the quieter places his infuriation began to subside bit by bit.

Earlier he was positive the world had been stupid… but in truth it was just him. He was the idiot.

"Scorpius? What are you doing?"

The Malfoy started, realizing he was just standing in a deserted hallway. Turning on his heel, he came face to face with—

Green. Very green.

He had developed a fascination with green. No shade ever matched up to his favorite type of it. He liked to admire the way it could glow or darken, always pretty in any amount of light.

"Al," was all he could say.

The Potter cocked his head and a half-smile came to his face; it was almost unsure, mostly curious. "We were supposed to meet over there," he pointed in the opposite direction. Al's smile flickered when he added, "You didn't come, so I looked around for you."

Scorpius scrambled for an excuse. "I just—I—" He'd been lying so much lately, it felt as if his tongue was plagued with sticklers. "I got my Potion's teacher angry with me. I destroyed one of her cauldrons," he finally said. "I just wasn't thinking."

Al nodded and Scorpius prayed that he wasn't seeing any scrutinizing coming from the black-haired boy. It wasn't unusual his temper got the best of him, it was just it was much worse than usual.

"It looks like you had a rough day," Al said after they'd started walking down their usual path. He felt his eyes widen and he fought the urge pour out the details. He snuck a glance at Al's face and felt the smallest twinge of guilty happiness from seeing the worried expression. Cute, as suspected.

"You could say that."

"Wanna talk about it?"

Scorpius grunted a negative. As his best friend, Al accepted that and they continued their way. However, unlike this morning, their conversation was noticeably strained. Secrets, secrets.

When they reentered the busier part of the school, they wandered down to the courtyard to enjoy some of the sun. Scorpius tried his best to be brighter and in response Al lightened up as well. It was just as they laughed over a good joke about Moaning Myrtle that the crowd of students walking near them stumbled back, allowing one in particular to cut through.

"YOU!"

Scorpius and Al turned to get a good look at whomever the insane person was who screamed.

Before both boys stood a heavily panting girl with her hood on, hiding her face. She tossed her head back and the hood slid down, and just as quick she withdrew her wand, pointing it up at the two of them with vicious speed. Scorpius felt Al rear up beside him in surprise—clearly not expecting her fury to be directed at them. The Malfoy had already scanned the crowd by this time, coming to terms with the situation but not sure what the purpose of it was. The hell was this? Who was she? His first instinctive movement was to shift to stand in front of Al.

"You're disgusting!" She spat. The girl had neatly cropped black hair at her shoulders and the craziest of blue eyes. "You have no right to even stand near him let alone be his best mate!"

Scorpius knew who she was looking toward. Not Al, not innocent Al. Not the boy who was still stammering over his words behind him, trying to question what was going on.

The girl took a step forward, her eyes blazing, "It was because of you he was placed in that vile House! He was supposed to be one of us! He had the courage and the name! A Potter should never be friends with a betrayer—with a Malfoy!"

Hearing his last name and the implications, Scorpius snapped. Before he knew it he was in front of her with his hands curled into fists and his fingernails cutting his palms. "Shut the fuck up, you bitch!" He snarled. Scorpius had dealt with the mistakes of his father his entire life. He couldn't see the wide-eyed crowd and he'd lost tabs on Al now. All of the anger from the day remounted and he could feel the blood pounding in his ears. Part of him knew she was right about the other thing.

He shouldn't be Al's friend.

He didn't deserve him.

"And don't talk like you know him!" Scorpius hissed. If he were thinking, he'd have his wand out too.

The blues in her eyes were icy as she laughed once. "You know it's true, Malfoy." She flicked her wand a few times as she gave a handful of taunts. They fell on deaf ears as he finally reached for his wand, his security. She was swift to lift her own once more, "I'll personally make sure you can't ever be near each other! Then he can come back! You're a waste!" Everything was happening too quickly.

Madness. She was simply mad. A small part in his mind wondered if she had liked Al, crushed when seeing the Sorting Hat give him away to the Slytherins, to the blonde boy he'd met on the train. To him, Scorpius Malfoy.

Just as she began to shout the spell, just as his hand wrapped around the familiar handle of his wand, just then another's voice cut through.

Both tilted their heads. Scorpius saw it was the brown-haired girl he'd unnerved during breakfast. She screeched as she ran, "I wanted to do it, August!" Said girl hit August and she shrieked from shock, spluttering over the end of her spell. It shot off despite that and flew toward Scorpius' unarmed chest. All he could see was a spewing sliver of white as it closed in on him. His wand was slick with sweat. No time to move.

A hand curled around his arm and there was a desperate tug from Al, "Scor!"

Too slow.

Both boys shook hard and the gathered students gasped. Perhaps they thought it was just a daily fight, perhaps a really interesting one this time—not anymore. Not that they were in legitimate danger.

Scorpius felt the breath knock out of him and Al's grip went slack on his side. That beautiful green caught his grey and it felt like a small eternity as red hot heat flowed through their bodies; it poured from the Malfoy to the connected hand of the Potter. Maybe they cried out, maybe they were silent, but he couldn't tell regardless. He could only tremble uncontrollably in Al's weak hold, body tense and painful from the sensations running its course and the intense locked gaze. The unstoppable hex.

The world went black and the least Scorpius could do was wrap his arms around Al's head to shield him as they hit the ground.

Hey, guys, it's Poptart again. The story has officially started. Hope we've caught your attention! Thank you for reading through the prologues and stay tuned for the next chapter!

Side Note: Have any Moaning Myrtle jokes? We love to hear Harry Potter pick up lines. ohoho