AlbusScorpius

On Your Side

Chapter Thirteen: Cat and Mouse

A/N: I hate that music that you want to dislike but can't because it's too catchy D:

It was unbelievably awkward. Scorpius spent most of the following week avoiding Albus like the plague, treating him with cold disinterest when they spoke, not meeting his eyes in class, even when the boy put his hand up to answer a question. Even if it was only once he actually managed to find the answer to give. Scorpius couldn't avoid him forever, and as he reluctantly made his way to the Room of Requirement, he was trying desperately to think of a way to get out of the situation he was in without it being suspicious.

Albus was standing at the door, waiting for him. "Professor Malfoy!"

"Mr Potter," Scorpius opened the door to the room, stepping inside with a brisk walk, avoiding looking at the boy. "Shall we get started then?"

"Yeah, I suppose-!"

"Excellent. Go over last class, tell me what you remember, and we'll see if you have any gaps."

This was their usual routine for classes these days, but it was the tone of Scorpius' voice that put Albus off. It was a lot sharper than usual, reminding him more of Professor McGonagall than Professor Malfoy. It was a disturbing thought.

Albus decided not to argue however, and save the talking till the end of class. He tried to engage Scorpius in conversation once or twice, but the man's answers were short and snappy, leaving no room for long conversations.

"You have gotten much better," Scorpius said as they finished reviewing that week's work, face expressionless as Albus turned to him.

The dark haired boy gave a weak smile. "Thanks."

"I believe you're up to speed with the rest of the class now."

All traces of the weak smile vanished, Albus' expression becoming confused and slightly fearful. "Wait, what are you trying to say?"

Grey eyes locked with green, Scorpius raising his chin ever-so-slightly, trying his best to keep a wall between them. He had made the best decision. "That you're up to speed, extra lessons will no longer benefit you. The purpose was to bring you to the same level as everyone else, and we have. Providing you keep up with your homework, I believe you're capable of continuing on your own from here."

"But I still need the extra help to understand the work we do now!" Albus insisted, desperation seeping into his voice. "I can't keep up!"

"Your cousin Rose will be more than happy to assist you if you need it, I am sure of it," Scorpius replied. "I will not always be there to give you special treatment, Mr Potter. It would be counterproductive of me to not encourage you to manage on your own. You're of age now, are you not?"

"Yes, but-!"

"You need to start acting more like an adult, which means getting on with things on your own."

Albus glared, the first time Scorpius could say he'd ever seen anger cross the boy's face. It didn't suit him. "You're not doing this because I've caught up with the rest of the class."

Now it was Scorpius' time to fixate a glare. "Excuse me?"

"You're doing this because you're still in denial."

"Get out of my sight, Mr Potter," Scorpius snapped, cutting the conversation off abruptly, voice dripping with poison.

The dark haired boy huffed, angry glare not leaving his face, but left the room anyway, slamming the door behind him. Scorpius let out a breath he didn't even know he'd been holding, eyes slipping shut and his hand caressing his temples. He couldn't get the memory of the boy practically throwing himself at him out of his head, the feeling of the boy gripping onto him to stay standing, so overwhelmed by the kiss.

I want you.

Scorpius shook his head, looking up at the ceiling and sighing. He needed to keep his head on straight. He needed to deposit the plant in its safe place and make sure that no one would find it. If he focused enough on the task at hand, then he would have less chance to think about Albus Potter.

Albus Potter wasn't going to make it easy on him.

At every turn, the boy was there. Offering to help him, sitting in plain sight at meals, meeting his little sister after her class. He was everywhere. And Scorpius' mind wasn't going to go easy on him either apparently, constantly reminding him of the dark hair, vibrant green eyes, charming smile. After every meal Albus would leave early, disappearing without a second glance from anyone, and once Scorpius returned to his room he would find something outside waiting for him, small little trinkets of affection, the sort of courting that was more suited to that of a girl.

But it wasn't courting that Albus was doing. That wasn't his plan. He was simply trying to make it impossible for the man to spend a second without thinking about him.

"Professor Malfoy!"

Scorpius grimaced slightly, slowing his walk through the halls, turning to face the dark haired boy that was approaching him and schooling his expression into a more neutral one. They were in a corridor with other students wandering around, after all. He couldn't let them cotton on to any strange behaviour.

"Mr Potter?"

Albus grinned happily, an action that made Scorpius begin to worry. "I was wondering if you could help me with my Transfiguration homework, there's a couple of things I don't understand."

"Of course, what are they?"

"Can we go to your office to talk about them?"

Oh, he was good.

Scorpius glanced at his pocket watch, sighing reluctantly as he realised that he had no excuse to leave. "I suppose so, yes. Follow me."

Albus smiled brightly and nodded, following Scorpius as they continued down the halls towards the Transfiguration classroom, Scorpius opening the door to allow Albus in, looking down his nose at the boy. "What are the things you're having a problem with?"

"I can't seem to get my wand movements right for the spell," Albus explained, swallowing his nerves and stepping forward, looking up at Scorpius with an innocent look. "I was hoping you could help me with that."

"You seemed perfectly capable of performing the wand movement on Saturday," Scorpius replied quickly, taking a step back, frowning slightly. Albus was up to something.

"It's a new spell that I'm working on," Albus explained, stepping forward again, his hands moving out to touch the desks next to him, blocking off the escape route for Scorpius. The blond man's eyes widened slightly as he realised this. "And I just thought perhaps you could help me."

"I highly doubt that your homework was to work on new spells. Especially seeing as I set the homework."

Albus continued to walk forward, despite Scorpius walking backwards. "No, but I came across it while doing the homework set by you. Really brought my wand to life."

Scorpius spluttered, going bright red at the look on Albus' face and the words that he punctuated in his sentence, glancing behind himself as he felt himself bump into his desk, turning his attention back to Albus. "I am rather busy. Perhaps you should find your cousin to help you."

"Oh, I don't think this is something I should be asking my cousin for help with, Professor," Albus purred, stepping far too close for comfort, placing one hand on Scorpius' chest.

Scorpius quickly sidestepped away as Albus got closer still, moving so that Albus was the one with his back to the desk. "Then you probably should find someone else then. Like I said, I'm rather busy. Forgot that I have to finish marking the tests for the fourth year class. Have them tomorrow, needs to be done."

"Professor-!"

"Good luck with your problem, Mr Potter."

Albus huffed, folding his arms across his chest, scowling at the door as the man left, trying to think of something else. This entire thing was beginning to frustrate him.

He'd done it. The plant was secure, tucked away in the area of the school where he was sure no one would disturb it. It was beginning to absorb live things now; it wouldn't do very good for someone to come across it. And he'd managed to do it at night, with no Albus Potter on his heels, after spending the larger majority of his time locked in his room avoiding the boy.

Honestly, he was hiding from a student. If only his father could see him.

Scorpius left the room quietly, glancing around to try and see if there was anyone about, seeing no one and heading down the halls back towards his room. On the way he did see the caretaker, however he felt a swell of satisfaction when the man accepted he was supposed to be there. He wasn't sure he'd ever get used to being a teacher instead of a student. Making his way back to his rooms, he was prepared to call on his grandfather and give him the good news.

Until he saw someone by his door.

Green eyes were focused on the floor, a mop of dark hair possibly messier than usual. The boy's clothes looked more like pyjamas, and Scorpius doubted that he'd planned to come here tonight. Perhaps he couldn't sleep. The idea made a knife in Scorpius' stomach twist painfully.

"Mr Potter," he said, softer than he'd intended to. Green eyes snapped up to look at him, shimmering slightly. "What are you doing out of bed?"

"I-I'm not sure," the boy admitted, looking away again, guilt passing on his features. "I couldn't sleep."

Letting out a reluctant sigh, Scorpius moved closer to him. "Why couldn't you sleep?"

"Because-!" he cut his words off. "I've had trouble sleeping for a few nights."

"That does not explain why you can't sleep."

"I assumed you didn't want to hear the real answer."

Scorpius bristled slightly, folding his arms across his chest. "If you've come here to try and convince me again, then I'll hear nothing of it and you can head straight back to bed."

"Why not?" Albus questioned. "Why are you so scared of this?"

"It's against the rules," Scorpius replied, holding his head high. "My job is on the line when it comes to things like this, and your NEWTs. Do you seriously expect me to risk all that for a passing fancy?" he snorted. "I have a reputation to uphold."

"Don't you think I do too?" Albus pressed, not letting go, taking a step forward and gesturing with his hands. "I know all these things are on the line, I know that if found out my name would be slandered too! But I," he swallowed a lump in his throat, mood falling slightly sober. "I care for you."

"Enough!" the blond snapped. "I will hear no more of this nonsense. A fleeting fancy, Albus. That is all I am to you, and all you are to me."

"You're wrong! You're more than that."

Scorpius headed passed Albus and to his door, ignoring the defence. Albus snarled slightly, reaching out and grasping Scorpius arm, pulling him back with a force, spinning him round as their chests collided, locking his eyes with steely grey, his own slightly moist with tears.

"Listen to me."

"Listen to me, Mr Potter-!"

"Stop calling me that!" Albus demanded as the two began to struggle, Scorpius trying to pull his arm away and leave, Albus trying to keep him.

"You are my student and that name is the appropriate one."

"Then I'll quit!" he declared, letting go of Scorpius and backing away, holding his hands in the air. "I won't be your student if I quit."

"Albus, you can't-!"

"I don't care! I want you, not anything else. There are other things that I can do with just my OWLs."

"You can't throw your education away for a relationship that might never work!"

"Who says it'll never work?"

Scorpius began to get desperate. "There's always a chance relationships won't work."

"I need you, Scorpius," Albus said, using the man's name for the first time, his arms dropping by his sides. "I'll do anything."

He couldn't take it anymore. Scorpius moved forward, grasping the wide shoulder and pulling the smaller boy against him, leaning down as Albus angled his head up, pressing a heated kiss to the boy's lips. It was all wrong. He shouldn't have been doing it. But he just couldn't bring himself to care.

Scorpius moved again, pressing Albus up against the wall, his hands moving down the strong chest as Albus' arms wrapped round his neck, pulling him closer, fingers running through silky blond hair. They worked their mouths against each other, tongues dancing around each other, hands roaming the smaller body. Scorpius didn't think he'd ever want anything so badly again.

He pulled back and began placing soft kisses on Albus' jaw, nudging the boy to move his head as he headed further down towards Albus' neck, kissing his way down to the boy's pulse point before sucking lightly, moving again to the boy's collar to suck again, harder. A small breath of pleasure left the pink lips and headed straight to Scorpius' cock, his arms wrapping round the boy's waist.

He didn't care anymore. He couldn't care anymore. Not now that he'd had a taste. The thought back to the plan that he was supposed to be setting in motion and felt a mixture of fear and acceptance.

He was going to be screwed one way or another. Might as well have both the bad kind and the good kind.

Rose clutched the map tightly in her hands, frowning down at it. She had been going to the Gryffindor tower with the intention of returning the map to Albus, as she kept forgetting to do it during the week, but she just couldn't find him. He wasn't in his common room, as he should've been. She pressed herself against a wall hidden in dark shadows as she heard footsteps, narrowly avoiding the Head Boy. The boy was an arsehole when one of his Prefects were prowling the halls when they weren't on duty. The badge was 'not to be abused'.

Continuing on her way, Rose turned her attention back to the map, finally spotting Albus. Memorising the place he had been she began to speed up, heading for him quickly. If she'd paid more attention to the map, she would've noticed another name join his moments after she turned away.

Crouching low, she finally came across where he was supposed to be, consulting the map again. This time Rose did see her cousin's companion. She scowled at the paper, turning to peek round the corner to where they were, hand snapping to her mouth at what she saw.

There, pressed up against a wall, was Albus, being thoroughly snogged by Professor Malfoy.

She quickly disappeared behind the corner again as Albus' head began to turn towards her, heart racing, hand still clamped against her mouth, head slightly sore from smacking it against the stone walls too hard. But that didn't seem to matter when her cousin was breaking one of the biggest rules. When some paedophile was practically molesting him!

So perhaps she was being slightly over the top, she decided as her hand left her mouth and found her heart, trying to calm it. Perhaps it was just an innocent kiss. Perhaps Albus had been turning his head away to break it off and was now being sensible and mature and explaining that he wasn't going to let an evil man touch him in such a way.

"Ah- Scorpius!"

That wasn't exactly the sound of someone protesting. It was more the sound of someone encouraging. Sucking up her nerve, Rose turned to look back round the corner, hand pressed flat against the wall, blue eyes seeking out the two men. They were kissing once again, locked at the lips, and Albus had been pushed higher on the wall. Albus gripped the man's back desperately, his legs wrapped round the lithe waist, one hand shooting up to muse white blond locks, trying to mould their bodies together. Rose felt a flash of rage as her Professor's hand ran up Albus' leg, splayed over his thigh, moving up to squeeze his behind.

Cheeks heating up, the girl turned away again, cursing as she saw a figure approaching on the map. Professor Zabini. No doubt coming to check on his evil little prodigy. But Albus was there too, and she couldn't let them get caught.

She wasn't about to throw herself round the corner and surprise them though, either. Instead, she took her wand and cast a quick charm on her feet to make them sound further away, before jumping and landing with as much force as she could. The sound echoed slightly, and she resisted the urge to look round the corner to check that they'd heard it.

"This is not the best place," Professor Malfoy's voice whispered. "You should be getting back to your dorms. It is late."

"But Professor-!"

"Albus," she couldn't help it. Turning, her eyes widened slightly as she saw that Albus had his feet back on the floor, and that they had moved away from each other. And one pale hand stroked his face tenderly, a soft smile upon her Professor's face. "Get to bed. You have school tomorrow."

A wide grin cracked on Albus' face, chest heaving with relief. "Thank you."

The Professor leant forward, placing a chaste kiss upon Albus' forehead, before stepping back and watching Albus leave. Rose quickly cast a muffling charm on her feet and slipped away, finding a dark corridor to hide in, watching the map as her cousin approached faster. Putting it away she stayed hidden, waiting for him to pass her spot.

As he came into view, she grabbed his arm and tugged, pulling him into her hiding place.

"What the-!" he turned to look at her, blush creeping into his cheeks. "Rose?"

"Keep your voice down," she snapped, glancing over his shoulder. "Professor Zabini is around here somewhere."

"What are you doing here?" he asked, voice dropping to a whisper.

"I think the question you'd rather know the answer to is 'what did I see'," she affirmed, raising a brow as he looked down shamefully, caught out. She held up the map and handed it to him, one hand planted firmly on her hips. "I was coming to return this to you. As for what I saw? Too much, I believe."

"Rose, I can explain-!"

"I already know you're completely smitten with him," she said, narrowing her eyes. "Is this why you've been acting all strange all week? Have you been involved with Professor Malfoy?"

"No, we had a fight. I-I was trying to push him to do this. He didn't want to."

"I would've thought you of all people would understand that when someone says no, they mean no," she scolded.

"He didn't mean no though!" Albus hissed. "When James and I snuck into his house and I saw him dreaming I-!"

"You snuck into his house?" Rose asked, horror etched onto her features. "What on earth were you thinking, sneaking into the Malfoy Manor?" Merlin's beard her cousins were idiots. "Did you not think you could get caught?"

"Well, we almost did get caught."

"My brain is beginning to hurt."

"But it was okay! James got us out of there before we were caught! We didn't even get hit."

Rose gave him an incredulous look, shaking her head from side to side slowly. "You're an idiot. You're both idiots."

"The point is, he wants this, I know he does!"

"He seems to understand that you shouldn't!" Rose snapped, closing in on Albus and jabbing a finger into his chest, pleased that she was slightly taller. "That it's wrong."

"I'm seventeen, Rose."

"I don't care if you're seventeen!" she replied. "He's your Professor!"

"I've already told him I'm willing to drop out of school for him."

She seemed gobsmacked for a few moments, flailing her arms about madly, trying to summon the words. "Are you fucking me?"

"He said I wasn't allowed, but I will if I have to!"

"You can't abandon your future for a man you've barely known for five months!"

"I can. Besides, I don't think it's your place to tell me what I should and shouldn't do. You're not exactly the model student everyone thinks you are, stealing books from the library and turning boys into toads. And that rebellious stage you went through, almost giving Uncle Ron a heart attack? Don't think I've forgotten that."

"That's on an entirely different plane to what you're doing."

"James was with an older woman."

"Not his Professor."

"She might as well have been!"

"I think you should stop," Rose advised, brow lined with anger and concern, face stony and serious, hand holding out the map that she had intended to give back to Albus. "I think this is only going to end in tears, and it's creepy."

"It'll be worth it," Albus replied, taking the map from Rose. "And I'd appreciate it if you kept your nose out of it."

"Fine!" she snapped, growling slightly. "Have fun on your little forbidden romance adventure, but don't come crying to me when it shatters into a million pieces."

Scorpius let out a breath of relief as Albus vanished, moving to head back into his rooms, leaning against the back of the door and shutting his eyes, enjoying the coolness of his room that hadn't been there in months. It would be strange not to have the plant in his rooms, making him sweat buckets and curse its existence. Strange, but definitely not bad.

He jumped out his skin as someone knocked on the door, the vibrations resonating against his back. Scorpius straightened himself and checked in the mirror that was beside the door, making sure that he was properly composed, before opening the door, brows rising slightly at the dark skinned man on the other side of the door.

"Blaise," he greeted, stepping back and allowing the man to enter his rooms. The dark eyes scoured over the décor, having never entered the room before, making Scorpius feel uncomfortable, as if he was awaiting judgement. "Can I help you?"

The man seemed to be satisfied with what he saw, though a bit disapproving of the light furnishings, and turned to Scorpius with an indifferent face. The man was a master of hiding his emotions. Scorpius shifted his weight, attempting to cover up his nervousness, replacing it with mild curiosity. The slight smile the tugged at the older man's lips made him think he was doing a good job.

"Your father's worried about you," Blaise explained, voice monotone as usual. "The way you act around other people and, well, your interactions with your grandfather."

Scorpius frowned. "What does he know of my interactions with Grandfather?"

Moving further into the room, taking an interest in it again, Blaise continued to talk slowly, in no rush to finish. "Lucius is not known for holding back on gloating when it comes to you and your father, Scorpius. He's often telling your father about how much better you've turned out."

"He never stops complaining about how I'm not good enough," Scorpius argued, becoming less nervous and more confused.

"What, because of your little scandal a few years ago?" the Potions Master scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Please, apparently you've done something to make up for it. Or are doing something."

The pointed look that he was being given gave it away, Blaise's attention back on him. "That is what father is worried about?"

"It's what we're both worried about. I know how much you can come to crave the approval of family. I watched that desire almost consume some of my closest friends during the war, one of them being your father. Don't let it consume you," he paused, letting out a reluctant sigh, moving forward and clasping Scorpius' shoulder, a slightly sad look in his eyes. "Your father is proud of you, Scorpius. Of all of you. Don't let your grandfather ruin that."

Scorpius watched as Blaise left, feeling an overwhelming sense of realisation and despair hit him as the door shut, exhausted. If he could only have his father or his Grandfather, he knew who he'd pick.

Unfortunately he feared it was too late.

According to my beta if there's not at least a half-naked Scorpius in chapter fifteen I'm going to have a hole in my head. Presumably from where she shoots me. SO you don't have to wait much longer.

I hope you're happy, JagBdB. It's your fault she's threatening me.

Now, I didn't want to faff on too much in this chapter, and I was struggling with getting them together a bit. I didn't want Albus to be THAT pushy, but didn't think it would only take one encounter before Scorpius changed his mind. I hope this worked out okay.

Thanks for faves, reviews, and alerts!

R+R

Thanks ~

Kivea R.

PREVIEW

"You doubt me."

"I'm just not sure I agree with the action you're taking."

"What put these doubts in your head, Scorpius?"

"Nothing, I just- I woke up."