Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters end up in. Everything else belongs to someone else and that's the way of it.

Happy Early Valentines' Day!

Green Eyed Boy

Scorpius spent most of the day in silent contemplation, his students desperately grateful that whatever had put the seemingly permanent scowl on their potion teacher's face was so distracting that the evil Slytherin didn't even think to take his mood out on them. In fact, they would have said that their lessons with him were the most peaceful they had ever been if said students hadn't had to worry that he might snap out of his daze at any moment and be twice as bad upon realizing that he hadn't been tormenting them as per usual, and needed to make up for that oversight.

But luckily for his students, it wasn't until about two in the afternoon that Scorpius finally became aware that it was the afternoon already, when he hardly remembered leaving his rooms to go for breakfast. This of course made him that much angrier, but thankfully he wasn't in class so there was no one around for him to vent his frustrations on.

To his way of thinking, the daze he's apparently been in just highlighted the fact that he really needed to stop shagging Potter.

The flicking, and the tickling, and the whole weird conversation about whether or not they'd have dated or been friends years ago, if not for their last names and the animosities between their families that went with that, had been setting off alarms in his head even before he'd wasted the day so completely. They were not behaving like…well he'd never had a flicking contest or been tickled by someone he was sleeping with. Generally he dated men with more sense than that, but playing with each other that way had no place in his present arrangement with Potter. It denoted a level of intimacy that they shouldn't -couldn't have.

Knowing the Gryffindor the way he did Scorpius knew there was no point in trying to tell Potter that he couldn't flick or tickle him…or cuddle him when they accidentally slept together, or stroke his back and hair after sex. Or really any of the other things the idiot did that he shouldn't do, because it muddied the waters too much. No, if he even tried to tell Albus -Potter that he couldn't do those things anymore the literal and figurative pain in his arse would do them just to piss him off.

So tonight would be the last night, Scorpius told himself sternly, steely determination in his grey eyes. One last time wouldn't hurt, and then afterwards he'd tell the other man that he was done with him and that would be that.

Potter would try to talk him out of it, he was spectacular in bed after all and the Gryffindor would be loathed to lose such a skilled sexual partner, but that was Albus's problem, not his. Unlike the green eyed menace, he would have no problem finding someone else. Sure he would miss the convenience of having the other man right across the hallway, but he'd just have to make his weekend trips into London count so to speak.

Confident in his plan and his ability to carry it out, Scorpius left his work area in a much better frame of mind then when he'd entered it. Or he was, right up until the point where he was passed by a couple of giggling fourth year girls. The two, who were both doing abysmally in his class, were whispering very loudly about the fact that they couldn't wait to tell their other friends that not only was Professor Potter dating the Cannons' Chaser Quinn Howl, but they'd seen the two snogging!

Scorpius wasn't a big Quidditch fan, he hadn't so much as tried out for the Slytherin team when he was a student, but the Slytherin did know exactly who Howl was. The man had been a year ahead of them, had played for the Gryffindors, and had dated Potter for a fair chunk of their sixth year. According to school gossip it had been a relatively amicable split, and the two had been linked romantically a time or two since in the Daily Prophet and other rags over the years.

But it wasn't jealousy that had red hot rage erupting in Scorpius's veins, he told himself, a decidedly green haze fogging over his eyes. It was the fact that he and Potter had had a deal, dammit. They'd both agreed that neither of them would move on to someone else without telling the other first. It was just good manners. It was what they'd AGREED to.

Oh he was going to make Potter sorry for this. So sorry for this.

Fury lengthening his strides, and feeling like a well-honed blade that had been thrown into the air with a certain lying, cheating Gryffindor as his target, Scorpius headed in the most logical direction to get to the door that would lead outside where he'd imagine-

Coming towards him was the man Potter had been cheating on him with, the Quidditch player's stride easy, though the look on the man's face didn't suggest that he'd just spent the last few minutes snogging with Potter. Actually, this particular Gryffindor looked rather…disappointed?

"Malfoy."

"Howl. What brings you to Hogwarts? Taken so many blows to the head that you need to re-enroll?"

Quinn's lips twitched, shrugging the insult with ease. "Someone hasn't changed. Can't say I've missed you much, either. And no, I'm not enrolling, you'd fail me along with most of the Gryffindors here I'd imagine. I just came by to visit Al, and see if he wanted to go out to dinner this weekend. I'm on my way out."

Scorpius was dripping with sarcasm. "Romantic dinner for two?"

"Apparently not. Bye."

Giving Scorpius a cocky salute, he wasn't going to hang around to chat, Howl walked around him and then continued down the hallway, Scorpius turning around to watch him go as he tried to figure out what the hell the Gryffindor had meant by that. Was he dating Albus or wasn't he? That had been the tone of a bloke who'd just been shot down, but those giggling idiots he'd passed earlier had said the two were snogging…

What the hell?!

)

He'd been in a somewhat contemplative mood all day, but at the moment Albus figured it was a good idea to take a seat on one of the school benches so that he didn't walk into a wall or risk stepping off into thin air because the stairs weren't where he thought they were. That would certainly take his mind off a certain Slytherin, Albus acknowledged with a self-deprecating smirk, but it wouldn't do him much good in the long run, especially if he gave himself a concussion or broke something. So he would do the logical thing and sit his fine arse down until he could sort through his visit with Quinn and what he may or may not have learned from the man's visit.

Over the years they'd become each other's fallback for lack of a better word, not really friends with benefits, but someone who, if they weren't seeing someone, would be willing to tumble into bed with him for a bit of fun, no harm done come morning. Hmm, maybe friends with benefits did apply…huh. Anyway, not important. What was important was that when Quinn had come up behind him, and twirled him around for a surprise kiss, his first thought was NO.

What the hell?

Rubbing his hands over his hair in a show of agitation, Albus couldn't believe that that had been his instinctual reaction, he'd actually had to restrain himself from punching the other man because his brain had said was the natural response to someone thinking they could make a cheater out of him. Which one, wasn't fair since it wasn't like Quinn had had any idea he was seeing someone, and two, Quinn was a really, really good snogger, so normally that would have been a solid distraction for at least the first bit before he had his head on straight enough to realize that he should good naturedly be pushing him away. So it was telling, disturbingly so, how quickly he'd a little too forcefully pushed Quinn away and stated that he was seeing someone else.

He and Malfoy weren't even seeing each other, though yeah, they were sure as hell seeing a lot more of each other than they ever had given how quickly clothes tended to be shed these days around each other. But they weren't dating, not even close, so saying he was seeing someone, giving the impression that it was serious in the way he'd shut Quinn down so quickly and meaning it, made no sense unless he was in over his head where Scorpius Malfoy was concerned and was only just realizing it.

When Quinn had asked who he was involved with, he'd said the relationship was still new, and the other guy wasn't ready to go public about it given the attention they'd get since the gossip rags did like to jump on anyone involved with the Potter family. Quinn's response to that had been raised eyebrows and a curious look as he'd noted that Albus had fallen for the guy pretty fast then, which was unusual for him. Which was true, he wasn't the type to jump into relationships the way his siblings did, but the way Quinn had looked at him had made it clear that his friend thought he and Scorpius were serious about each other. And Quinn knew him really well after all this time.

Now Quinn could be wrong, he'd been very vague on the details and that might have made the other Gryffindor read more into his words than was actually there…but assuming he wasn't that meant that he really needed to get his head on straight when it came to Malfoy.

Scorpius was unquestionably different from anyone Albus had been involved with, not only because he normally at least bought a bloke he was interested in dinner first, but mainly the other man's personality was the complete opposite of what he normally looked for in a partner. Malfoy was hot and sexy though, and that could go a long way to glossing over someone's less desirable traits when one wasn't thinking with his brain. Though in Malfoy's case Albus would argue that no, the Slytherin wasn't so hot that he couldn't see what a ginormous arse the blond was on a regular basis. When it came to the sex too, he wouldn't argue that it was scorching hot, but still…losing his head over someone based on really good sex wasn't something he did either anymore. If he did he'd still be dating that git Jasper, who'd had the stamina and sex drive of a sodding rabbit, but had bored his brains out half the time outside of bed.

So yeah…was he actually interested in pursuing Scorpius romantically? Like trying to have a real relationship and all that jazz?

He could not see things ending well for him if his brain really was that stupid.

Maybe it was just the thought of the challenge that had him acting weird, Albus told himself, getting to his feet since he couldn't sit still anymore now. On some level he knew that bagging Scorpius Malfoy would be a feat that would be almost as fraught with peril as his father's repeated face offs with various Death Eaters. Not quite as bad, since Scorpius wouldn't actually try to kill him, but the chance for permanent injury would definitely be there.

Damn, he hoped he wasn't experiencing an early midlife crisis. Men did stupid things during a midlife crisis according to all the women of his acquaintance. His father really hadn't, but his mum always said that that was because he'd done so many stupid things before he was twenty that the Fates had cut them both a break there.

What he should do was sleep on the idea, Albus decided, sleeping not only being one of his favorite things to do, but would also mean that hopefully whatever brain cells had infected his stupid mind with the thought that he should maybe try to worm his way into Scorpius affections might simultaneously combust or come up with something far more reasonable as a future goal for him. Like trying to figure out Lily Logic. That was way more doable than getting Scorpius to go out with him.

Smirking at the idea of what any member of his family would say if he said that he thought understanding the thought processes of his sister was doable, Albus shook his head and then headed in the most direct route to his rooms so that he could have that nap until it was time to get up and head to the Great Hall for supper.

Plus, if nothing else, at least he wouldn't have to run in to Scorpius until then. That alone made it a genius level plan really, since Albus didn't trust his brain not to make him blurt out or do something really stupid if he did see the other man. Today, at least, that was what he was doing around the Slytherin for some reason. Like the tickling and the flicking thing. What the hell had he been thinking with that? At least the cuddling he kept doing could be blamed on both his nature and the fact that Scorpius gave off a surprising amount of heat despite his often cold disposition.

Cursing under his breath, hadn't he spent enough time fretting over that stuff like a twit earlier, Albus resolutely refused to go down that road. Instead he would spend the whole walk back to his place mentally reviewing all the threats Scorpius had made against his person over the years.

It would seem that he needed the reminder.

)

Scorpius hadn't been in the best of moods to begin with, so after looking around in the most logical places Potter might be given the time of day, as well as asking Longbottom and Hagrid where the git was, the Slytherin arrived at the other man's door with the thought that if the Gryffindor wasn't inside he was going to jinx him the next time he laid eyes on him. The fact that it wouldn't surprise him one little bit to learn that either or both of Potter's family friends knew where the current pain in his arse was didn't improve his mood any, and jinxing all of them sounded like a damn good idea in his books. Or at least in the case of Potter and Longbottom, since Hagrid's giant's blood gave the groundskeeper built in protection so to speak, unfortunately.

Undoing the lock on Albus's door easily enough Scorpius let himself in, not surprised when he hadn't reached the end of the short hallway before Yue appeared, the feline's fur standing up a little and its body braced to defend. The fact that his own kneazle came trotting into view too, looking about as dangerous as a ray of purring sunshine, was just depressing.

Heaving the sigh of a man with a great weight on his shoulders, Scorpius knelt down a little when Snow came running over to him, giving the stupid thing a couple pats on its head so that it wouldn't annoy him for more before straightening up and addressing Yue, who was watching him through narrow eyes from the mouth of the hallway still.

"Is he here?"

A moment to consider, and then Yue tilted his head in a way that suggested he wanted to know more before answering the question.

"I'm not here to maim or kill him. I just have a couple of questions. You have my word." He'd maim the Gryffindor later, when there was no witnesses around if need be.

The kneazle gave him a look that said Yue didn't trust him as far as he could throw him. But then he nodded once and turning around headed in the direction of the bedroom, Scorpius taking that to mean that he should follow.

When Yue came to a stop in front of the bedroom door Scorpius raised an eyebrow, but guessed that Albus just have gotten his shirt or trousers dirty and had come in to get changed. Though why his conversation with the man's pet hadn't alerted Albus to his presence, especially since the door was open a little, made no sense to him unless the idiot was trying to lure him in for a quick shag before supper.

Annoyed that he rather liked the idea of that, his body perking up with interest, Scorpius reminded both his mind and all the rest of his parts that they were here for something else entirely.

Opening the door wider and stepping inside once Yue was out of the way, Scorpius took one look and called Albus a number of uncomplimentary things under his breath.

Shaking his head, what was Potter, five?, Scorpius moved farther into the darkened room, the thick curtains having been closed tightly enough that the sun couldn't get through them. The large lump under the covers made the other man's location obvious, and the closer he got the easier it was for Scorpius to make out the shape of Albus, the rhythm of the Gryffindor's breathing making it clear that he was out for the count.

Taking a seat on the side of the bed Scorpius twisted around to turn on the bedside table lamp before turning his attention back to poking Albus's back, which was facing him. And when that didn't work he tried skewering his finger into the hard muscle of the other man's shoulder, yanking down enough of the blanket to insure that the idiot felt it.

Much grumbling and blanket adjusting was all the reaction he got, Albus just burrowing under his covers that much more.

Trying to yank the covers right off of Albus didn't work either, the man's grip on them death grip tight.

"Really, seriously? You are five."

And so saying Scorpius punched Albus in the shoulder, though not really hard since there was a chance that the Gryffindor would hit him back…and possibly quite a bit harder since the man did have more muscle tone than he did.

That got a reaction, Albus rolling over onto his other side, a single green eye opening to look at him before closing again, the Gryffindor rolling back into his earlier position.

"Unless you want sex, I'm sleeping."

"Do you know what time it is?"

"Go away."

"Or what?" Scorpius challenged, crossing his arms in front of him belligerently.

"You sure you want to find out?" Was Albus's response, something about the man's tone making Scorpius think that maybe he didn't…but still….

"You're such a child."

In the universal sign of disrespect, Albus raised one hand, his middle finger making his feelings on the matter clear. "Bite me."