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.

Healing Some Wounds

Feeling about as coordinated and eager as an overgrown puppy chasing after its owner, which was a really embarrassing parallel for his mind to make, Albus nonetheless bolted out of the Room of Requirement and down the hallway to quickly match his strides up with Scorpius's father, determined to learn just why the older man thought he was important to Scorpius. Because at this point Albus was willing to admit that he desperately needed every crumb of encouragement he could get given the quantity of death threats the younger Malfoy was apparently making on a daily basis these days.

And at least Scorpius hadn't been lurking outside the door, having used his father as bait to lure him out of the safety of his hiding place. Which was a possibility Albus realize he really should have considered before leaving the room now that he was out in the open without anyone to back him up. But it was just him and Mr. Malfoy for the moment, and probably would be for the majority of their trip through the castle since it was dinner time.

No living witnesses to see them together…but there were plenty of portraits he could count on, Albus reminded himself. And really nevermind that, especially since it was too late now, away. Plus he had more important things to think about, namely voicing the obvious question in response to the older man's earlier statement.

"Did Scorpius actually tell you that he cares about me? Because everyone I've talked to has been pretty adamant that he's furious with me. I've actually started to feel like one of those creepy stalkers that should have their arses kicked because they don't know how to take no for an answer. I know how to take no for an answer, I swear, and my intention are…well not honorable, but I really do want us to be a proper couple and not just fucking around on the side. And -FUCK, I shouldn't have said that! Sorry!"

Albus could feel his whole face go as red as his mom's hair.

But rather than any of the violent or horrified responses Albus's mind quickly conjured up, Mr. Malfoy's lips actually quirked a little in a hint of amusement.

"Breathe, Potter."

Oddly enough being called Potter in that very Malfoy tone of voice reassured Albus, and calmed him down enough that he was soon reduced to simply being overly flushed in the cheeks as they continued to walk towards the nearest set of stairs.

"You asked me how I know that Scorpius cares about you."

"Uh, yeah, I did."

"The answer to your question is…you're not in St. Mungo's or the Medical Wing here. Over the course of this week you've made my son the talk of the Wizarding World, subjecting him to endless questions, speculations, and no doubt ridicule and threats from various parties. An intensely private person, you've made his private life public and dragged him into the spotlight against his will. And yet he hasn't so much as harmed a hair on your head, has he? Not that any damage to your hair would show. It's just like your father's."

Running a self-conscious hand through his typically messy hair, Albus had to smile even as the man's description of what he'd done hit him hard in the gut.

Not to mention the small, ingrained impulse to make a crack about the fact that at least Potters had hair and didn't have to worry about premature baldness, but that Albus easily stifled that voice since he didn't have a death wish, thank you very much.

And since witty comments weren't going to help him here, and the guilt trip he was putting himself through was pretty intensive, Albus had no choice but to return to thinking about how screwed he was where Scorpius was concerned, and how he really had buggered this all up royally after all. Dammit.

"Wipe that look off your face, Potter. It doesn't suit you. And you're a Gryffindor, you're supposed to be too foolhardy and idiotic to realize the danger you're in until it's too late."

"Ahhhhhh."

Shaking his head slightly, Draco Malfoy paused in front of the stairs, angling his body so that he was facing Albus, his eyes hard and for the first time hinting at the threat he might still pose. "Are you going to keep fighting for him or not? Because I have absolutely no interest in helping you if you've done all this only to falter now. I won't have my son's emotions played with that way."

"I'm not playing with his feelings!" Albus immediately argued, furious at even the suggestion that he'd put them both through this week for no good reason. "But just because he hasn't killed me doesn't mean he bloody well cares, you know. And I've been hiding from him!"

"And you really think he couldn't have caught you if he wanted to?" The look the Slytherin aimed in Albus's direction made it clear he thought him mad if he actually believed that. "Are you really going to stand there, Potter, and telling me that someone as intelligent, cunning, and vindictive as my son couldn't have hunted you down this week? Tell me that despite the fact that the Room of Requirement was the first place I thought to look for you, and I don't even know you nearly as well as he does. And on top of that, there the fact that you're still attending your classes, and there are plenty of threats he could have made that would have had you coming out of your bolt hole willing, to spare someone else? Really?"

"He has tried to find me." Albus began hesitantly, though the words sounded unsure and lame to his own ears. Because really…did he really think he could outwit Scorpius for this long? Hadn't he gone into this preparing to get caught and made to pay fairly early on?

"Oh I'm sure he tried just hard enough to tell himself he'd tried. This is my son we're talking about here. He never does anything the easy way."

Following the man down the stairs, and mulling over everything Scorpius's father was saying and implying, Albus didn't know what to think anymore which just frustrated him that much more. One minute Mr. Malfoy seemed to be implying that he was making Scorpius miserable courting him the way he was, and then the next he seemed to be encouraging him to keep doing what he was doing unable he wore Scorpius down. And was he really suggesting that Scorpius might fancy him in return, and this was just a case of Scorpius protesting too much? What the hell?

Fuck but this was making his head hurt. And he didn't know what to think or believe anymore.

"So you're saying that he fancies me…but doesn't want to admit it. Even though I'm annoying the hell out of him."

"You're a Potter. You'll be annoying the hell out of him when you both have one foot in the grave."

"Not helping."

A loud sigh. "If you want an easy life you should stay far away from my son."

"I don't want easy, I want HIM."

"Then prepare to work for your prize."

The best response Albus could come up with was to growl his frustration.

Scorpius's father glanced over at him for a moment before staring straight ahead as he spoke. "Do you know why my wife spoke to Dahlia Brown about what she was doing?"

Blinking at the sudden change in topic, Albus's brows furrowed as he slowly answered the question, which was to state that he assumed she'd gotten tired of having her husband attacked that way. Scorpius's parents were, as far as he'd observed, happily married, so he assumed that Scorpius's mother wouldn't take kindly to anyone harming her man.

"No. I made it clear that I would accept my share of the blame for the harm I caused before she and I were married. That people had the right to lash out at me and she wasn't to interfere or make excuses for me. She doesn't like it, obviously, but she's done as I've asked to the best of my knowledge. No…the reason she went after Mrs. Brown like a wraith was because Scorpius opened one of her letters to me accidentally. He was seven."

Paling as he understood, Albus stared down at his bandaged hand and then recalled the scars Scorpius bore on his own hands. He'd assumed, because his lover worked both with dangerous plants and potions, that the reminder of long healed wounds were from when the other man was starting out, still learning his trade.

"That fucking bitch."

In that moment it didn't matter that the woman had lost her daughter, or that she hadn't meant to harm a child and that this had happened ages ago. All Albus could think of was the little boy Scorpius had once been. And what that incident, an incident that was probably one of many given how many enemies the Malfoy family had, would have done to Scorpius and the boy's way of looking at the world and the people in it.

"His basic personality isn't the only reason he doesn't let people close to him, Potter. No matter what he might tell himself and you. You need to understand that to understand him."

Looking pointedly at Albus's bandaged hand, at the wounds Albus had received for being associated with Scorpius, the older man didn't have to say any more about it.

He'd given Albus more than enough to think about for the rest of their walk to the dungeons.

)

Mood dark and eyes stormy, Scorpius retrieved the last couple of jars from his shelves before spinning around to stride back to his worktable, setting them down to join the other potion ingredients he'd already collected from his stores. And once he had everything laid out the way he wanted it, mentally reviewing the ingredients necessary for the potion in his head as he did so, Scorpius single-mindedly ignored the fact that what little he had in his stomach was still threatened to revolt as he rolled up his sleeves in preparation for the work ahead.

He hadn't had a chance to eat much of his dinner before he'd overheard Professor Longbottom being quizzed about any white powder he might know about that caused burns to the skin that ordinary medicines and potions couldn't heal, and which smelled vaguely acidic. A description he'd recognized right away. And he'd known even before he'd interrupted the pair what the answer would be when he'd demanded to know who'd been exposed to the powder.

Albus.

Knowing exactly how painful the burns were, and that they would only get worse with time, Scorpius had been forced to abandon his meal then and there to come back here to create the ointment needed to treat the injury in question.

Stupid damn Potter.

Hadn't he told him this was exactly what would happen, Scorpius mentally fumed to himself as he went to work measuring out and then mixing the first three ingredients, the first part of the concoction done in no time so that he could move onto the next step without a break in his mental rantings.

Damn Gryffindors. They never listened! He'd told him that no one would accept them as a couple. That people would lash out and make their lives miserable as soon as they caught wind of even the possibility of a sexual, much less romantic interest between them. He'd told Potter that he'd end up hurt and was stupid for thinking that they could ever be more than the other's dirty secret.

No one could say that he hadn't warned him. He'd told him. This wouldn't have happened if Potter had just listened to him.

Forced to throw out the roots he'd just mangled with his knife beyond use, fuck, Scorpius stomped over to his cupboard and had just retrieved six new ones when he heard the sound of the storage room door being opened without the intruder even bothering to knock first.

Eyes narrowing with fury over the trespass, Scorpius had tossed the roots onto the table and was reaching for the wand he'd left in his pocket when his father stepped into the doorway, halting his motion.

"Father."

"Scorpius."

And then the shocks continued to come as Scorpius watched his father move off to the side to motion someone to come in, the sight of a very nervous and sheepish looking Albus Potter robbing Scorpius completely of his ability to speak.

"It seems you're already at work creating the burn ointment. Good. Potter, take a seat and keep quiet for the time being."

That Albus very obediently did as Scorpius's father ordered, without so much as a disagreeable look over being ordered around by a Malfoy, was another jolt to Scorpius's system, one that restarted his brain enough for him to ask what the hell was going on here.

"When I saw his hand it was obvious what had happened. I brought him here to get it treated. I'll get the roots if you like, or start on the aloe plant."

The reminder of Albus's injury had Scorpius's gaze switching over to stare at the bandaged hand currently resting on the Gryffindor's thigh, the Slytherin forgetting all about the fact that his father was in the room and would see and read too much into his actions as he marched across the room and demanded to see the burns.

Sitting on the high stool, Albus looked down at him warily from his perch. "Shouldn't you be having dinner right about now?"

"I should be, but an idiot Gryffindor had to go and get his stupid arse burned, didn't he? Which meant that I had to interrupt my dinner to come down here to make something for it."

"I burned my hand, not my arse."

"Show me the hand, Potter, or I'll give you more pain to occupy you."

"Sweet talker." A very Gryffindor smirk, one that had Scorpius's blood pressure rising, but Albus was also undoing the bandages as he'd asked, so Scorpius bit his tongue and then took Albus's damaged hand in his to pull it closer and nearer the light so that he could get a good look at it.

Oh thank Merlin.

Breathing a sigh of relief when he saw that the damage was minor, only a small amount of powder had transferred onto the other man's skin before Albus must have broken off contact with the parchment, Scorpius automatically stroked his thumb over an area of Albus's skin that wasn't red and swollen before looking up to meet the Gryffindor's gaze, intending to tell him that he'd told him this would happen since he was most certainly not going to lose the chance to do so when Potter so obviously couldn't deny that he'd been right.

"You're going to tell me you told me so, aren't you?"

Annoyed that he'd sorta been beaten to it, Scorpius's wasn't even aware that he continued to stroke the other man's hand as he answered. "Yes. Yes I am. I told you this would happen, Potter."

"And I told you that I didn't and don't give a damn what anyone else thinks about us dating, and I stand by it. So I bloody well told you so too."

"Have you lost what little mind you were born with?"

"You aren't the first to suggest that this week, true. But again, I know what I want, and I'm not about to let something like a few burns and hate mail scare me off. Maybe something like this would be enough to scare a SLYTHERIN off, but we GRYFFINDORS are made of STERNER stuff."

Staring at the Gryffindor in question, Scorpius didn't know whether to add his voice to all the others that had been telling the idiot he needed mental help, or whether just shaking the prat by his shoulders until his brains realigned themselves would be more expedient. Not to mention more enjoyable for him.

"For fuck sakes, just how often did that idiot uncle of yours experiment on you as a child?"

"Loads." Was Albus very matter-of-fact reply, the idiot openly smirking at him. "And Rox, Fred, and Lily too. I've lost track of how many times Lily's blown me up at this point too. Hell, I probably knew a fair percentage of the staff at St. Mungo's before I graduated from here with you. Hazards of being half Weasley, you know. Probably why I fancy you too, all that brain damage. But oh well, at least you're nice to look at even if your bedside manner is atrocious."

Sputtering, Scorpius deliberate put a seductive edge to his next words. "Funny, I don't recall you complaining about my bedside manner before, when I was fucking your brains out."

A snort was not the response Scorpius was expecting, the pain in the arse's next statement making all the color drain from his face.

"You know your dad can hear you, right?"

"FUCK!"

Going as red as it was humanly possible for him to turn, Scorpius whirled around to see that his father was very pointedly not looking at him as he stirred something in the large mixing bowl, having apparently decided to take over to job while he fought with the idiot Gryffindor in their midst.

Fuck. What were you supposed to say in situations like this? Sorry I just informed you that I've been sleeping with the son of Harry Potter, the man you spent your years at Hogwarts fighting with? Because somehow Scorpius didn't think that an apology, however sincere, would be adequate given the mental images he'd just given his father alone.

"Sir…I…"

"Keep working things out with him. I've got this."

Jaw dropping a little, it took Scorpius's a good minute to recover enough to respond. "We…why on earth would you want me to work things out with him? Not that there's anything to work out of course, no matter what the delusional idiot might have told you."

Both Slytherin's ignored Albus's sputtered protest at that.

"I don't want you to spend your life alone."

Well hell, Scorpius thought as he opened and then closed his mouth. What was he supposed to say to that?

"I kept the damn cat, you know."