Disclaimer: Everything related to Harry Potter is property of J.K Rowling, including the characters and places. I do not own anything. Everything presented here is just for fun!
A/N: I'm so sorry for taking so long to post this chapter. But now I'm fine and the surgery went well, so I can write again!
Like always, please let me know if you find any errors! Also thank you to those who comment and review with positive feedback.
Chapter 8
The Problems of Trust
Morning found Albus swiftly climbing the stairs of the dungeons heading towards the Great Hall. He had decided to go have breakfast with James or Rose since he hadn't seen them in a while. He had spent most of the last week hidden in Slytherin's common room trying to heal as fast as possible, and he was now feeling guilty for neglecting them.
Now that he felt completely healed, he was determined to spend every waking hour mounted on his broom making up for the weeks of training he lost. It was Saturday, which meant lots of students would be at the pitch practicing already, making it the perfect occasion for him to get back on track.
"Hello, Albus!" sang a 5th year Slytherin girl, eyeing him seductively as he crossed the door into the hall. Albus payed her a simple wave and a smile, scanning the Great Hall in search of his brother or his cousin.
As he walked past the Slytherin table he noticed that lots of people were staring at him, specially the girls, who seemed to be smiling more than usual. They've noticed my absence, he thought to himself, smiling back at them. He soon caught sight of Rose, sitting alone at the Gryffindor table. He walked straight to her.
"Morning, Rose!" he called, good tempered. The prospect of finally mounting his broomstick again making him feel light and relaxed.
"Al!" Rose gasped, her face appearing suddenly from behind the morning edition of the Daily Prophet she was holding. She looked stricken. "Are you okay?" she asked.
Albus smiled at her and flexed his arm jokingly as he sat down in front of her. "Good as new. I reckon I'll go—"
"That's not what I mean," she cut him off immediately. "I'm talking about..." but she couldn't finish, as two Gryffindor girls passed next to them, both looking at Albus and giggling. "Hello, Albus!"
"Yeah hi," muttered Albus, turning his head slightly to catch their smile, but when he turned his head back to look at Rose, she was squinting at him.
"You—you haven't read the news today, have you?"
"What do you mean?" he asked, confused.
Rose sighed and started flicking quickly through the pages of the newspaper she was holding, trying to find a specific page.
"There" she said, putting the paper on the table and turning it around so Albus could read, pointing at an article on the bottom of the page. Albus read out loud.
"Here are the final candidates for this year's Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile award, chosen by our readers. Below you can find all you need to know about this year's charming wizards, so you can make an informed decision... "
Albus looked at Rose with a confused and slightly disgusted expression. "What's all this rubbish? What do I care about this stupid award?" he asked.
"Not there, silly," Rose said, rolling her eyes. "The last bit. There." She said pointing with her finger at the last portion of the article.
"Rita Skeeter reports for our celebrity gossip column. Attention readers: according to several eye-witnesses, fourth year teenage heartthrob Albus Potter is once again single, and apparently not wasting his time.
If we are to believe in the reports, his year-long relationship with Ravenclaw Emily Stark has come to a crashing end—hexes and screaming included— after he was sighted in an extremely friendly situation with another girl, whose name is yet to be revealed, inside the Three Broomsticks pub in the town of Hogsmeade (Oh, Albus, you naughty boy!). So get in line, girls, because the emerald-eyed Potter boy is single and ready for some action!"
Albus read softer and softer as the words registered. Then he stared at the article for a while, processing the information. He felt the excitement of the day shatter at the realization that the news of his breakup had spread like wildfire in just one day.
Just like he had feared.
He ripped the page off the newspaper and stuffed it into his robes, ignoring Rose's indignant outcry. His mind was blank. How had they known? How had they known so fast?
Albus stalked out of the room without eating anything. He walked back to the Slytherin common room to get his broom so he could go fly. Maybe that would calm him. His heart was pounding fast and his brain was working hard, filled with anger.
As he walked out of the castle and to the fields with his Broomstick in his hand, he heard someone calling him from behind.
"Al, wait up!" Lorcan shouted, trotting after him.
"What do you want?" hissed Albus, not bothering to look back.
"Wow, someone's having a bad day."
Albus looked at Lorcan, who had started to walk beside him.
"I'm fucking raving Lorc, so don't push it," he spat, walking hastily towards the Quidditch pitch.
"Why, is it because Emily broke up with you?" asked Lorcan, venturing to ask, knowing full well that it was dangerous. Lorcan knew Albus since they were kids though, so he knew perfectly well how to handle it.
"She didn't break up with me! It was a mutual agreement!" Albus replied, almost shouting. He knew that by now everybody in the school would already know about his breakup.
"Then why are you so mad?"
"I don't know how everyone found out!, nobody was supposed to know about it!" Albus said, combing his hair to the side angrily as the wind fought to untidy it.
"Well...who did you tell?" asked Lorcan cautiously.
"I didn't tell anyone. You know I never do, Lorc! I just wrote Emily a letter and—" Albus made a full stop in the middle of the grounds. Realization suddenly sinking in. It felt like a punch to his stomach.
"...Scorpius." he breathed finally, looking to the horizon with an air of defeat.
"Malfoy? You told MALFOY?" asked Lorcan, looking at Albus with definite bewilderment, emphasising the word Malfoy every time.
"I...yes..." Albus muttered. "He was there, he suggested the idea..." his tone was absent, thinking fast about yesterday's events.
"Well, there you go then, Al." said Lorcan matter-of-factly, shrugging while putting his hands in his pockets.
"But...why?" Albus whispered, almost to himself, feeling completely empty, betrayal slowly filling him.
"Well...who knows...Malfoys are bad seeds, Al; perhaps Scorpius wanted to clean his name by showing everybody that he's friends with you. After all, what better way to clean your name than to befriend the Potter family?" reasoned Lorcan, his theory making perfect sense. It hurt Albus deeply.
Albus didn't say another word, but his brain was thinking about a thousand things per second. How could I be so stupid, he asked himself repeatedly, How could I fall so easily for that?. What hurt him the most was that he really didn't understand what he felt for Scorpius anymore. Throughout the last week he'd felt particularly drawn towards him. There was something about the way Scorpius looked at him that made him feel so secure and peaceful. He had truly, honestly felt like Scorpius was the first person he could really trust, like he could tell him everything and he'd still feel safe. This feeling made the betrayal even more painful. He wanted to scream. Scream as loud as he could. He had fallen so easily for it; He had been SO stupid. Trust Scorpius Malfoy? It sounded outright insane now. There was no one, no one trustworthy, and he wouldn't allow himself to trust anyone ever again. He couldn't believe he ever thought Malfoy could be his friend; he couldn't believe he had almost kissed him last night. The very thought of that scenario made him clench his teeth and hands in rage. Fuelling his shame and anger even further.
The whirlwind of thoughts didn't cease once he reached the pitch and mounted his broom. Even as he dashed through the air he couldn't get rid of the intoxicating pain in his chest. He felt like he wanted to cry. Scorpius' betrayal spawned so much anger that he didn't enjoy flying one second. He started shooting through the air at an incredible speed, the wind drying the scarce small teardrops that fell from his eyes.
He looked to the side and he felt a knot in the pit of his stomach: he saw Scorpius there, sitting on one of the benches, looking at him with a smile on his face. His silver eyes piercing him.
He felt his heart shrinking and he sped up towards the other end of the pitch. He couldn't take his mind off those shining grey eyes. Those eyes that made him feel so secure and calm. Those eyes that looked at him every night, making his walls crumble. Those deceiving eyes, so beautiful and poisonous.
The prick probably thinks I still want him around me, thought Albus, looking at the blond boy at the other end of the pitch. He finally started slowing down, heading towards the ground. He unmounted his broom just in front of Lorcan.
"Still coming across as a bit of a showoff, but nice moves altogether, Al!" he said, patting Albus on the shoulder while the boy passed a hand through his hair to comb it. "Just try not to fly against the rings this time, eh?"
Albus saw Scorpius in the distance, approaching him with a hasty walk.
"Oh, look who's coming. I better go," said Lorcan, noticing Scorpius in the distance. He walked away quickly, and Albus turned away too, starting to walk towards the changing rooms.
"Al, wait up!" Scorpius screamed through the pitch.
Albus made a full stop and turned with a furious face.
"Don't fucking call me Al, Malfoy! that's Albus to you," he bellowed through gritted teeth.
Scorpius looked confused. "Wha-"
"Listen, I don't know you, and you're definitely not my friend," said Albus, crashing his index finder against Scorpius' chest. "And just because I'm a Potter doesn't mean you have the right to assume that you fucking know me already." He turned around and continued to walk away.
"What are you talking about?" Scorpius asked, completely paralysed by Albus' sudden humour change.
Albus stopped and turned again.
"Oh, you don't know what I'm talking about? That's funny. Here, let me help you clear your memory," spat Albus, and drew out the piece of paper from his pocket, throwing it square on Scorpius' face.
"I don't want you near me, Malfoy. Not now, not ever," he said, and pushed Scorpius back before he could pick up the paper. Scorpius stumbled backwards, but didn't fall, taken aback by Albus' behaviour. The dark haired boy turned around and walked hastily to the changing rooms.
"Albus–" whispered Scorpius, watching him go.
"Piss off!" Albus screamed while walking to the changing rooms with his broomstick over his shoulder, leaving Scorpius standing in the middle of the pitch.
Albus looked back before crossing the doors and saw Scorpius still in the middle of the pitch, with the piece of paper in his hands, reading it with an expression of absolute horror.
By lunchtime that same day, Albus was called by the Transfiguration professor, Mrs. Wasilewski, who had seen him flying during the morning and so asked him to go to her office. Albus reluctantly said he was fine and ready to go back to classes by Monday, still with so many things in his head that he couldn't quite follow what Mrs Wasilewski was telling him. When he left the office, the corridors were filled with students walking towards the Great Hall for lunch. He also suddenly noticed that Scorpius was behind him, walking fast to reach him. He was still in a foul mood, as angry as he could possibly be with Scorpius.
"What do you want?" he spat, turning around to face Scorpius.
"Albus, about the article, I didn't–"
"Let me guess, you didn't think I would get angry, right? You thought it was perfectly fine to tell everybody everything about me. Because I'm a Potter, and apparently the world is entitled to know every single fucking detail about my life. You thought I wouldn't mind, that I'd just ignore it and we'd still be friends..."
"Albus I didn't say anything–"
"Don't fucking lie to me, Malfoy! I know it was you. You just had to tell everyone how close you had become with me, didn't you?" Albus shouted, grabbing everyone's attention. "You couldn't wait to tell everyone that you knew everything about me. Because I'm that stupid, and I thought I could trust you. You're a fucking liar, Scorpius!" he finished, glaring at him with fury.
"Albus, listen to me–"
"No, Malfoy, I'm done listening to you. I don't care what you have to say. I should've known from the very beginning that you were up to no good. I should've known. What else did you tell the newspaper? huh? I bet you told them all about the Treatment, I bet you also told them that we–"
Before he could say another word, Scorpius launched his fist against him and punched him square in the face, leaving Albus completely taken aback. He noticed that everyone in the hallway was looking at them.
"Shut the fuck up, Albus!" shouted Scorpius, "If it wasn't for me you'd still have your sorry arse at the hospital wing and out of your stupid Quidditch tournament. The least I expect is a little bit of gratitude, but No!, Mr. Potter is too damn important to waste his time with such nonsense, isn't he?" he spat, staring dangerously at Albus in the eyes.
"Well guess what, I don't give a damn that you're the son of Harry Potter, I'm not gonna stay with my arms crossed while you call me a liar in front of everyone for no reason at all. If you don't wanna believe me, fine, I couldn't care less, but don't go around assuming that everyone is so bloody interested in your pathetic social life. Stop being so full of yourself, Potter." he finished with venom in every word. He turned around and stalked away without looking back.
"Albus, Albus!" he heard someone screaming from behind. He turned around and saw Emily Stark approaching swiftly.
"I've been trying to find you all day!" she said stopping in front of him, panting. "I–I'm sorry about the Daily Prophet thing...I...I wanted to hide it, but Vera had already read it when I found it on my bed." Emily confessed, talking fast, with a look of pain on her face.
"What?" Albus asked. He couldn't understand Emily, since she'd come out of the blue talking about Vera and the letter when he had been rubbing his cheek, trying to ease the pain of Scorpius's fist while thinking about what had just occurred.
"Vera Davis, my roommate, she saw the letter on my bed and opened it before I even had the chance to hide it. She told Luvia, and Amanda overheard. I'm so sorry Albus!" explained Emily, apologising. Everybody knew that Vera couldn't keep a secret if her life depended on it, and everybody knew, also, that Amanda was Rita Skeeter's niece. So chances were that if she heard some gossip about Albus, it would end up in the news by the next morning.
The realisation of Albus' grave mistake hit him harder than Scorpius's fist. His gaze lost in thought, forgetting about Emily and the rest of the students around him.
"Albus, are you listening to me?" came Emily's voice, urgent and wavering.
"No. I...I just realised, I've made a terrible mistake..." said Albus, almost talking to himself. How stupid had he been...
He had to find Scorpius. He had to find him and apologize a hundred times now, before it was too late.