Scorpius Malfoy was not having a good day. He had his hands (albeit covered in gloves) deep in some sort of dirt, although from the smell Scorpius was highly convinced it was mainly poop. They were supposed to be searching for some sort of beetle that lived in the poop-dirt. Their teacher earlier that week had taught them to follow a pinkish trail that the beetle left behind and then spot the bug at the end of it. Of course Scorpius hadn't gone to the class where that had been taught. He had been back in his dorm with this girl named Laura. He was sure paying for skipping class now.

Scorpius sighed and pulled his hands out of the large bucket in front of him. He had been searching for this beetle for roughly half an hour and wasn't allowed to leave until he found it. Really, he should have been suffering this torture with Jaysen, who hadn't shown up to class all week, except for today. However, the lucky bastard had somehow managed to get a bucket where the beetle was coming up for air. According to his teacher the beetles only needed to surface once or twice a day for oxygen, before going back down into the earth. Jaysen had delivered his beetle to the professor after about two minutes of class and had gotten to leave; free to enjoy the rest of his Friday afternoon. As Jaysen had left the room he had smirked at Scorpius, who in turn had sent his friend the finger. Some people had all the luck.

Forty minutes later Scorpius was the last student in the classroom. He suspected that his oaf of a teacher had purposely already taken his beetle out. For some reason the man hated Scorpius, even though they had barely any interactions over the last 6 years.

"Still at it, are yeh?" His professor asked suddenly from behind Scorpius.

"Yes sir…" Scorpius replied turning to look at his teacher. Professor Hagrid was a very large man. He was tall and wide and wore a large fur coat that made him look larger still. His hair and beard both grew about to his waist, and were streaked with grey and white. Hagrid had been teaching at Hogwarts since his father had been in school, and working there for even longer. He still looked relatively young for his age, given his giant's blood, but anyone could see that his years had started to take a toll.
"Well hurry up. I ain't got all day." He grunted before shuffling away.

Scorpius sighed and stuck his hands back in the gooey muck in front of him. His Care of Magical Creatures class wasn't the only thing that had put Scorpius in such a foul mood. For the past two weeks Scorpius had been trying to corner Albus Potter, but the boy was never anywhere to be found. At first Scorpius had thought it was just coincidence that he had never run into Albus. However, after a week, when he started searching for the Gryffindor it became obvious that Potter was avoiding him. Scorpius was convinced that if he could just get Albus alone for a minute the boy would be putty in his hands. He could probably convince him to do anything, and Albus undoubtedly knew it, which was why he was avoiding Scorpius.

Scorpius had gotten a complete schedule of Albus' classes. He knew where Potter should be every second of everyday, but somehow he always took a different route to class, or seemed to finish meals particularly early. Scorpius was starting to get seriously annoyed. Andy wouldn't stop teasing him about not being able to seduce a boy that was already in love with him. And Steph kept telling him the "I told you it wouldn't be that easy" speech. He was trying not to worry about it, despite all this though. It wasn't as if Albus could ignore him forever.

"And we will pick up the rest on Tuesday class," Professor Langing-Tair said dismissing her class for the afternoon, "Enjoy your weekend."

There was a loud shuffle of books and paper and the loud scrape of chairs being scooted as all the students hurried to leave the classroom. Albus Potter sat in the second row and was jotting down a last few ideas in his notes. Once he finished he starting packing up his books and when he went to stand up he noticed someone was waiting for him.

"Austin." Albus said with a smile. Austin was another sixth-year Gryffindor, and they shared a dorm. While Austin and him had never been close they had a few classes together this year and sat next to each other in them. They also helped each other on homework, or rather Albus helped Austin.

"You have any plans tonight?" Austin asked with a small grin.

"Oh, you know me. My whole weekend is filled with exciting things to do." Albus replied sarcastically.

"Well I was hoping to get these charts done tonight since I have loads of Quidditch this weekend, but I don't really understand how to do them. Help me?" Austin put on a sweet, almost desperate smile that made Albus grin.

"Sure, it's no problem. Besides then I'll get them out of the way early as well."

Austin looked relieved, "Thanks Albus, you're a big help. I don't know what I was thinking taking Ancient Runes again. I haven't got the time, especially now with Quidditch."

Albus nodded as if he understood what Austin was talking about, although he didn't. Albus had nothing but time to do homework, a fact he had accepted by his sixth year.

"Going back to the common room?" Austin asked him as they walked out of the classroom.

"No, I'm going down to visit Hagrid. I'll be there in a while."

"Well, why don't we plan on meeting in the common room after dinner?" Austin asked.

"Perfect, see you then." Albus responded with a wave, and the two separated. Albus hopped down the stairs that led to the main entrance of Hogwarts. He hadn't talked to Hagrid at all since school had started, besides a greeting or two in the hallway, and it was about time that they caught up. Exiting the castle from two giant oak doors Albus stepped outside and took a deep breath of fresh air. It had gotten slightly colder since the term had started, but the sun was still shining out and Albus felt amazing. The past two weeks had been better for him than he thought possible.

Rosie had kept to her word and been more supportive of him. This meant that she sat with him at meals and talked to him in the common room and treated him like the good friends that they were. Her other friends weren't too happy with the development, but she must have said something to them, because they didn't make fun of him as much anymore and put up with his presence. Even Jeremy had elected to simply ignore Albus' company, and this pleased Albus more than anything. If Jeremy pretended that Albus wasn't there, then Albus could pretend that Jeremy wasn't there. The whole situation worked out perfectly.

There were plenty of other things that were keeping Albus happy too. His classes had all started and he thought they were all wonderful. Everything he was learning was interesting and the workload wasn't even half as bad as last year during OWLs.

The horrible little episode from two weeks ago was now just a distant memory. Albus hadn't come in contact with Scorpius since the event. However, this was not by accident. Albus had tried his best to avoid Scorpius whenever possible, and had even physically run away from him a few times.

Albus didn't want to talk to Scorpius because he was embarrassed. He was embarrassed that he had allowed himself to be tricked, embarrassed that Scorpius knew about his crush, and even more embarrassed that after the whole incident he still liked Scorpius. It would be best if Albus didn't see the Slytherin for the rest of the year, and although that was highly unlikely Albus was planning on keeping it up as long as possible.

Walking down the school grounds, after awhile the shape of Hagrid's classroom came into view. It was a two-story lodge that stood where Hagrid's old hut had been. His father told him that Hagrid's house was burnt down long ago in the war and that when the school was being rebuilt they decided to combine Hagrid's new house with a classroom, so that his classes could be held outside, where it was easiest to control the wildlife. Hagrid lived on the top floor of the lodge, while his creatures, office and classroom were below.

Walking up to the door of the classroom Albus figured that Hagrid would be cleaning up from his last class of the day. Albus pulled hard on the heavy door and walked inside.

Not seeing anyone in the room Albus called out, "Hagrid?" As soon as he had spoken he saw something out of the corner of his eye. Turning he noticed someone sitting in the corner of the room. Someone who was currently looking at him with an ever-widening smirk.

"Oh shit…"

In the past couple weeks Albus had thought a lot about the conversation he had with his cousin. Rosie had told him to experiment, to let his thoughts wander, and he had taken her advice. Since that conversation Albus had thoughts had wandered all over the place, but no matter who or what he tried to focus on his thoughts always came back to Scorpius Malfoy. He thought about a boy in his Transfiguration class, but ended up comparing his jaw to Scorpius'. He looked at a girl in his Potions class, but she just didn't have the long, lean fingers that Scorpius did. As much as Albus had attempted to avoid Scorpius, his mind had done nothing but obsess about the blond for weeks.

Fantasizing about someone nonstop made it rather awkward to come in contact with them. When Albus noticed Scorpius sitting in the corner of Hagrid's classroom, he considered simply turning around and walking out. He even told his feet to move, and move away fast, but they wouldn't. Albus had been avoiding Scorpius for so long because his head told him to but no other part of Albus wanted to be away from the Slytherin. In fact, the rest of Albus wanted to be as close to Scorpius as possible. So he stood there, saying nothing. He watched as Scorpius peeled off some mud-covered gloves and walked over to where Albus was standing.

"Fancy seeing you here." Scorpius said softly once he was standing in front of Albus. Albus tried to respond, but realized that he had been holding his breath. He took a slow deep breath, but at the end of it he realized that he still had nothing to say. Scorpius seemed to pick up on this and he continued.

"Haven't seen you around in the past couple weeks." There was a tone in his voice that led Albus to believe that Scorpius knew he had been avoiding him. "Ever since… well you know…"

Albus looked up at Scorpius now, and saw that the boy looked embarrassed. Albus nodded and gave a small hum to show that he remembered, but chose to say nothing.

"Albus. I want to apologize, you know for my friends. They aren't usually like that. I think they just get bored and need something exciting. I really didn't know that they were going to turn on you like that." Scorpius said quietly.

This time Albus didn't even bother looking up. He didn't want to look at Scorpius' face and start to believe the things that the boy was saying. Of course Scorpius had known what was going to happen! Scorpius was their little ringleader, and none of his friends did anything that the blond didn't know about. Scorpius had turned on him just like the rest of the group, although silently, and now he was trying to lure Albus back in. Scorpius was putting on this gentle, kind face just like last time. He was preying on Albus' feelings and Albus knew it. He also knew that he couldn't allow himself to be tricked like last time. Albus had to be stronger than that. Scorpius Malfoy thought he was so popular and powerful, but Albus would show him that he couldn't push everyone around.

Albus still hadn't looked up from the ground when he felt a light touch on his chin. Suddenly his face was being pulled up, and his eyes met directly with Scorpius'. The boy's hands stayed on his chin and Scorpius leaned in. Albus couldn't breath. He didn't move or speak.

"Albus I mean it." Scorpius said softly. He let his hand drop, but didn't lean away. "Please don't be upset about what happened. I'm not upset, I'm really happy. And I want to see you again."

No sooner had the words come out of Scorpius' mouth when a loud pounding could be heard above them. Hagrid was coming down the stairs. Albus looked alarmed and started to move away, but Scorpius grabbed his hand and pulled him close again.

"Tonight, 11 o'clock, astronomy tower. Meet us there." Scorpius whispered into Albus' ear.

"What's all this abou'?" A loud voice from behind made Albus jump up in fright. He looked past Scorpius and saw the huge frame of Hagrid, standing not 10 behind them.

"I found the beetle professor." Scorpius said without missing a beat. "I put it on your desk." He continued, gesturing across the room. "I'll be off then, have a good weekend."

With that Scorpius Malfoy collected his bag and walked out of the room. Before closing the door behind him Scorpius turned and gave Albus a wink, then he was gone.

"Don't think I missed tha'"Hagrid said, lumbering over to Scorpius' desk to move his bucket of mud. Albus felt his face go bright red. What had just happened? He was pretty sure that he had a conversation with Scorpius, but he hadn't even said a word. Had Scorpius asked him out? Did Scorpius like him?

Albus took a deep breath. He tried to calm himself down, and remind himself that Scorpius was just messing with him, playing on his emotions. He couldn't trust a boy like that.

"Now, would you mind tellin' me what you were talkin' to Scorpius Malfoy fer?" Hagrid asked. Albus turned around and faced the giant man.
"Nothing at all Hagrid." Albus said quickly.

"Now don' gimme that." Hagrid shook his head and he gave Albus a serious look.

"Don't worry about it Hagrid." Albus replied, "He's started teasing me this year. But it's all friendly and fun. He just thinks that he is really funny. I don't mind."

Hagrid stared at Albus for a very long time, almost as if he could tell that Albus was lying to him. After a moment he shook his head again and went back to tidying his room.

"Well if yer sure its nothing…" he trailed off. Albus sighed in relief and walked farther into the room.

"But, let me just tell yeh this Albus. Those Malfoys are a rotten bunch, the whole lot of 'em. Scorpius is no different. I jus want yeh to be careful around him is all." Hagrid waited for Albus to nod and then waved him up the stairs. "Come on then. I'll make yeh some tea."

Albus started to climb the stairs and had to smile to himself. Be careful, around Scorpius? It simply wasn't possible.

After a good hour of talking and after being forced a few cups of herbal tea Hagrid let Albus go. He pulled the boy in a giant bear hug, made him promise to visit soon, and asked him to try and bring his brother next time. Albus said he would, even though he couldn't guarantee anything that had to do with James. He waved goodbye to Hagrid and walked back towards the castle. It was around dinnertime but Albus figured he would have a quick moment to go back to his common room and throw his bag down.

As he headed up to the Gryffindor tower Albus started humming. He was feeling good. He had told Hagrid all about his classes sixth year, and about his internship in Saudi Arabia. He had allowed himself to forget about his interaction with Scorpius, and had been able to relax.

Besides, it wasn't as if Albus would even have considered meeting Scorpius in the first place. He had learned his lesson the last time. Besides, Albus wasn't as insecure as last time he had bumped into the Slytherin. Sure, he didn't have the most friends, but he had Rosie, and he was feeling happier at school. Albus wasn't some desperate kid who would be Scorpius' little puppet. He had morals and standards and he was sticking to them!

There had been one thing that bothered Albus about his interaction with Scorpius though. At one point Scorpius said that he wasn't upset, that he was happy about what had happened in the forest. What had he meant? That he was happy about Albus getting bullied? Or had he been trying to tell Albus the he was happy about the crush? Albus shook his head suddenly. It didn't matter he decided. He wasn't going to meet Scorpius, and he wasn't going to talk to Scorpius. He didn't care about Scorpius.

Albus had reached the picture of the fat lady and was about to say the password when the portal opened from the other side, and someone came hurrying out. Albus immediately recognized it as Austin. He called out a greeting to his roommate and when Austin saw Albus he froze.

"Heading down to dinner?" Albus asked.

"Yeah…" Austin mumbled, as he tried to hurry past Albus.

Confused, Albus asked, "We're still doing homework later right?"

Austin stopped, turned and looked at Albus with some sort of mix of embarrassment but also disgust. "No. Were not." He spat out. Then he hurried down the hall before Albus had time to even process what had just happened.

"Well are you coming in or aren't you?" The shrill voice of the fat lady asked him. Albus was pulled out of his trance and walked through the portal. What in the hell had that been about? Albus had absolutely no explanation for Austin's behavior. He was still thinking about it when he walked into his dormitory a minute later. The three other boys were all sitting in the room and they grew deathly silent as Albus entered.

Albus walked over to his bed and set down his book bag. He was aware that all the boys were staring at him, but he was doing his best to ignore it. Finally Jeremy spoke.

"Hello Albus."

"Hello Jeremy." Albus replied without turning around.

"Do you have anything to tell us?" Jeremy asked slowly. Albus turned around and looked at him.

"Yeah. I'm going down to dinner now." He responded. "Is there anything else?"

"Yes. As a matter of fact there is. You've been keeping something from us Albus." Jeremy said in the same slow tone, it was really starting to freak Albus out.

"Oh yeah? And what exactly would that be?" Albus asked defiantly.

"How about the fact that you're a faggot!" Ian burst out suddenly. The room went silent as they all waited for Albus reaction. Albus just stood there. He didn't say anything, but his eyes went wide.

"Is it true Albus are you gay?" Jeremy continued. The last sixth year Gryffindor boy, Drew was sitting off on his bed, not looking at the three of them. He obviously felt extremely awkward in the situation. Drew was never a boy that liked a lot of confrontation, but Albus also knew that the boy wouldn't come to his aid either.

"You know Albus. When you live in a room with four other boys, that's not something you can keep to yourself." Jeremy kept talking but Albus was doing his best to block it out. "I mean, we all have a right to know. Why, I told Austin about it and he seemed very upset. He has a right to be. How do we know that you haven't been perving on us all these years? Watching us change, or in the bathrooms? It almost makes me sick to my stomach." Jeremy's last words were like knives stabbing into Albus.

If only Albus had a little more confidence maybe he could have responded with something witty like, "You're not much to look at. Or, even gay boys have standards." But Albus couldn't think clearly. All he could think was that Rose must have told. That was the only way Jeremy would have known.

"She told you." Albus finally said. It wasn't a question, simply a statement.

"We had a right to know Albus, you were the wrong one for not telling us- HEY!" Albus ran out of the room before he could hear the rest, of what Jeremy was going to say. He felt like he was going to cry, but didn't. None of what just happened felt real. All Albus had to do was go find his cousin. He would talk to Rosie and find out that it was all a big mistake, that she didn't betray him. He didn't even really believe it himself, but Albus needed something to hold onto. He ran towards the girls dorms and yelled out, "Has anyone seen Rose?"

"She already went to dinner Al. What's up?" The answer had come from his sister. Lily stood at the top of the girls dorm stairs, looking down on him with concern. Albus panicked, there was no way he could involve his sister in this. Instead of answering her question Albus yelled out a quick thanks and ran out of the common room.

When Albus arrived in the Great Hall, a little short of breath, he spotted his cousin quickly. Dinner wouldn't start for about another 15 minutes, so the hall was only about a quarter full. Heading over to his cousin, Rosie turned and noticed Albus from a ways off. Her face paled, and she looked a little nervous.

"Albus, you want to sit together for dinner?" she asked, motioning to a spot across from her. Amy and Grace were sitting next to her and they were both watching the interaction with extreme interest.

"You told him. Rose you TOLD Jeremy." Albus said, louder than he meant to, thankfully no one seemed to notice. The look on Rose's face turned from nervous to terrified.
"Albus! I didn't mean to, but he knew something was different about you, and he wanted to know what it was. He just wanted to be a better friend to you. Plus you guys are roommates, I thought it was okay if he knew!"

"Rose, you're boyfriend doesn't give a shit about me! He only cares that I'm spending more time with you, he HATES me!"
"Albus that's not true!" Rose exclaimed.

"BULLSHIT!" Albus yelled. This time, people did notice, and a few of them turned and looked at the two fighting cousins.

"Albus," Rose continued softly. "He has a right to know, all of them did."

Albus couldn't believe what he was hearing. Not only did his cousin tell his secret to his worst enemy, but she wasn't even sorry! She was justifying it, because she thought he was some kind of creep who would prey on his roommates, more specifically her disgusting boyfriend. Albus couldn't stop himself from crying now.

"Albus, please don't be upset." Rose said, reaching for his hand.

Albus yanked it away. "No!" he said, backing up. "FUCK YOU. I said I wasn't even sure Rose, and you promised me you wouldn't tell. I'm not even fucking sure!" By now Albus was practically sobbing, and he was obviously drawing a lot of attention from the other students around. "I am upset. I'm fucking upset!"

"I'm- I'm sorry Albus." Rose said softly. But Albus couldn't take it, he couldn't take the pity in her eyes. He turned and ran out of the Great Hall as fast as he could.

When he finally stopped running Albus had no idea where he was. He had tried to run as far away as he could to get away from any students. When he got tired of roaming the halls, he opened the first door he could find and walked inside. There was a large chalkboard on one wall, but beside that the classroom was completely empty. Albus fell to his knees and sobbed. He laid down on the floor and just let go. How could Rosie have done that to him? She was supposed to be his best friend, but she just betrayed him like it was nothing. The more Albus thought about it, the more depressed he became.

After awhile Albus came to a conclusion. He couldn't rely on Rosie anymore. She had always been his pillar of support, he always ran to her when he needed help, and she had always been there for him. Well, not anymore. Rosie cared more about her friends and her boyfriend then she did about Albus. In order to not be hurt anymore he was going to have to learn to let her go and deal with his problems himself. It was a hard realization to come to, but Albus actually felt a little better afterwards. He was upset that his cousin didn't care about him enough, but at least he wouldn't have to stand back and let her control him anymore. He was free to hate Jeremy and Ian and Grace and Amy as much as he wanted. That thought actually made Albus laugh a little.

There was still something else that Albus had to decide once and for all. After his little outburst in the Great Hall, and with Jeremy's help Albus' little news was sure to spread around the school in a few days. That meant the Albus had to decide, was he gay? This conclusion came a lot quicker than the last. Yes. Yes he was gay. He had been trying to avoid it, but accepting it felt so right that Albus knew it had to be true. He wasn't sure if he was comfortable with other people knowing, but at least he accepted it himself.

Albus sat up off of the floor and wiped his face on the sleeve of his jumper. He couldn't stay in this room all night, as much as he wanted to. The last thing he wanted to do was sleep in his dorm, or even see any of those boys ever again. That was when Albus remembered… there was something else he could do tonight. Something that he had promised himself he would never do again. But that promise seemed like a lifetime ago. He had just lost his best friend, and changed his sexuality. Albus was allowed to change his mind on other things, like associating him with Scorpius Malfoy again.

Besides, there was no way Scorpius or any of his friends could hurt Albus like Rose just had. Albus stood up and walked out of the room. He was going to do it, he decided. He was going to fall for the same exact trap as before, but he really didn't care. Anything would be better then laying around feeling sorry for himself. And with that he set off back to him common room.

By the grace of Merlin, Albus didn't come across anyone as he made his way back to the Gryffindor common room. When he got inside he immediately went up the stairs and into the 7th year boy's dorm. It was completely empty, which made sense; everyone was still at dinner. Albus made his way over to his brother's bed and opened James' trunk. He had to pull almost everything out, and then rooted around at the bottom until he found what he was looking for. He pulled out a wrinkled old piece of parchment, and a large dark blue cloak. Albus quickly shoved all the things back into his brother's trunk, and checked to make sure everything looked in order. Then he hurried back into his dorm and after changing out of his shirt that was covered in snot, climbed into bed. Albus pulled the curtains closed around his four-poster bed and laid down.

He closed his eyes and tried to drift to sleep. He would need the extra energy, he had a long night ahead of him.