Hello all! Sorry about the ridiculously long wait. I tried to write this chapter about 10 times. I'm still not thrilled with it but maybe you all can give me some advice. The characters just aren't developing quite the way I want them to. Anyways, hoping to help my procrastination I've set my official posting days to Wednesdays. So look forward to that. Hope you enjoy.
"They have to be fake!" Wendy yelled.
"Really. The girl is sixteen. Boobs don't just grow miraculously when you're that old." Stephanie added.
"All I'm saying is that they felt real." Jaysen shrugged, taking a sip out of the large bottle he was holding.
"Well depending on what charm she used they could get real small pretty soon." Tess added, reaching out to take the bottle from him, so she could have some herself.
"Yeah I hear the cheaper charm you buy the worst side effects you get." Andrew contributed with a chuckle.
"What do they like explode or something?" Jaysen asked suddenly nervous, despite his cocky attitude just a moment earlier.
"They get lopsided! Sometimes they can even end up being smaller then they were originally."
Scorpius sat with his friends on the top of the astronomy tower, content to just listen to the gossip. The seven Slytherins hadn't been on the roof for more than an hour, but they wasted no time cracking open a bottle of fire whiskey, and then another, which was already almost half empty. Scorpius reached out and grabbed the bottle as it was passed around again. Tipping it back he took a drink before passing it on.
He felt a dopey smile begin to form on his lips as the group in front of him continued their debate about Samantha Wraughtin's chest. Scorpius was surprised to find how light his head felt. Normally Scorpius held his liquor rather well. Part he figured must have been genetics because he rarely experienced hangovers, but an equal part was training. Scorpius had drank a lot of alcohol in the past six years, and every year it took more and more to get him buzzed. Scorpius shook his head gently deciding not to think about how much he had drank, and instead just to enjoy the sensation. Closing his eyes Scorpius thought about Samantha Wraughtin, and how plain she had been last year.
"How long do you think the charm will last for?" Scorpius asked, interjecting in the conversation.
"There's really no way for us to know that Scorpius." Sullivan answered laughing.
"You just want to try them out before they shrivel up and fall off." Stephanie said sounding disgusted. Scorpius simply shrugged in return.
"I'm telling you, definitely worth it." Jaysen said with a smirk.
"You boys are all repulsive." Tess shook her head.
"I take offense to that." Sullivan replied.
"Excuse me, Sully" Tess responded with a roll of her eyes. "You are millennium beyond these Neanderthals."
"Yeah, and what about me?" Andrew asked, scooting closer to Tess, "What do you think about me?"
"You'll do." She replied. Andrew mocked anger before Tess leaned over and put her head on his shoulder.
The whole group got very quiet. Scorpius leaned his head up and gazed at the stars. He started to wish that he had taken astronomy, because he really did like the stars sometimes. They gave you this sense of wonder and hope, or maybe that was just the alcohol. There was a peaceful silence among the group as everyone just sat and enjoyed the beautiful night.
Suddenly there was a loud crack from behind them. Wendy squealed, and Jaysen yelled out 'what the fuck'. Looking back to source of the noise Scorpius noticed that the trap door to the roof had been opened but there was no one there. Casting a quick lumos with his wand, Scorpius held it out in the direction of the trapdoor, but he still couldn't see anyone.
"Whose there?" he called angrily.
There was no response and the group all seemed to tense.
"I said whose there!" Scorpius repeated with more force.
This time something did happen. Before where empty space had been, Albus Potter appeared out of thin air. Scorpius noticed that he held a large cloak in one hand and a wadded up piece of parchment in the other. He made a mental note to ask about them later.
"Well, well, well." Andrew called, "If it isn't our little lion."
Once Albus pulled his cloak off the entire group seemed to relax. He stood in front of the trap door unsure of what to do next.
"If it isn't our little lion." Andrew called out. Albus tried to smile and take the nickname as a friendly gesture even though he knew it wasn't.
Albus glanced over to look at Scorpius. When Scorpius saw him looking he smiled and waved him to come over and sit down.
Albus walked over slowly, putting the map in the pocket of jeans as he went. He realized it probably wasn't a good idea for these kids to know about the map. They would take "mischief" to a whole new level.
"We didn't think you were going to come" Scorpius said as Albus sat down. "You're a little late."
Albus glanced around the circle of Slytherins and noticed the empty bottle of firewhiskey. Then he saw the half empty bottle that was currently being held by Stephanie.
Stephanie saw Albus looking at the bottle and held it out to him. "You want some?" she asked smiling. Albus didn't reach out to take it, or even respond.
"Oh come on," Jaysen yelled, "Don't be such a pussy."
Albus sighed and reached out for the bottle. Taking it in his hands he could smell the liquid inside and it made him nervous. Albus didn't drink very often, and he never drank whiskey. Glancing around the group Albus saw that they were all watching him and waiting for him to drink. He lifted the bottle to his lips and took a large gulp of the clear liquid. Swallowing, he felt his throat become hot and irritated. A moment later Albus started coughing uncontrollably. Andrew who was sitting next to him gave him a heavy pat on the back.
"We'll have to work on that." Andrew muttered.
Wendy who was sitting on his other side commented, "You should have some more, we're all a lot more drunk than you are."
Albus glanced at her and could tell by her appearance that she was indeed very drunk. He took her advice and drank some more, although this time a smaller gulp. When he successfully had swallowed that without coughing he passed the bottle along.
"Everyone was talking about you at dinner today Albus." Stephanie said after a moment, trying to start a conversation.
Albus heard a disgruntled noise rise out of his throat. He really was hoping to avoid that topic, but it was probably inevitable.
"Apparently you had a big screaming match with that ginger cousin of yours." Jaysen continued.
"You know, using the description 'ginger' doesn't exactly narrow down my list of cousins all that much." Albus replied with a look of disregard towards Jaysen. There was a moment of silence after his words had been spoken, then Wendy began to laugh.
"I think that's the most I've ever heard you say." She giggled, "You're funny." She gave him a sweet smile, one that Albus couldn't help but return.
"So Albus," Scorpius started, "What exactly did happen in the Great Hall?"
Looking back over to Scorpius, Albus decided that everyone already knew what the argument had been about, but they were going to make him tell the story anyways. Albus reached out for the bottle and took a large gulp before speaking.
"Well, the first thing you should know is that I'm gay."
"What do you mean you've never kissed anyone?" Tess yelled out in drunken horror.
"I mean exactly that." Albus responded with a smile. His head was all fuzzy and his words were a little slurred, but he felt great.
"Wait, like no one, EVER?" Andrew asked incredulously.
"That's pretty much the idea of never Andrew." Albus replied.
After Albus had recounted his version of the Great Hall disaster to the group they had immediately started grilling him about his most personal secrets and details about his life. Albus was 'ruining the game' according to Jaysen, because he had no secrets to tell. He had never snuck out, gotten drunk, lied to his parents, stolen, or had any sort of romantic encounter.
"You make me feel like I'm some sort of sleaze." Wendy moped.
"You are a sleaze Wendy." Scorpius responded, "You get around more than any of us."
Wendy seemed to think about this for a moment. "I dunno, Scorp, you're sleazy too. You have sex all the time." She said, pointing an accusing finger at him.
"You do?" Albus asked. Immediately after saying it, Albus wished he could take it back. His drunken self seemed to have a lot less control of his mouth.
"Yeah. It's not my fault though. Girls can't keep their hands off me." Scorpius replied with a chuckle.
For some reason Wendy found this hilariously funny, she laughed so hard that she fell backwards. Albus reached out his hand to help her up but she pulled him down to lay with her instead.
"Look at the stars Albus." She said dreamily, "Aren't they amazing?"
Albus laid down next to her and gazed up at the stars. They were beautiful. In astronomy he had always had to map them, make sense of them, and memorize constellations. It was much more powerful to just breathe them all in.
"Look there." Albus said pointing, "It's Draco." Albus had always been able to find the dragon constellation the easiest. "They say that Draco was the dragon that fought Minerva during the wars between the giants and the gods. Minerva threw Draco's twisted body into the heavens before it had time to unwind itself. And he had been immobilized amongst the stars ever since."
"Albus you are sooooo smart!" Wendy giggled. Sitting up, she told Scorpius, "Albus found your dad Scor!" She then laid back down. "Do Scorpius next."
Albus looked back up in the sky, trying to ignore the amused look on Scorpius' face.
"There it is," Albus said after a moment. Scorpius was a much trickier constellation, but Albus had a lot of practice finding it. "See, the tail, and the head and the claws?" He pointed up and Wendy nodded.
"What's the story?" Jaysen asked.
"The hunter Orion bragged to the gods that he was strong enough to kill every animal on the entire earth. The gods were angered by his pride so they sent monsters to kill him. The scorpion was the only animal strong enough to defeat Orion. Because of its strength and bravery the gods raised it into the heavens to remain forever. Later Orion was also put into the sky by the gods but still afraid of the scorpion Orion remains in the sky only in the winter and flees every summer as Scorpius comes."
"Wow." Albus heard Tess say.
"You know muggles believe they are all just balls of burning gas floating millions of miles away." Sullivan said. Everyone just seemed to ignore him.
Albus was still staring up at the constellation. Scorpius really was the most beautiful constellation.
"Ahh! Scorpius did you hear that," Wendy squealed, "Albus said your stars were the prettiest."
Shit! Had he said that aloud? He watched as Scorpius turned and smirked at him.
"Thanks." The blond replied with a grin.
Albus felt his face heat up as he looked away from Scorpius.
There was a tense moment of awkward silence before Andrew spoke up. "You're a lot cooler than I would expect Albus." He said.
Although Albus appreciated that Andrew had filled the uncomfortable silence he was also confused why the Slytherin thought he was cool, especially since Albus had probably just said one of the most embarrassing things in his life.
Andrew, apparently not done praising Albus, continued. "You know I thought you were going to be this geek, who would never sneak out or drink, but here you are."
"Here I am." Albus repeated distantly. He laughed a little at the fact that just a few hours ago he would have fought an angry centaur before meeting with Scorpius and his friends. Now he was having a good time and feeling much happier, although that was mostly probably due to the alcohol.
"I dunno why you haven't got more friends Albus." Tess said next. "Maybe you just don't belong in Gryffindor, you should be a Slytherin like us." She giggled.
"The sorting hat was of the same opinion." Albus mumbled.
"What did you say?" Jaysen asked.
"The sorting hat thought I should be in Slytherin too. My brother James found out about it and spread a rumor that I was really a Slytherin and was a house traitor. That's why I don't have many friends. People just always avoided me, and I'm not very outgoing so I just spend a lot of time alone." Albus realized that he hadn't told that story to anyone. Looking around, no one in the circle looked particularly surprised, so maybe they already knew why he was an outcast, but still it felt good to get it off of his chest.
"POOR ALBY!" Wendy yelled out with an exaggerated sob. "Don't worry I'll be your friend!" She leaned over and wrapped him in a side hug.
"Thanks." Albus said with a small smile.
"I'll curse your brother next time I see him." Sullivan said, "Your cousin too while I'm at it."
"Oh, lemme help." Jaysen said, "I hate that James Potter. Ever since he became head boy he walks around with his nose in the air like some big prick." Jaysen turned to look at Albus as if just realizing James was his brother, "No offense." He added.
"Not necessary." Albus replied. "My brother and I aren't exactly the greatest of pals."
Sullivan and Jaysen started to discuss the many different ways that they could curse James Potter without getting caught. Meanwhile Andrew finished the last of the third bottle of firewhiskey. He got up and tossed the bottle off of the tower before sitting back down.
"Um guys." Tess said a minute later, "I think Steph is asleep."
Sure enough, when Albus looked, he saw that Stephanie, although still sitting up, had slumped over onto Tess and was currently asleep.
"Well, that's our sign." Scorpius said with a sigh. "Come on, time to go back."
There were a few whines and grumbles of protest, but everyone started to stand up, and Tess gently shook Stephanie awake.
As Albus started to stand up he found that maintaining his balance was a lot harder than normal. He staggered and felt as if he was about to fall when a hand reached out and steadied him.
"Careful now." Scorpius said. "I had no idea that you were such a lightweight."
Albus blushed, unsure of how to respond. Was being a lightweight a bad thing?
"Here, just lean on me." Scorpius said, taking Albus' hand in his own. If Albus hadn't been drunk he most likely would have fainted. He was holding hands with Scorpius Malfoy! Instead of being nervous, Albus felt as if the whole thing was a dream. He leaned into Scorpius carefully and laid his head on the other boy's shoulder. The feeling of their hands and arms touching was the greatest thing Albus had ever felt. He let out a contented sigh and heard Scorpius chuckle.
"Alright, everyone ready?" Scorpius asked. Albus noticed that Stephanie was being carried by Sullivan, who was easily the most sober of them all. The rest of the group nodded, and so they started towards the trap door.
Scorpius descended the ladder first. Then Albus went down slowly, trying to pay close attention to his feet on the rungs of the ladder. When he was only a few steps away from the ground, he felt Scorpius' hands on the small of his back, spotting him. Fortunately Albus had no trouble reaching the ground, and once the other six were successfully down they set off again, with Albus and Scorpius leading.
As they walked, Scorpius kept leaning closer to Albus so that their shoulders brushed.
"So this had been an exciting day for you." Scorpius said quietly to Albus.
"I guess." Albus replied.
"I mean you came out of the closet, snuck out and got drunk." Scorpius said with a grin, "Most excitement you've had in your whole life."
"And to think, you are responsible for all three." Albus replied thoughtfully, "Maybe I should thank you."
The comment caught Scorpius off guard, and he stuttered for a moment, before going silent. Albus grinned, delighted that he was able to leave the Slytherin at a loss of words for once. Scorpius frowned at how happy Albus looked. He was about to say something when there was a loud call from down the hall.
"Hey, whose down there?" A familiar voice rang out.
"Fuck." Albus cursed under his breath, "It's my brother."
The moment Scorpius recognized the voice of James Potter, he knew he was in trouble. Once Albus too recognized his brother's voice, Scorpius realized he was in way more than just trouble. Not only were he and his friends walking around after curfew, they were drunk. Worse, they were carting around a drunken Albus Potter. James was going to assume that they lured his precious baby brother into their nightly antics to take advantage of him. Well, that was actually what they had been doing, but James Potter wasn't really supposed to figure that out.
The group had stopped moving as soon as they heard the Head Boy call out. No one spoke a word, and the hallway was completely silent. Scorpius hoped that perhaps James would just move on. But, alas, a moment later a faint glow of a wand was visible, and coming towards them.
Unsure of what to do, Scorpius stood there watching as the light got closer and closer. Meanwhile Albus had let go of his hand and seemed to be reaching into the pocket of his robes.
"Here." He said to Scorpius, handing him the corner of a cloak. Scorpius recognized it as the one that Albus had been holding when he appeared on the rooftop earlier. Albus handed the other corner to Jaysen, and quietly instructed the two to hold it up like a curtain in front of themselves, and for everyone else to get behind it and duck down.
Everyone followed Albus' direction, although Scorpius had no idea what was going on. Through the cloak, Scorpius realized he could see almost the entire hall clearly, almost as if the cloth was made of foggy glass. Scorpius continued to watch as the ball of light grew closer and closer. As James' face slowly came into view, the Head Boy also recognized his brother.
"Albus?" He asked incredulously.
"Hello James." Albus replied, walking over to his brother.
"Albus, what are you doing here?" His brother asked, holding out the wand to see if anyone was behind his brother. Scorpius sucked in his breath, sure that they would be spotted. However, James seemed to not see them at all. Was he blind? It wasn't as if cloaks floated around the halls of Hogwarts at random. Why didn't James suspect anything? Turning back to his brother James continued, without Albus' reply.
"Lily has been worried sick about you. She tried to find you all during dinner, but you never showed up." James seemed uneasy when he mentioned dinner, even Scorpius could see that.
"I went back to my dorm. I was having a bad day." Albus replied steadily.
"There was a lot of talk about you at dinner. Apparently you and Rosie got into this big fight." James continued.
"Yes. We did." Albus stated.
"What was it about?" James said quietly.
"I think you already know." Albus replied quieter still.
There was a long moment of silence. The group of Slytherins stood huddled behind the cloak not making a sound. After a long while James spoke again.
"You smell like alcohol." He stated simply.
"I was drinking." Albus confirmed.
"Who were you with?" James asked again, glancing behind his brother. He again didn't seem to see the Slytherins. "Where did you get alcohol."
"I was by myself." Albus said.
"Bullshit. You don't drink Albus, there's no way you just went off and got plastered for the heck of it."
"I'm not that drunk James. And if you must know I got drunk so that I could get away from my mind for a little while. Today pretty much sucked."
There was another moment of silence.
"Are you gay?" James said suddenly.
"…Yeah." Albus replied uneasily.
"Shit…" James mumbled under his breath. "Geez Albus, cant you ever do anything right?"
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Albus said, suddenly angry.
"It means that you don't fit in at school, you alienate all your friends, and now you're gay. You're just trying to make yourself miserable."
"Its not as if I woke up this morning and thought, I like dick now." Albus replied loudly, "I didn't exactly have a choice in the matter."
"Please, like you've ever even tried to have a girlfriend. You'd like it if you would just try it. But NOOOO, Albus, you have to be the black sheep. You have to be the odd one out. You just like the attention."
"FUCK YOU JAMES. That's a laugh coming from you. You are quite possibly the most attention seeking guy I've ever met."
"Well at least I do it in a way that makes people like me."
"Well at least I don't live a lie. Even though you've convinced everyone else that you're perfect, you're really just a pretentious asshole."
The Potter brothers had slowly raised the volume of their conversation until the two were practically screaming at one another.
"You know what Albus, you're just a pathetic loser, and no one is ever going to like you." James finished loudly. It was extremely silent after James' outburst, and in that moment Andrew let out a small sneeze. The sound carried extremely well in the quiet corridor. James looked around frantically. He moved away from his brother and started walking towards Scorpius and his friends slowly, looking around cautiously. James was about two feet from the cloak when Scorpius heard the sound of a faint sob. A moment later there was a louder sob. Albus had begun to cry. James turned back towards his brother quickly with a frantic look on his face.
"Ahh… geez. Al… Al I didn't mean it. I'm sorry. I just… I just. Geez." James was trying to reassure his brother but Albus just started crying harder.
"Yo-you hate me because I'm ga-gay." He choked out.
"No! Albus, it's ok that you're gay, really!" He brother said quickly.
"You think that I'm just do-doing it for attention." Albus whined, following the declaration with another loud sob.
"I take it back. I'm sorry Al." James said patting his brother on the back. Albus' sobs quieted a little and he looked up at his brother.
"Do you really mean it?" Albus asked in a quiet voice.
"Of course Albus. You're my brother." He said, as if that cleared up everything. "Come one, lets get you back to the common room. James put his arm around his brother, and a moment later they were walking down the hall, away from Scorpius and his friends. When they were about 30 feet away, Albus turned his head around and winked in their direction.
Once the brothers had turned the corner of the hall and were out of site Scorpius and Jaysen let the cloak drop.
"What the fuck just happened?" Jaysen whispered loudly.
"I believe that Albus Potter just saved all of our asses." Sullivan responded.
"And what the hell is this?" Jaysen asked holding up his corner of the cloak.
"An invisibilty cloak, obviously. What did you think that James Potter just really needed glasses?" Sullivan teased.
Scorpius looked at the cloak in his hand, finally understanding what it was.
"How the hell did Potter get his hands on an invisibility cloak?" Scorpius asked aloud.
"Dunno…" Sullivan responded.
"I like Albus." Wendy said.
"Me too." Stephanie slurred, barely conscious, still on Sullivan's back.
"You're both drunk." Scorpius said with a tone of disapproval. "Come on, let's go back."
With out another word the group moved down the hall quietly and made their way back to the dungeons.
A/N: I'm editing this chapter after a reviewer noticed a mistake, and I actually caught another one myself. For you astronomy nerds out there, I apologize. The Scorpius constellation is actually in the southern hemisphere, and therefore wouldn't be seen in Scotland. This is what happens when you don't do your research people!