Here's the deal. You don't mention how I suck at updating and I give you this chapter. Sound good?

Scorpius Malfoy walked the halls of Hogwarts silently fuming. He had left his friends behind in the dorm room just minutes ago. He couldn't handle how frustrated they were making him. Taking the cloak back to Albus seemed like a good way to get away from them all for a while.

However, as soon as he left the common room Scorpius noticed a few flaws in his plan. Number one, he had absolutely no idea where Albus Potter was or where to find him. Number two, although he had left his friends behind, he couldn't forget what they had said, and that was what had really bothered him. Number three, even if he did find Albus, which was his current intended goal, he wasn't even sure if he wanted to see the Gryffindor, since Albus was the one creating all the issues in the first place.

Scorpius sighed and glared at a couple of underclass Ravenclaws who happened to glance at him as they walked past. They quickly scampered away, leaving Scorpius in an empty hallway.

The Slytherin stopped walking for a moment in an attempt to collect his thoughts but it seemed to be futile. Ever since he had woken up he hadn't been able to stop thinking about Albus. It didn't help that the boy seemed to be all his friends were interested in discussing. Even in Scorpius' own mind he couldn't forget how much he had touched the boy or how every touch had made the Gryffindor blush like a little virgin. Geez, the boy probably was a virgin. A little gay virgin who had a fat crush on him. Scorpius let out a loud sigh. He did not like Albus Potter. Sure, the puppy love act was kind of cute, but that didn't mean that Scorpius was going to allow Albus to get the best of him. He definitely wasn't going to let Albus weasel his way into his friend group either, no matter how much Wendy seemed to want to adopt the guy like a sad little kitten.

It wasn't as if Scorpius would be against having a fling with a boy like Albus Potter, hell he had done it before with boys and it sure didn't bother him. The key was, boys like Albus Potter. He couldn't let himself get attached to "chosen one" junior, it was a matter of principle. Everyone worshipped the Potters, and their wonderful children were loved almost as much as Harry Potter himself. Scorpius on the other hand, had been raised in a family that was practically torn apart by the choices of him parents and grandparents, choices that people somehow blamed Scorpius for. Regardless of how "cute" Albus was, there were some things that couldn't be overlooked.

There was also the fact that Albus was a Gryffindor in general. Gryffindor's always took the longest to get into bed. Despite their obviously high libido, they had some deranged sense of honor, which usually called for monogamous relationships and a "meaningful" first time. Scorpius didn't really do meaningful, hence he tended to avoid Gryffindors unless he found a rare gem like Isabella Swane, who was just a whore through and through.

There, it was settled then, Scorpius decided. He wasn't going to go after Albus any longer. The boy wasn't worth the trouble. Instead Scorpius would end the little game today, when he returned the cloak, and watch the poor sap's face droop in pathetic disappointment. True, it wasn't exactly the broken and sobbing way he had hoped to leave Albus Potter, but it was the best Scorpius could come up with on short notice. Looking back, the plan was too risky even to begin with. Fuck around with a few first years and no one will say much. But fuck around with Albus Potter? That was bound to turn a few heads, especially if the boy's father found out. Not to mention his big brother was head boy this year. The whole thing was too risky. It was better to just end it now. He would go back to his friends and tell them that the plan was off, and that Albus Potter was no longer their interest. He was sure they would listen, they always did.

No sooner had Scorpius come to this mental decision then he saw a messy mop of black hair crossing the corridor in front of him. Not believing his luck, Scorpius sped up him pace and turned down the hall to follow the boy. Albus seemed to not have seen Scorpius, for he continued his way down the hall alone. Scorpius noticed the letter clutched in the Gryffindor's hand, and surmised that he was going to the owlry.

Perfect, Scorpius thought to himself. A nice quiet secluded place, he could hand over the cloak without anyone seeing or asking annoying questions. After he gave the cloak back he would walk out and never speak to Albus Potter again. End of story.

Climbing the stairs to the owlry Albus found himself in an extremely contented mood. After getting breakfast in his stomach he felt a million times better, and his headache had faded around the same time. There was of course also his conversation with Lily that morning. For some reason his sister always made him feel happier about his life in general. Lily always supported Albus, in whatever he was doing. Having her support in something as new and confusing as his sexual preferences made him feel more at ease.

He laughed to himself when he remembered her reaction to his crush.

"Scorpius MALFOY?" She had asked, her face frozen in a look of horror.

Albus had stuttered a reply about how it would never go anywhere and how he knew that Scorpius was bad news and it was just a silly crush and he would get over it.

"Get over it? Why? Scorpius is hot. I would totally go for it!" Lily had said this with such a sincere tone that Albus thought maybe she had gone crazy.

"Albus, you could benefit from a little danger in your life." She had told him. Well, Albus couldn't argue with that. His life was far from dangerous, unless he considered spending time with his roommates dangerous. Dangerous to his level of intellect, that is.

After describing what had happened the night before to his little sister she had practically peed herself in excitement.

"Is he into you? He totally sounds into you!" She had… well the only way Albus could describe it was "gushed". Lily had treated him like one of her girlfriends. Albus supposed that this was probably a fantasy of girls, to have gay brothers or gay friends that they could "gush" to.

"Aren't you going to tell me to be careful?" He'd asked her. Her reply had been surprising.

"You're too careful as it is. I'm telling you to be spontaneous."

Albus gave another chuckle as he reached the top of the owlry. His sister sure was full of surprises.

He glanced down at the letter clutched in his hand. That was another piece of advice that his sister had given him, to tell Teddy. Lily was convinced that their god brother would understand and support him one hundred percent, and would be able to help explain things to the rest of the family when the time came. The idea of explaining "things" to the rest of his extremely large family terrified Albus, so Teddy seemed like a good, safe way to start. He opened the envelope and read over the letter, trying to decide if there was anything worth changing before he sent it.

Teddy,

Thanks for the letter. I really loved hearing from you, and I know Aurora appreciates the time with her boyfriend. About Saudi Arabia, can you believe it? Me, going to Saudi Arabia? I'm too excited for words. I can't wait to go, and I also cant wait to come back and tell you all about it.

School has been all right this year. I think we both know Hogwarts hasn't been my favorite place in the past, but I'm trying to make the best of it. Rose and I are having some… differences in opinion, mostly surrounding her choice of friends, but I'm sure it'll blow over. Actually, besides that, there has been a lot going on with me this year. I've been thinking about a lot of things and, well, I just want to be able to talk to someone about these things. I know that I can trust you Teddy, and so I was hoping I could talk to you about them. It's not exactly something I feel comfortable writing in a letter, but if we could meet and talk… well that would just be really great. No rush or anything! Its not an emergency so don't worry! And… well, maybe don't tell my dad about this. It's nothing bad I swear! I'm just not ready to talk to him about it.

Thanks Teddy! I love you and I miss you tons, send Victoire my love.

See you.

-Albus

Putting the letter back in the envelope, Albus licked it closed with a sigh. No matter what way he phrased it, the letter was awkward. Albus just hoped that Teddy would listen and keep the news to himself. He did not need his father, or worse his mother, rushing to school to see what was wrong with him.

Spotting Aurora and Mirzam snuggling in the corner of the owlry, Albus walked over to them. He gave both owls a little scratch under the beak, before attempting to attach the letter to Aurora's leg. Mirzam's beak shot out and nipped him hard on the hand.

"OW!" Albus yelled out in surprise. Albus glared down but the owl gave him a stubborn look. Albus attempted to attach the letter again, but this time he got a scratch from a claw.

"DAMN BIRD!" He yelled at Mirzam. The owl seemed to shake the comment off and glanced around the owlry as if to say, 'use one of them'.

"There is no way I am sending a school owl when I have two perfectly capable owls in front of me!" He said angrily.

Aurora ruffled her feathers a little but didn't move.

"This is kind of important." Albus explained. Immediately after he felt silly. Why was he explaining something to a bird? He reached out again, dedicated to attach the letter this time. He ignored the nips on his hand, and when the letter was successfully attached, waved Aurora off.

"Go on." He said forcefully, "Go home now." Reluctantly, Aurora slowly hopped over to the window, Mirzam frantically hopping after her in distress. She glanced back and then took flight, soaring down, over the grounds before turning south.

As soon as Aurora left Mirzam visibly deflated. His little owl shoulders hunched down, and he closed his eyes, as if silently lamenting the loss of his love.

"Oh brother." Albus sighed, "Well go on, go after her."

No sooner had the words left his mouth then the bird perked up and immediately flew out of the window after Aurora. Albus couldn't help but smile. Who was he to come between true love?

Watching the two birds fly off, Albus felt relaxed. Teddy would get his letter, and they would talk and everything would be ok. Suddenly there came a voice from behind him.

"Must have been an important letter to merit two owls."

Albus spun around quickly, already knowing who the voice belonged to.

But it couldn't be!

But it was.

Scorpius Malfoy.

After Scorpius had called out to Albus he watched the boy slowly turn around. Once they made eye contact Albus eyes widened and he stared at the Slytherin. A moment later he seemed to process what Scorpius had said.

"Oh. They're in love." He said quickly. Then as if realized what he had said, Albus turned red and started to stutter, "The- the owls!" He continued. "The owls are in love."

Scorpius raised an eyebrow and walked over to the window he had seen the birds exit.

"I see." He said simply. Albus walked over to the window and stood next to the other boy, watching the owls become smaller and smaller as they flew away.

"One owl is the family pet, and the other belongs to my god brother. They hate to be apart so I usually send them out together. It makes them happy, plus Mirzam is mopey and nips a lot more otherwise."

"How do you get your mail then?" Scorpius asked, looking at Albus like he was crazy for playing match-maker for two birds.

"It comes." Albus said dismissively. "Eventually…"

"Huh." Came Scorpius' disinterested reply. Well, this was it. Time to give the cloak back and leave. There was no need to prolong the exchange.

"I brought you this." Scorpius said, tossing the balled up cloak to the boy. Albus caught it quickly and smiled when he recognized his cloak.

"Thank you." He said quietly. "I wasn't sure if I would ever see this again. It's not really even mine, so that would have been bad." Albus chuckled, and put the cloak into his robes.

"What do you mean you didn't think you would see it again?" Scorpius asked confused. Albus looked nervous and seemed to choose his words carefully before answering.

"Well, it is an invisibility cloak, they are pretty rare. Also, no offense, but you're not exactly famous for you're honesty."

Scorpius looked at the Gryffindor, shocked, as he understood what the boy was implying.

"You thought I was going to steal it?" He asked. Albus gave a weak nod.

"Albus, you used it to save us all from getting detention remember? Why would I steal it from you?" A moment after he had spoken the words, Scorpius realized that if he was trying to remove Albus Potter from his life stealing priceless family heirlooms would have been a great idea. The fact that Scorpius hadn't even thought of it worried him. Was he going soft? Also, why was he calling him Albus. He should be calling him Potter, or lion, or kid. Yeah, that was nice and demeaning. Kid.

"Oh right." Albus said with a small grin. "Your welcome for that by the way."

"Oh… uh, thanks." Scorpius replied sheepishly. "Kid." He added on the end.

Albus grinned even larger. Dammit! It had come out sounding like some weird pet name. He should just stick with Potter.

"I consider us even. I mean I really appreciate what you did for me last night. You know, just getting away from my roommates. Even if I did wake up in hell this morning."

Scorpius couldn't help but feel a little sympathy for the boy. He had forgotten that Albus wasn't used to drinking, his hangover had probably been killer.

"Did you hurl?" He asked, trying to sound as uncaring as possible.

"No, but I had a wicked headache, and I was starving. Missed breakfast." He explained. Scorpius thought about how Sullivan had brought them all breakfast. He felt a little sorry for Albus, sick and starving all alone is his room.

Dammit! What was happening, why was he pitying Albus bloody Potter, he was supposed to be ending this, instead he was getting more attached. Somehow he had let Albus lead the conversation. It was time to change that. He needed Albus to be the uncomfortable one.

"I have a question for you." Scorpius asked suddenly. Albus' shoulders tensed. After a moment of silence Scorpius continued.

"Its about something you said last night."

"Alright." Albus replied hesitantly.

"You said I was responsible for you coming out of the closet." Scorpius prompted. Another moment of silence past.

"That isn't a question." Albus replied, turning and leaning his back against the windowsill.

"I want to know why." Scorpius persisted, mimicking Albus and turning his back to the window. Albus glanced down at his feet and shrugged. Scorpius practically grinned in triumph, this was the shy Albus Potter that he liked. Nice and easy to manipulate.

"That's not an answer." Scorpius whispered leaning in closer to the boy.

"I guess I just thought that I couldn't be sure I was gay until I liked a boy. I mean that's what being gay is, isn't it? Liking boys." Albus spoke the words to his feet, but Scorpius heard them easily enough.

"Are you saying you like me?" This time he really did grin.

"Didn't you already know that?" Albus asked, sounding a little annoyed.

"Well, I've never actually heard you say it." Scorpius grinned again. Albus frowned slightly then turned to look at Scorpius.

"Well, I do. I like you." He said staring right at the Slytherin. For some reason it unsettled Scorpius. He didn't know how to respond. Before he could say anything Albus spoke again.

"Don't worry, I know you don't like me." He said seriously.

"Oh?" Scorpius couldn't help but chuckle.

"You're not even gay." Albus said.

"I'm a swing player. I can play for play for both teams, when the mood strikes me." Scorpius replied, crossing his arms.

"Oh…" Albus said. He seemed to think about that for a moment before moving a hand to bite one of his fingernails.

Scorpius couldn't quite decide what he was doing. He was obviously encouraging the Gryffindor, which was the exact opposite of what he came to do, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Being around Albus was the most entertaining thing that had happened to him recently. After the innocent little love confession, Scorpius wanted to mess with Albus Potter all over again. He couldn't help it, the boy was his opposite; innocent, honest and shy. It drew him in. It was fascinating and exciting.

Watching Albus blushing and biting his fingers Scorpius felt the urge to touch the boy again.

"That's a nasty habit." Scorpius said. He reached out and grabbed Albus' hand, holding it in his, examining the long fingers, and the short stubby nails. He felt Albus' arm instinctively jerk and glanced over to watch the boy's face turn beet red.

Scorpius couldn't resist it. He had such a control over Albus. He loved the feeling of having power over another person, and with Albus he was becoming addicted to it. Slowly he brought the hand he was holding up to his lips and gave it the tiniest kiss.

"The verdict is still out." He said letting Albus' hand go and leaning closer to the boy.

"What?" Albus whispered nervously.

"On whether I like you or not. But I'm willing to do more research." Scorpius winked at the boy and watched happily as the boy turned impossibly more red. With that Scorpius turned and walked back towards the door of the owlry, with the intention of walking away and not turning back.

"Scorpius!" He heard a frantic call as he reached the door. He turned and raised an eyebrow back at Albus.

"I- I didn't. I mean, well, I didn't really think you would have stolen it. The cloak I mean." He sputtered. When he finished the boy looked relieved, as if he had gotten something off of his chest.

"Good to know." Scorpius replied casually. Then he turned and left the owlry, leaving the Gryffindor red-faced and alone. Scorpius wouldn't have known, but Albus stood in the same spot a few minutes more. After a while a small smile slowly grew on his face.