Really long A/N (you should probably skip ahead): First off. Everyone congratulate me, I survived high school! Now, the more common term is "graduate" but I think survived is more appropriate in my case ;) Because it was the beginning of the summer I made it my responsibility to do as little as humanly possible, hence why this chapter is just now getting posted, but don't worry it's a good one. Secondly, all you reviewers are freakin' awesome! Seriously, you make me laugh and tear up. You guys rock, so thanks! Lastly HAPPY 4th, to all my American readers that is. Go eat some pie and shoot off some fireworks. Alright that's it!

Albus awoke to the loud sounds of the other members of his dorm shuffling around and getting dressed.

"Shit." He whispered under his breath. This wasn't the first time he hadn't woken up early in the past few weeks. Homework had piled on as the year progressed and Albus had been forced to go to bed later and later, which made waking up before anyone else almost impossible. Some mornings he would just lay in bed until everyone was gone and skip breakfast, making it just in time for his first class. Other mornings he would just face the boys in his dorm, and let's just say those mornings weren't very pretty.

Hearing his stomach rumble from underneath the covers Albus knew this wasn't the morning to skip a meal. With a long sigh he slowly shifted in his bed, moving the covers and carefully sitting up. Looking around all he saw were harsh glares. Getting out of bed Albus walked to the end of his bed and grabbed his uniform. Careful to keep his eyes glued to the wall, Albus started the undress.

"Look guys, the exhibitionist wants to give us a show." Ian yelled from behind him. Albus blocked the comment and finished getting dressed as fast as he could.

"Too bad Albus, you're the only one who wants to see naked boys, we're not interested." Jeremy called next, laughing.

"Put it away homo, no one wants to see that shit." Austin said, sounding almost angry.

Albus closed his eyes and thought of things that made him happy. He thought of family quidditch matches where his uncles got way too competitive, his grandma's cooking and he thought of Saudi Arabia. By the time he finished dressing he could barely hear the insults being thrown his way.

Grabbing his bag and an essay he had written the night before Albus tried to walk out of the dorm. However, Ian was standing in the front of the door, clearly not about to let him through.

"Come on Ian. Don't you want a homo like me out of your room?" Albus asked sarcastically.

"As a matter of fact we do Albus, but it looks like someone needs to learn a lesson first." Albus turned to see Jeremy coming up behind him.

Albus faced Jeremy and put his hands on his hips. "A lesson? What the fuck does that mean?"

A moment later Albus found out. He felt his hands being grabbed and pulled behind his back. Then Ian grabbed his by his hair and slammed his head against the nearest wall. Albus collapsed to the ground as pain bloomed in his front temple. Clutching the spot where he felt the pain the worst, Albus was shocked when it felt wet and sticky. He pulled his hand and saw that it was covered in blood.

"Shit!" He heard Jeremy say. Apparently everyone was surprised by the amount of blood currently gushing from Albus' head. Ian even backed away from him.

"What the hell Ian!" Austin chimed in, "Are you trying to kill him?"

"You SAID to smash his face into the wall. That's what I did!" Ian shot back.

"Would you all shut up!" Albus yelled. He was beginning to feel light headed but not enough to block out his massive headache.

Jeremy walked over to Albus and pulled him to his feet. Albus tried to struggle but found that Jeremy was a lot stronger than him. "Listen here you little shit!" Jeremy practically spat, "You are gonna go down to the Hospital Wing and tell Madame Midgen that you fell on a wonky stair and busted your head. Got that?"

Albus was about to respond when Drew walked in from the bathroom, hair still wet from a shower.

"What the bloody hell is going on here?" He shouted.

"Shove it Drew." Ian said glaring, trying to intimidate the younger boy.

"Fuck off Ian!" Drew walked over to Albus and grabbed him from Jeremy's grasp.

"You're all psychopaths! You were about to make a person with a serious head wound walk himself down about 7 flights of stairs while losing large amounts of blood. Are you mental? Wait, don't answer. You are mental, all of you." Drew grabbed Albus' bag from where it was laying on the floor.

"Come on Albus." He said grabbing his roommate by the arm and helping him towards the door. As they walked out Drew stopped and looked back. "I swear to Merlin if you guys even think about doing something this fucked up ever again I will make it my personal mission to get you all expelled. That is of course if this little incident doesn't do it already." With that he walked out and slammed the door behind them.

"Alright, come here." Drew said, his voice much softer and calmer than a moment earlier. He pulled out his wand and murmured a quick spell. Albus felt the cut in his head close up. He used his sleeve to wipe up the blood that was already on his face, and then checked to see that no more was pouring out.

"Thanks." He said, nodding at Drew.

"No problem. I just closed it up, but you're probably going to want Madame Midgen to do it better, that way you wont have a scar." Drew explained, "Of course if you want to seem more tough, maybe you should keep it." He laughed.

"Yeah, but maybe a jagged scar on my forehead isn't the best idea." Albus grinned.

Drew looked at him for a second, confused. After a moment he understood, "Right." He said embarrassed. "Course."

Albus laughed again as they walked down into the common room. There were a few fourth years sitting in the couches. They saw Albus ands just gaped. He must look awful, Albus realized, with dried blood on his face and all over his clothes. Albus and Drew continued walking, out of the doorway and into the hall. The silence between them became uneasy and Albus decided to ask the question that Drew obviously didn't want to answer.

"So, why did you defend me back there?" Albus asked. His question was met by silence. They kept walked and almost a minute later the answer came.

"You were getting beat up. Any decent bloke would have helped you out." Drew mumbled.

"Yeah, but I've never seen you get that angry before." Albus continued, "And I've definitely never seen anyone threaten Jeremy like that. Pretty bad-ass." Albus grinned.

"It just didn't seem fair." Drew said. Albus said nothing so the boy continued. "I mean, there's nothing wrong with who you are. No one should be afraid to live their lives the way they want, especially if they aren't hurting anyone."

Albus sensed that Drew had more to say so he stayed quiet.

"Last Christmas my sister came home, with her new girlfriend. None of us had known before, you know that she liked girls. My parents were really shocked, and so was I. It took them a long time to accept it. We all treated her differently for a little bit, and I could tell it really hurt her. I hurt her, my sister, who I love more than anyone. I rejected her and made her feel like she shouldn't love who she loves. I've always regretted that. We're fine now, but I know she still remembers it, she always will."

Drew stopped and took a breath; it was obvious he had wanted to get that off of his chest for a while.

"When I saw the way the other boys were treating you I realized it was the exact same thing. I was letting it happen all over again. I was letting them tease you and mock you and I never stopped it. So this morning, when they were beating you up I thought, "what if someone had done that to my sister" and I just snapped. I'm sorry it took me so long to do the right thing." Drew looked at Albus for a moment. "I'm not sure if anyone has told you this yet but, there's nothing wrong with who you decide to love."

Albus put a hand on Drew's shoulder. "Thanks mate." He grinned, "Don't worry about waiting to become my knight in shining armor, better late then never." Albus winked and Drew blushed and turned away.

"Let's just get you to the infirmary. You look like crap." Drew kept walking, and Albus followed after him.

"I'm not going to tell her you know." Albus said a moment later.

"Huh?"

"I'm not going to tell Madame Midgen about what happen. I'm going to say that I fell. And so are you."

Drew turned and glared. "Are you crazy?" He almost yelled, "Why in the hell would I do that? You want these guys to get away with it?"

"Listen," Albus responded carefully, "If I tell the professors what really happened, they are going to want to know why. Jeremy will tell them, and whether or whether not they all get expelled the professors are going to tell my parents about it."

"Oh."

"Right. I just want a little while longer before they find out. I don't know, just to get more comfortable with the whole thing myself."

"Do you think they will be mad?" Drew asked quietly.

"Naw, they will probably be surprised though. I already told both my siblings, and Rose too. They all seemed okay with it."

"Rose was?" Drew asked, seeming shocked. "Then why are you guys not speaking? I thought it was because Jeremy and her hated you for being gay."

Albus laughed, "No, I'm just furious because she told Jeremy when she promised to keep it a secret. It's pretty much her fault that the whole school knows."

"Wow, that sucks." Drew said.

"Yeah, well, I'm a pushover. I'll probably forgive her eventually." Albus sighed.

"Even though she's dating a psychopath who just tried to give you brain damage?"

Albus stopped. "Hmm, good point."

"Speak of the devil." Drew mumbled under his breath. They had reached the main entrance, and students were slowly filing out from breakfast. Albus looked and saw that his cousin was indeed in front of him. She was staring at him with large eyes and her mouth was wide open in shock.

"Albus!" She almost shrieked. "What happened?" She ran over and examined his head.

"Oh hello Rose. You know what, I cant exactly remember. Must be the blood loss. Better get to the hospital wing before I pass out." With that he turned away and continued walking, leaving a very upset Rose behind him.

Just then a huge group of student exited the Great Hall. Albus and Drew were forced to walk right past them to get to the Hospital Wing. Albus saw everyone staring and heard a bunch of whispers. Among the group Albus spotted a certain blond. They made eye contact and Albus saw that Scorpius Malfoy looked just as shocked as the rest of his peers. He might have even looked a little concerned. Albus broke their eye contact and kept walking.

Since their encounter in the woods a few weeks back Scorpius had ignored him and Albus had followed suit. Sure, he might still have a thing for the Slytherin, but he wasn't going to be treated like that by anyone.

Well… Albus figured that wasn't entirely true because he had just been treated a lot worse by his roommates. Alright, he wasn't going to voluntarily be treated like that. Yes, that was better. Malfoy could feel free to run up and insult him, but Albus wasn't going to put him in a position to be insulted by the Slytherin.

"Albus?" Drew asked. Albus was pulled from his thoughts. He looked over at his roommate.

"Yeah?"

"We're here." Drew pointed to the doors of the Hospital Wing.

"Right." Albus moved to open the doors.

"Albus. Are you sure you don't want to tell what those idiots did?" Drew asked impatiently.

"No I really don't." Albus said quietly.

"Fine. Well, I'll just have you know, that if anything like this happens again, I wont give you the option. I'll tell the headmaster myself. Nothing is worth you getting beat up over."

Albus turned back to his friend. "I wouldn't expect anything less." He grinned.

Drew looked uneasy again, "Want me to go get you some food?"

"No, I'll be fine. Midgen will have me stitched up in a few minutes anyways."

"Alright then I'll save you a seat." Drew responded, turning away.

"Hey Drew." Albus called a few moments later.

Drew turned back, "Yeah?"

"You're sister will forgive you. Time heals everything, and I'm sure she knows how much you love her."

"You think?"

"Yep."

Drew save a small smile. "Thanks Albus." And then he turned and walked away.

Scorpius was sitting in his transfiguration class but he couldn't concentrate on anything. His professor was in the front blathering on, and all the other students were taking notes, but all Scorpius could do was sit and picture Albus' bloody and bruised face.

There were lots of rumors about what had happened but Scorpius couldn't quite believe any of them. Pecked by hungry owls seemed unlikely and beat up by gay-haters was also doubtful. Scorpius had played for both teams in the past and it had never really been a secret, but he had never faced any sort of hatred.

The last rumor, that apparently Albus himself was endorsing, that he had fallen on a trick stair, was almost laughable. First years fell through stairs and hardly got a scratch. A sixth year forgetting a missing stair wasn't unheard of but it sure seemed unlikely in Albus' case. Especially since some Gryffindors claimed to see him leaving his dorm in the same bloodied state he came downstairs in.

Scorpius heard a bell sound, signaling the end of his first class. Looking back at Steph, who sat behind him he noticed her large smirk.

"What's so amusing?" Scorpius asked.

"You are. As usual." She said packing up her things and walking over to her friend's desk.

"Oh really?" Scorpius rolled his eyes, curious to know what strange things she was going to spout.

"Take many notes today?" She asked, gesturing to the blank parchment in front of him.

"I was a little distracted." Scorpius said dismissively.

Steph gave a little giggled, and Scorpius glared, "What?" he asked.

"I wonder what could possibly have distracted you?" She said, tapping her chin, as if thinking.

Scorpius glared. How did she do that? She always knew exactly what he was thinking, it creeped him out. When he told her that Steph just laughed.

"You're no where near as mysterious as you think." She replied. "Ever since two weeks ago in the woods you've been obsessing about Albus. You're always distant and you stare at him at meals."

"I do not stare!" Scorpius defended himself.

"You should have seen your face when he walked into the entrance hall today. I thought you were gonna stampede up to him and whisk him to the infirmary." Steph giggled again.

Scorpius raised an eyebrow. "Right." He deadpanned.

"Don't lie, you were worried about him."

"Not worried. I was curious, there's a difference. I was curious as to how one boy could possibly get into so much trouble. Everyone thinks he is so smart, but he must be some sort of idiot to get hurt over and over."

"If I recall, you were the one hurting him not too long ago." Steph retorted.

"Shove off." Scorpius got up from his seat and walked out of the classroom. He heard Steph follow behind him.

Now that they were in the hall Steph spoke quickly and quietly.

"Just admit that you feel bad about the way that you treated him already."
"I don't know how many times I have to tell you, and Wendy and Andy and Jaysen AND Tess. I don't care about Albus. I swear Sullivan is the only one who believes me."

"He doesn't believe you, he just doesn't like to argue with liars."

"I'm not lying!" Scorpius said, raising his voice loud enough to turn a few heads in the hall.

"Yes you are." Steph continued. "You just don't know that you're lying. You're lying to yourself, and you've convinced yourself that you don't care, but it's not true."

"That's doesn't even make sense." Scorpius sighed.

"Its because you're a boy." Steph said. "Girls are much more in touch with their emotions." She flipped her hair and gave him a large grin.

"Girls are a nuisance." He replied, walking ahead.

Steph hurried to catch up again. "If you want to stop driving yourself crazy, just go talk to Albus and apol-"

"Stop!" Scorpius interrupted. "Don't you dare say the A-word."

Steph rolled her eyes, "Oh grow up."

"Scorpius Malfoy does not apologize to anyone. Ever."

Steph laughed again, "Right. Except his mummy when he's late to dinner." She teased.

"Why am I friends with you?" Scorpius asked himself.

Steph laughed, "You need me. I tell you when you're being a wanker. Like now. Just go and A-word to Albus Potter. It'll make you feel better, I promise." With that Steph ran off to her charms class, while Scorpius continued downstairs to Potions.

She was right of course. Stephanie was always right.

Scorpius sighed. Looks like he was going to A-word to Albus Potter.

Damn.

Albus left the Hospital Wing not ten minutes after he had entered it feeling a million times better. After giving his 'I fell down the stairs' story Madame Midgen had given him a skeptical look, but then fixed him up all the same. A couple charms on his head to reduce swelling and heal the cut. A couple potions to reduce his headache and raise his blood pressure. Finally she had done the 'follow my finger with your eyes" test to make sure there was no brain damage (Apparently that was something muggles did as well). Then he was done. She had told him to come back if his head continued to hurt and to be more careful next time.

Albus felt his stomach grumble and he was happy to know that breakfast was awaiting him. Rounding the corner into the main entrance Albus stopped dead when he saw Rosie waiting for him. She had her arms crossed and was glaring at him angrily.

"What?" Albus said defensively.

If possible she gave an even meaner look. "You know exactly well what." She replied.

"Actually I don't." He snapped. "I have no idea why you, the person I trusted with my greatest secret that you then told to your homophobic boyfriend, would be mad at ME."

"I know you're mad Albus. You've made that obvious, but don't you think that you could at least have the decency to talk to me when you come downstairs covered in blood! I was really worried about you, and you didn't even tell me what happened! Even after what happened I thought we were still friends." Rosie looked at him with big, sad eyes.

She was trying to play the victim, Albus realized, after all that had happened, she thought he should feel bad!

"I didn't tell you what happened Rose, because if I had you wouldn't have believed me anyways. And I'm sorry if I'm not very sensitive of your feelings, but I'm still putting up with the consequences of your stupid actions, so spare me if I have no shred of pity for your situation." Only after he had finished talking did Albus realize his voice had grown to almost a shout.

Rosie had gone quiet and was staring at him with a strange look. "What are you talking about Albus?" She said quietly.

"You're smart. Figure it out." Albus replied. He started to walk away but Rosie reached out and grabbed his arm, pulling him back.

"Are- are you saying that… was it Jeremy?" She asked, looking horrified.

"Well the blood was mostly Ian's work." Albus mumbled.

Rosie let go of Albus' arm. "I can't believe it." She looked back up at her cousin. "This whole time, you weren't exaggerating, he really is horrible to you."

"Yeah." Was all Albus could think to say.

They were quiet for a minute.

"Rosie?" Albus asked. "Are you okay?"

"I'm going to break up with him." She said a moment later.

"What?" Albus asked, shocked.

"Are you really that surprised?" Rosie looked at him, almost angry. "You think I'm the type of person who would date a boy who beat up my cousin for being gay?"

"But- but, you love him don't you?" Albus asked, still incredulous.

"But I love you too. Albus, you're my best friend, and no one treats you like this and gets away with it. Especially not Jeremy."

Just then Albus noticed Drew walking towards them.

"Hey, you guys alright?" He asked hesitantly.

"Oh, yeah. Were fine." Albus lied.

Drew shrugged, "Well, you're looking a lot better Albus. Here, the food was all disappearing but I grabbed you some sausage and a muffin." He handed Albus a little bundle wrapped in a napkin.

"Thanks Drew. I'm starving." Albus smiled.

"Right, well I gotta go, class it starting soon." With a wave Drew walked up the stairs and out of sight.

"We better go too Rose, or we will be alt for Herbology." Albus said, biting into a sausage.

"Want to be my partner?" Rosie asked nervously.

Albus couldn't help but grin. He had told Drew earlier, and it was true, he was a pushover where Rosie was involved.

"Yeah I do." She smiled back at him and they walked out of the castle, side by side.

Needless to say when Albus walked into the Greenhouse not only slightly late, but also with a blood stained shirt, Professor Longbottom was a more than a little concerned. He looked at Albus for a moment and then just said "After class."

Albus nodded and took his seat next to Rosie.

An hour later, when class was dismissed Rosie promptly got up and gathered her things.

"I'm going to find Jeremy." She stated. Albus gave her a serious nod, and she walked off. Albus sighed. She might actually do it. She seemed determined enough.

Albus sensed Professor Longbottom eyeing him, so he got up and walked over to his teacher, ready to explain his dramatic fall earlier that morning.

Almost ten minutes later Albus was finally let free of the Greenhouses. He had a free period, and thought he might go back to his dorm and take a rest. His head was feeling better, but he was still pretty tired.

"Finally. I thought you were never coming out."

Albus stopped walking and turned to make sure his ears weren't deceiving him. Because it sounded like Scorpius Malfoy.

But it couldn't be.

But it was.

Scorpius Malfoy was leaning on a nearby tree, looking mysterious and gorgeous as always. And apparently waiting for Albus.

"Actually" he said, walking slowly over to Albus, "I thought maybe you knew I was out here and you were hiding from me."

"This has got to be the weirdest day of my life." Albus said with a sigh. Seriously, first Drew saved him and then Rosie choose him over Jeremy, and now Scorpius?

"Yeah?" Scorpius smirked, "Well falling down stairs and getting a serious head wound is pretty unheard of."

"One of my roommates smashed my head against a wall." Albus said matter-of-factly. "He hates me because I'm gay."

Scorpius eyes widened. "Are you joking?" He asked.

"Does it look like I'm joking?" Albus raised an eyebrow at the blond.

Scorpius just stared for a moment. "Want me to kick his ass?" Scorpius asked.

The question was so unexpected that Albus couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm serious. Which one is he? I'll curse him, or make Andy break his leg."

"Why would you do that?" Albus asked, curious.

"Well… because, he smashed your head into a wall." Scorpius said, clearly confused.

"Yeah. And you torn down all of my dreams and ambitions." Albus shrugged.

"They're not the same!" Scorpius said defensively.

Albus shrugged again. "All I know is that after 10 minutes in the Hospital Wing my head feels fine, but what you said still hurts."

Scorpius seemed to pale a little. "I wanted to talk to you about that actually."

Now it was Albus' turn to be startled. He stared at Scorpius, wondering what the blond was going to say.

"I'm…" Scorpius took a deep breath, "I'm really sorry I talked to you like that. I was angry about my own problems and I took them out on you. None of it was true. I… I'm sorry."

Silence met Scorpius' words. He looked back at Albus after a moment or two. "Well! Say something!" He demanded.

"Did- did you just apologize to me?" Albus smiled.

"S'not a big deal." Scorpius grumbled, looking away from the Gryffidor.

Albus laughed again.

"Well I forgive you." He said.

"Really?" Scorpius seemed surprised.

"Of course." Albus smiled. "A sincere apology is good enough for me."

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "You're kind of a dork Albus."

Albus thought about it and nodded. "Yeah, pretty much."

He started laughing and noticed Scorpius smile.

"Well, I'm going to head back into the castle." Albus said, pointing back towards the massive building.

Scorpius nodded and motioned towards the forbidden forest. "I'm taking a free period."

"Right, well I'll see you later then." Albus started to walk away.

"Hey Albus." Scorpius called. Albus turned. "That ass kicking offer still stands."

Albus smiled, "I'll keep that in mind."

Then he walked back into the castle trying very hard to stop thinking about the things that Scorpius Malfoy could do to an ass.