Hello! And Happy Halloween (a day late). So, although I started this story last Christmas, I noticed that I actually am currently in sync with the timeline of the story, meaning this chapter takes place on the day after Halloween and I'm posting the chapter on the day after Halloween. Because of this happy accident I've decided to try and keep it this way AND because my story ends at the end of the school year, that means it should be finished by June, in case any of you care.
Alright, now read on!
A brisk wind swept through the streets of Hogsmeade. Scorpius and his friends scrambled into the Three Broomsticks. Walking towards their normal window booth Scorpius rolled his eyes when he saw that Ravenclaws had already taken it. Fourth-years no less. As the group of Slytherins got closer the fourth-years looked up. Their smiling faces became scared, and the group went quiet.
Scorpius stopped in front of the table and stood there for a moment, taking in the silence.
"Having a nice time are we?" He asked, with a sneer. No one spoke, one girl nodded. Scorpius shot her a glare. "Get up." He told them all. Instead of moving they all sat there in confusion.
"Are you all going deaf?" Andrew yelled at them. "Get the hell out!"
The all hurried out, and scurried past the group of Slytherins.
"Oh look," Tess said sliding into the booth, "Looks like there's a table open for us." They all began to laugh, sliding into the booth.
Before long the conversation turned to the events of the night before, from which the entire group, minus Sullivan, was still hung over from.
"Did you see Devin last night?" Tess asked.
"Oh Merlin, yes!" Steph rolled her eyes, "That girl was so drunk I was embarrassed for her."
"I don't think I saw her." Andrew said, sounding disappointed.
"Oh, I think you did." Scorpius said with a smirk. "She was the one leaving Jaysen's bed this morning." Jaysen shot Scorpius a death glare, while the rest of the table gasped.
"Jaysen! You didn't!" Wendy yelled.
"She was hardy conscious how could you?" Steph said, slapping the back of his head.
"Well she was enthusiastic enough once we took our clothes off." Jaysen replied.
"I can't believe that she was Devin Bagsley," Andrew said, still looking surprised. "She's got a much nicer ass than I would have thought."
"Excuse me?" Tess asked, sounding angry.
"What?" Andrew replied defensively, "I saw it when she ran out of the room to puke in the middle of the night."
"And that my friends is exactly why you don't let them spend the night." Scorpius said, with a knowing nod.
"So tell us Scorpius, what time did you kick Lacey out last night?" Jaysen asked.
"Right after I was done with her." Scorpius replied, without a shred of embarrassment in his voice.
"You slept with Lacey last night?" Steph sounded horrified.
"When you were done with her?" Wendy asked sounding equally as horrified. "Why are you such a jerk."
"It's my MO Wendy." Scorpius smiled, "The girls love it."
Wendy responded with a gagging sound.
"So is that where you were all night then?" Tess asked. "I feel like I didn't see you at all."
"Oh, that's not all he did." Wendy said devilish smile, "He had to walk our little Gryffindor home, didn't you Scorpius?"
Scorpius shot a glare at Wendy, "So what if I did?"
"You guys were gone for an awfully long time." Wendy remarked, taking a sip of her drink.
"What?" Steph asked, "I had no idea about this! What happened?"
"Nothing." Scorpius replied.
"What do you mean nothing?" Jaysen asked, "Don't give us that Scorpius."
"Alright, so I kissed him." Scorpius finally admitted, "Not a big deal, just going along with the plan or whatever."
"Oh was that why?" Wendy asked with a little smirk.
"You better have made it good." Tess said a moment later, "I bet that was the kid's first snog."
Scorpius was going to come back with some witty remark, but Tess' words made him stop and think. Had that really been Albus' first kiss. It couldn't have been! The guy was sixteen years old, there was no way he hadn't been kissed before…. Right?
"Well look who it is." Sullivan said, pointing out the window.
Scorpius turned just in time to see Albus run and jump into the arms of an older man. The Slytherin felt a flash of what he might have thought was jealousy if he didn't know any better. Good thing he did know better, and he knew that he would never be jealous of Albus Potter, or that guy, whoever he was. Who was that guy anyways?
"Isn't that Ted Lupin?" Andrew asked. Scorpius looked and confirmed that yes; it was the Potter's adoptive son, Albus' unofficial older brother. Knowing this fact helped Scorpius calm down a little more, and the weight that had been on his chest a moment earlier vanished. However the fact that it had been there at all was what worried Scorpius the most.
"So, Scorpius." Andrew asked, turning back to his friend, "When did you and Lacey get together?"
"As soon as I got back," Scorpius shrugged.
"Man…" Andrew sighed, "You really are a jerk."
Albus spotted Teddy from a long way off. He split apart from Rose and her friends to run to meet his brother.
"Teddy!" He called running up and wrapping his arms around the other man, unable to hide his excitement.
"Hello Albus." Teddy chuckled, pulling his favorite family member into a big hug.
Of course Teddy and Albus weren't really brothers, they both knew that. But Teddy preferred to be thought of as a brother than as an orphaned family friend, and Albus preferred Teddy to James, so it worked out fine.
Rose made her way over at a regular pace. When she reached Teddy they also shared a hug. Then Rose excused herself, saying she had to go meet her friends and walked off, leaving Albus and Teddy alone.
"So, about your cryptic letter..." Teddy started.
Albus, sighed. He knew this was coming, he had asked to meet with Teddy for this specific reason, but now we was nervous.
"Come on," he said finally, grabbing his brother's coat sleeve. "Let's find a place we can talk."
They walked away from the busy streets of Hogsmeade and back towards the hillside. The pair continued walking until a decrepit old shack came into view. Teddy stopped and stared at the Shrieking Shack. Then he gave a small sad smile and looked down at Albus.
"Somehow I always end up here." He chuckled.
Albus nodded.
"No matter where I try to walk to in Hogsmeade, my feet always take me here."
Albus nodded again, having nothing to say to Teddy. The only thing Teddy knew of his parents were stories that others told to him. One of the most common was the tale of the Shrieking Shack. When Teddy went to Hogwarts he apparently spent a lot of time near the shack. Never entering it, but simply staring at the broken down little house where his father was kept during full moons.
Albus didn't understand why Teddy wanted to look at the shack so much, but he reasoned that it was something he would never understand. He had both his parents and he wouldn't know what to do without them.
After a few minutes of silence Teddy seemed to snap out of it.
"Geez, what am I doing?" He laughed, "Getting all wrapped up, I've completely forgotten what I came here for." He glanced down at Albus, face becoming serious. "We need to discuss your cryptic letter."
"Oh, don't look so serious." Albus said. "I told you it's no big deal."
"I'll be the judge of that!" Teddy announced, sitting down on an old stump. "Now, go on."
So Albus told Teddy everything.
"Only you would decide that what you just told me is 'not a big deal'," Teddy sighed. He looked up at his little brother, who looked so vulnerable in front of him. Albus was waiting for Teddy to say something, to say anything.
"I'm glad you told me." Teddy said after a moment.
"You're mad." Albus said quietly.
"What?! Why would you say that? Albus, I'm not mad!"
"Well you're sure not happy." Albus said, pouting.
"I'm just...processing." Teddy chose his words carefully, "finding out that you are gay and in love with Scorpius Malfoy and that you snogged him last night is... well, its a surprise."
Albus didn't say anything, but just stared at Teddy.
"What?" Teddy asked, "Am I not allowed to be surprised?"
"I just thought you would be happy for me." Albus said quietly.
"Are you happy?" Teddy asked.
Albus nodded with a small smile.
"Well then I'm happy for you," Teddy said, "its just that..."
"What?" Albus asked, suddenly defensive.
"Albus, I was only at Hogwarts with you for one year, and I still heard stories about Malfoy. Even at 11 he was a... well a troublemaker I guess you could say. And I've heard that he hasn't gotten any better."
Albus didn't respond, so Teddy continued.
"I just don't want him to hurt you..." Teddy said.
Albus sighed, but then looked up and smiled at his brother, "Don't worry, I can handle myself."
Now, it was Teddy's turn to sigh, hoping that Albus knew what he was getting himself into.
"Well, at least it looks like you and Rosie and are getting along. In your letter you made it seem like you were fighting."
"Oh, yeah we've been fine ever since she broke up with her boyfriend." Albus confessed.
"Really?" Teddy looked surprised, "Didn't she go on some sort of family vacation with him this summer? I thought they were pretty serious. Why did they break up?"
"Oh..." Albus had no idea what to tell Teddy, who was much more protective than James. If he found out that Rose's ex-boyfriend had been bullying him all year… well Albus just really didn't want to deal with that.
"He, um plays quidditch, and I think that he was too busy. She said he never spent any time with her. She finally got so fed up with it that she dumped him." Albus cringed internally, hoping that Teddy would buy his weak attempt at a lie.
"That's unfortunate. But with James as a captain it's a wonder that the team ever leaves the field. He takes devotion to a whole other level." Teddy replied with a laugh. Albus weakly laughed in return.
"Come on!" Albus said, taking a couple steps away from his brother, back towards Hogsmeade. "It's getting kind of cold, lets go inside."
"Where do you want to go?" Teddy asked, standing up and following the younger boy.
"Three Broomsticks! We can get a couple butter beers and you can tell me about your beautiful romance with my cousin." Albus laughed.
Teddy took one last glance behind him, at the shack before turning back towards Albus.
"Let me guess," He said with a smile, "I'm buying."
"Well," Albus replied, "If you insist."
A few minutes later the two entered the old tavern, which was filled to capacity with students attempting to escape the cold.
"Wow, it's really packed." Teddy said, once they got inside. "How about I get us drinks, and you try and find a place to sit." He offered.
"Albus?" He asked a second later, after no response. Turning to look at his little brother, he realized that Albus was not paying attention to him in the slightest; apparently something across the room had caught his eye. Looking to see what that thing was, Teddy quickly found it. In the corner of the large room, sat a large group of Slytherins and in the middle of that group sat one Scorpius Malfoy.
Teddy watched as Albus and Malfoy made eye contact. Albus smiled sheepishly, and then Scorpius grinned and winked. Albus blushed and gave a tiny wave before turning around and facing his brother once again.
"Sorry Teddy, did you say something?" Albus asked, still blushing.
Teddy took a moment to reply. "You go find seats, I'll get drinks."
"Right!" Albus replied, and then scurried away.
Teddy took one last look at the Malfoy before getting the drinks, and immediately wished that he hadn't. The rest of the day Teddy wasn't able to shake the image from his head, and when he went to bed that night, the blonde's face kept him awake.
It wasn't really the face as much as the look.
The look that Malfoy had given his baby brother, as he turned away had been far from innocent.
In fact if Teddy had to compare it to anything, he would probably have said it looked like a serpent, watching and waiting to capture its prey.
'I can handle myself' Albus had told him, but Teddy was beginning to seriously doubt it.