Time sure does fly when you're not updating your story. Oops...
"ALBUS POTTER I AM TAKING BREAKFAST OFF THE TABLE IN FIVE MINUTES AND IF YOU DO NOT GET OUT OF BED I WILL MAKE YOU CLEAN THE ENTIRE HOUSE YOURSELF."
Albus shot upright at the sound of his mother's outraged voice reverberating through the house. He quickly stumbled out of bed, threw on some clothes and thundered down the stairs. Albus could vaguely remember his mother trying to wake him up four or five times before but his bed had been too inviting, and his memory of Christmas day had been too fond to move past.
Today was the day after Christmas, which for the Potter household meant cleaning up after their thirty-some relatives had trashed it for two days straight.
Reaching the kitchen Albus saw that the rest of his family was already sitting at the table, although James was possibly asleep in his chair and Lily was glaring at her eggs as if it was their fault she had to be up so early. Harry was reading the paper, but glanced up as his son entered and gave him a small smile, "Sleep well?" he asked with a wink. Albus simply grunted in return.
He sank down into a chair and started to eat his toast. It was cold and there was no butter on it, but Albus knew better than to complain. Lily, however, apparently didn't.
"Why do we have to get up so early?" She whined. Their mother shot her a hard look.
"Because the earlier we start the earlier we can finish and all get on with our days." She replied. With a flourish she pulled a list out of her pocket.
"Harry will clean up the backyard and the garden. I will do the dining room and the kitchen. James you are responsible for the sitting room and the parlor." James didn't respond, and his eyes remained closed so Harry elbowed his son.
James started with a small yelp. "Wha- whats going on?" He asked confusedly.
"Sitting room and parlor, James." Ginny repeated tensely.
"Right…" James responded.
Their mother huffed but continued down her list. "Albus you are guest bedrooms, and Lily you are bathrooms."
Lily sighed angrily but didn't dare say a word.
"Alright," Ginny smiled, "Are we all ready?" No one responded, James was possibly asleep again.
"Lily, cleaning supplies are in the cupboard, Albus fresh linens are in the closet, and James, the broom is in the pantry."
At the sound of his name James sat up, "Broom?" He smiled sleepily. Harry chuckled at his eldest son. "It's the cleaning kind." He said quietly.
James frowned, "Man, I hate the cleaning kind."
Albus shoved down a couple sausages and then slowly trudged up the stairs, resigned to his task, but not happily. The one great disadvantage of hosting Christmas every year was the cleaning, both before and after. Ginny was a large believer in Christmas ending on the 25th and by midday on the 26th every trace of the festivities had to be gone.
He started by stripping all the beds and putting all the dirty sheets in a large pile in the hall. He then took the sheets down to wash and then, once they were clean, hung them to dry. While the sheets dried he went back into all the bedrooms and pulled forgotten belongings out of drawers and out from under beds. He found a few pairs of glasses, many partner-less socks and a few toys, courtesy of his younger cousins. He even found a large rubber duck, which must have belonged to his grandfather. He piled all these things in a small cardboard box and put them in the kitchen for his parents to eventually return to their rightful owners. Every Christmas at the Potter house tended to have a large pile of forgotten items. This was probably due to everyone rushing out as quickly as they could the morning after Christmas. Everyone knew that if you lingered too long his mother would put you to work. Normal people preferred to relax on their last vacation day, but Ginny Potter was not exactly normal, especially when it came to her house.
When Albus reached the kitchen he put down the box and was about to head back upstairs when he heard a sharp tapping on the back door. Albus walked over to open the door and once he did an enormous owl swooped in and landed on the faucet of the sink. Albus suspected a late Christmas card, probably from someone his father worked with, but he didn't recognize the owl. It was a beautiful great horned owl, with a pure white face and a deep brown coloring the rest of his feathers. He looked at Albus curiously.
"Dad, there's an owl." Albus called through the house. He then reached into cabinet that held the owl treats, and grabbed a couple to reward their guest. As the owl was eating Albus untied the letter he had on his leg.
He flipped the envelope over to read who had delivered it, but nothing was written except 'Albus Potter'. Albus' eyes widened, as he realized he already knew who it was from, he recognized the handwriting.
"Whose it from Al?" He dad asked as he entered the kitchen and reached his hand out for the envelope.
"Umm... it's actually for me." Albus said showing his father the front of the card.
"Well, whose it from?" His dad inquired, giving the large bird a wary look, "Not the family unless someone got a new owl for Christmas."
"I.. don't know." Albus replied, playing dumb.
Just then Ginny entered the kitchen, "What's going on boys?" she reprimanded, "The house isn't clean yet."
"Albus' got himself a very mysterious letter" Harry said with a chuckle, "Go ahead and open it son."
Albus ripped open the paper and pulled out a small card. In a familiar messy scrawl was written "Albus, Happy Christmas and all that. I've got a party planned for New Year's Eve. You can floo to my house around 10. Send a reply with Bruce (the bird). And it better be yes, I need someone to kiss at midnight."
Albus quickly shoved the card back in the envelope, trying his hardest not to freak out with his parents right in front of him.
"Well who was it from dear?" his mother asked a moment later.
"Scorpius." Albus replied. "He's having a new year's party on the 31st. Can I go?"
Harry was the first to reply. "I don't see why not. Same rules as last time, and I have no problem with it."
His mother however, wore a small frown. "We are all going over to Bill and Fleur's house on New Year's Eve. The whole family, Albus."
Bill and Fleur's. That meant Louis would be there. Spending the entire night with his pompous showy cousin sounded awful. Albus sent a look at his father, silently begging.
Thankfully Harry picked up on it. "Come on Gin, give him a night to be with his friends. James and Lily have plans every day this week."
Albus gritted his teeth, his father was trying to convince his mother by pointing out how rare it was that Albus was invited out by friends, but the argument worked. Ginny resigned and agreed, before reminding them all they still had a house to clean. Harry winked at his son, before leaving to continue his duties.
Albus grabbed a scrap of paper and a quill out of a drawer, and wrote "yes". He attached the scrap to the owl, which was still attached to his kitchen sink, and then opened the door. The owl, which was apparently named Bruce, sailed out the door immediately. Albus watched him go for a moment before closing the door and heading back up the stairs, fearful of his mother's wrath if she noticed him loitering. As he was about to enter a bedroom, Lily poked her head out of a bathroom.
"Did my ears deceive me?" she asked, "Are you going to another party with Scorpius?" She noticed the letter and snatched it out of his hand before he could even reply.
She opened it and quickly read the note before squealing.
"Shut it!" Albus snatched the note back, and shoved it in his pocket.
"Holy crap!" She whispered, still partially bouncing from her excitement. "He's totally into you."
Albus was about to respond when they heard their mother coming up the stairs. "Later." Lily mouthed before ducking back into the bathroom.
Albus went back to making beds, which suddenly seemed a much less arduous task. And from time to time he couldn't help grinning like an idiot to himself.
The rest of the week seemed to drag as slow as possible. Rose came over almost everyday. It had been impossible to keep the news from her, and as soon as Lily mentioned the letter it had been impossible to keep that from her as well. Albus would never forget the look on her face when she read the note from Scorpius. Her eyebrows practically disappeared into her hairline.
"Well, that's… forward of him." She said, handing the note back, and Albus slipped it back under his mattress. Albus decided not to tell her that his note really wasn't that forward when you took into account how far they had already gone together.
"So… you guys have kissed already?" She asked him a couple hours after.
"Yeah." Albus replied quietly. And that was the last they talked about it.
There was also a small riot caused when Scorpius sent another owl on the 29th, with the message, "Don't you dare leave at 1:00 this time, the party wont even start till the new year."
Albus spent the next 2 days convincing his parents, that sleeping over at Scorpius' house would be no big deal, because they would just be sleeping most of the time, and there was absolutely no trouble he could get in while sleeping. His parents obviously didn't believe him.
"If you want to spend more time with your friends, just go earlier." His father reasoned.
"DAD!" Albus complained, "It's a new year's party, we're celebrating the NEW YEAR. And it wont be the NEW YEAR until midnight."
It had taken a lot of pleading and even some guilting until his parents finally caved.
When New Year's Eve finally arrived the Potter family gathered in the living room at 5pm for one last lecture.
"Don't do anything you don't want to." His mother reminded him.
"And floo home if you ever feel uncomfortable." His father said for the 100th time.
"Make smart choices." His mother added.
"I will, I promise." Albus smiled and kissed his mother and father as, they flooed to his aunt and uncle's house. James followed without a word, or even a glance at his little brother. Lily was the last to leave. She stepped into the fireplace, and waved goodbye to her brother, "Make sure you wear clean underwear." She said with a laugh.
"LILY!" Albus yelled at her, but she was already gone, and just a few green sparks remaining.
Albus waited a moment, and then sighed in relief. He ran upstairs and quickly unpacked the overnight bag his mother had made him pack. He remembered Christmas and no one had changed into pajamas or brushed their teeth before passing out on the floor. Albus didn't want to be the dork whose mummy made him bring his hairbrush and extra underwear.
Then, remembering Lily's advice, Albus decided he should change, and decide what he was going to wear.
After going through his entire closet twice, Albus confirmed he had absolutely nothing to wear. He went into James' room to see if his brother had anything better. He only had to try on one shirt before remembering that his brother had about 4 inches on him and was much larger in general. He even considered going into Lily's room before he stopped himself. Albus may be gay, but he didn't need to start cross-dressing to prove it.
Finally after an hour and a half of searching Albus decided on a dark blue t-shirt and a pair of black jeans, they were plain, but at least they were clean, and didn't belong to his sister. After wasting another half hour trying to do something, anything, to his hair, and then giving up, he just had a few hours to kill around his house before leaving. First he made himself a sandwich and ate it. Then he did all the dishes in the sink. Then he went upstairs, made his bed, and organized his closet that he had torn apart earlier. By the time 10 o'clock rolled around Albus was bouncing off the walls.
He flooed to the Malfoy's as soon as the clock struck 10.
He appeared in the same overly lavish room as before, but somehow it still surprised him by how decorated it was. A moment after he appeared he heard laughter and yelling coming from the other room. He followed the noise, and it led him to the kitchen. Everyone was already there, and they probably had been there awhile, if Albus went by how drunk they all seemed. They were crowded around a table with a deck of cards and a few brightly colored bottles. Even after he entered no one seemed to notice his presence.
After a minute of watching their ridiculous antics Albus finally spoke up.
"Hey guys."
Scorpius turned when he heard the familiar voice across the room. And smiled when he recognized the familiar face.
"Albus" The girls seemed to shout in unison, as they all went over to hug him.
"You're late." Scorpius called from across the kitchen.
They all gathered back around the table.
"I'm not late, you told me 10." Albus countered.
"Did I?" Scorpius laughed. He had that warm feeling all over his body that he got when he drank too much rum, and he had put back a lot of rum in the last hour.
"Here," Jaysen poured a shot and pushed it across the counter, "You're gonna need at least five of these before we can go."
Albus downed it, his face twisting up afterwards. Scorpius chuckled; he always seemed to forget what a goody-goody the Gryffindor was.
"Before we go? Where are we going?" Albus asked.
"To Madeline Bouchard's party." Jaysen stated, before handing him another drink.
Albus downed that one more easily than the first. Once he swallowed he continued his line of questioning. "Madeline Bouchard? Who the heck is that? Scorpius, you said that the party was here." Albus shot a look at Scorpius who just grinned in response.
"Madeline Bouchard is one of Jaysen's acquaintancesfrom his days at Beauxbaton. Her parents are traveling and so she is throwing a party." Scorpius explained.
"But, my parents think I will be here!" Albus' voice was strained, "What if they come looking for me?"
"Albus, Albus, chill out. You're parents aren't expecting you home until tomorrow, they aren't going to come looking. I knew you were too perfect of a child to ever lie to them, so I figured I would do the lying for you. Trust me we're gonna have a lot of fun tonight." Scorpius smiled and then winked, loving the other boy's reaction. Albus blushed slightly before resigning his argument.
"Good, well if that's settled, how bout another round?"
Not too long after Albus was feeling very light headed. He was swaying back and forth and laughing a little too loudly at Andrew who was trying to convince Tess that men were as a rule better at apparating than women.
"It's just the way it is." Andrew slurred. "Men can concentrate on one thing, but women, they just always have a million little things on their brain. That's why they are more likely to get splinched."
Before Tess even had a chance to respond, Albus felt a hand grab his. He turned to see Stephanie, who was now trying to pull him out of the room.
"Where are we going?" Albus asked her, extremely confused.
Stephanie just smiled and then announced to the entire room, "Albus and I are ready to go. Go ahead and join us when you're all done standing around a kitchen and being boring." Then she dragged him out of the room. Albus couldn't help but glance back at Scorpius. The blonde seemed amused by it all and gave Albus a little wave.
When they were out of the room, Albus turned his attention back to Stephanie.
"Why are we leaving first?" Albus asked her, while still being dragged down the hall.
"Well first off, if I didn't do something everyone would just be standing around watching Drew and Tess fight all night, and as entertaining as that may be I have a hot Frenchman to meet up with."
"You have a date?" Albus asked, curious. He didn't know that Stephanie was interested in someone.
"It's a friend of Jaysen's that he introduced me to last week. It's not really a date, more of a prospect. Anyway, the second reason is that you need to start the chase this time."
Now Albus was extremely confused. "What chase?"
"Last time you were here, Scorpius left and you had to go find him right? It was your job to chase. This time you have to make him chase you, trust me. Scor will make you follow him around like a lost puppy if you let him. We've got to keep him on his toes." She turned back and winked at the Gryffindor. "Don't worry Albus, he loves it, I promise."
They had arrived back to the fireplace in which Albus had arrived.
"I'll go first." Stephanie said, grabbing a handful of powder, "Just repeat after me, the name of the place is French so say it carefully."
After watching her disappear Albus grabbed his own handful of powder and tried to repeat exactly what he had heard Stephanie say before throwing the dust down at his feet.
The next thing he could see was the parlor of an equally as grand house as the one he just left.
"Come on Al." Stephanie pulled him out of the fireplace and dragged him through the room, which was empty except for a few teens lounging on couches in the far wall.
"Losers." He heard Steph mutter. "People who hang out in the floo room shouldn't even bother showing up."
Albus said nothing, because the only thing he could think to say was that the only room to hang out in his house WAS the "floo room" as Steph had called it.
As they left the parlor they entered into a hallway where they could hear the loud raucous of a party. Steph dragged him down the hall to the source of the noise.
"Aren't we going to wait for everyone else?" Albus asked nervously.
"They'll find us. Don't worry." Steph shot him a smile before pushing him into the grandest ballroom he had ever seen. The candles that lit the room in an eerie glow had been bewitched to change colors. There was music playing, although it was almost drowned out by the yelling of over 100 people packed into the room.
Albus looked over to the pseudo dance floor warily.
Steph noticed and laughed, "There's plenty of time for dancing, I know how you love it." Albus shot back a look that communicated that he was not amused.
"Fine, drinks first anyways." Steph pointed to the far end of the room, where a table overflowed with cups and cauldrons of Merlin knows what. Steph finally let go of his arm and started walking away towards the table.
Albus sighed, what choice did he have? He followed her.
When Scorpius arrived at the French mansion the first thing he noticed was that it was not as large as his own. He walked out of the fireplace and into the floo room, pleasantly surprised that the décor and furniture were not nearly as historic or well kept as at his house. Moments later Jaysen appeared behind him, then Sullivan.
"One minute, Wendy's right after me." Sullivan said.
"Drew and Tess?" Scorpius asked.
"Dunno, they said they would come later."
Jaysen and Scorpius both rolled their eyes.
"They better not have sex in the kitchen." Scorpius grumbled.
"The house-elves will clean it up anyway." Wendy said, suddenly appearing behind them. "Come on, let's get out of the floo room before someone see's us." She shot a disdainful look at the people sitting in the corner of the room, "Ugh, losers."
Making their way out into the hallway the three headed towards the loud sounds.
Jaysen kept stopping to say hello to people he knew and Wendy kept getting stopped by boys who wanted to get to know her.
When they finally made it down the hall and into the large ballroom Wendy immediately looked around for their friends.
"I don't see Albus and Steph." She pouted, "They only came like 5 minutes before us."
"Well we might not have seen them, but everyone else has." Jaysen responded, "That's all people are talking about, the fact that Harry Potter's son is here."
"What?" Wendy asked, looking astonished. "How could you possibly know that?"
"Because I speak French dear." Jaysen answered.
"Oh right…" Wendy looked around and it was only a moment before she met eyes with boy who had been staring at her since she came in.
"Well I'm off to dance, I'll see you boys later."
Scorpius watched her walk off, amazed as always at how quickly Wendy could wrap boys around her finger.
"This doesn't really look like my scene." Sullivan said a moment later. "I think I'll go see what's going on upstairs." Then he too disappeared.
"I'm afraid I'm off too mate." Jaysen said as he clapped Scorpius on the shoulder. "Lots of catching up to do."
Once Scorpius was alone, he started glancing around the party himself. He quickly noticed there were plenty of girls staring at him too and it was only a matter of minutes before someone he recognized approached.
"Scorpius!" The young girl squealed. "I was hoping you would be here."
"Hello Marguerite." The girl came and kissed him on both cheeks.
"I'm pleasantly surprised to see you all alone." She said quietly, doing her best to bat her eyes at him.
Scorpius smiled pleasantly, but internally mocked the girl for how desperate she seemed. Last summer his family had taken a trip to vacation in France. He had met a lot of Beauxbaton girls on that trip, and slept with a lot of them too. Marg had been one of his favorites; she was cute and liked to have a good time, but he really hadn't planned on seeing her again.
"How have you been?" He asked, shooting her the most sincere smile he could manage.
It must have worked because the girl seemed to melt in front of him. "Great, I'm glad the term is over though, I hate school, I wish there were more parties at school than classes."
Scorpius couldn't help but chuckle, that was Marguerite alright, extremely hot, not too smart.
"Oh, have you heard?" she suddenly lowered her voice and leaned into him, "Albus Potter is here!"
"You don't say." Scorpius feigned surprise.
"Yes, he arrived a little bit ago, following around Stephanie Blanc. You know her don't you? Anyway, no one knows how he got invited. His cousins go to Beauxbaton, but even they aren't here tonight, so it really doesn't make any sense."
"Probably that Stephanie girl brought him." Scorpius said, seemingly uninterested.
"I guess, but since when do Potters hang out with Hogwarts Slytherins?"
Scorpius shrugged. "Did you talk to him?" Scorpius asked.
"What, no way." Marguerite giggled, "Wait till you see him, he looks like his mom dressed him, and he's following that girl around like a puppy. He looks so uncomfortable. But, I mean I guess that what happens when you come to a party where you don't know anyone. I wish it was his brother instead, I heard he is hot."
Scorpius scanned the crowd again, hoping to see the Gryffindor. He didn't like what Marg was insinuating, that Albus was awkward and unwanted. Scorpius was sure that the moment Albus saw him the boy would loosen up.
"Looking for someone Mr. Malfoy?" A soft voice behind him purred. Scorpius turned and smiled.
"Trix, I was wondering when I was going to see you."
Beatrix D'Aramitz was the Queen B of Beauxbaton. Being half veela made her incredibly gorgeous and she also had a ruthless attitude about her that Scorpius couldn't help but admire. Jaysen had been trying to get her attention for years but she never paid him much.
"Hi Beatrix." Marguerite offered sheepishly. Beatrix glared at the girl and spat out something in French that caused the other girl to run off.
Scorpius chuckled, "Still as in control as ever I see. But you didn't have to scare her off like that, I didn't even get to say goodbye."
Beatrix sighed, and flipped her long blonde hair over her shoulder, "Why on earth would you want to spend the night with an idiot like Marguerite Favre? A piece of seaweed has a better personality." Suddenly Beatrix looked up at Scorpius with a knowing look that gave him shivers. "Besides, you came here with someone else in mind didn't you?"
Scorpius shrugged and looked around the room, nonchalantly but Beatrix was having none of it.
"I'm talking about Albus Potter, don't play dumb, everyone knows." She grinned at him.
"Marg didn't seem to know." Scorpius responded. Beatrix just sighed.
"Are we still talking about her? Marguerite is an imbecile. Everyone with a brain knows about you and Potter."
"And what exactly is it that you know?" Scorpius questioned, eyeing the girl up and down. He had to admit it was a very pleasant sight.
"That you and your little friends have been toting the Potter boy around like some sort of side show and that you, Mr. Malfoy might actually have a romantic interest in the situation." She clearly wanted Scorpius to spill something and he could feel himself slowly becoming more and more open to the idea of telling Trix everything she wanted to hear.
Damn it! He hated veela and this was why.
He glared at her, "Stop that!"
"Stop what?" She asked innocently.
"Using your freaky veela powers on me." He responded. She just giggled lightly.
"Its not my fault if I happen to be very persuasive." She tutted lightly, "No come on dear, I have to know, what is going on between you and the Potter boy?"
"Nothing." He said at first, Trix clearly wasn't impressed so he continued, "Nothing serious, I'm just playing around with him."
"Everyone's been wondering what the Potter boy could have done to turn womanizer Scorpius Malfoy gay." She smiled sweetly but her eyes were ferocious, he knew there was no way he was getting away from her without answering some questions first.
"Well, I'm not gay." He said quickly.
"What, bisexual then? Or just "experimenting" for now?"
"Let's just say Hogwarts was running out of eligible women." Scorpius replied, "At least, ones I hadn't gotten bored with."
"You want me to believe that you had no more girls to fuck so you run off to date Albus Potter, the loner loser of the Gryffindor house? Sounds like a downgrade to me." The sweet smile she kept on her face while spewing nasty rumors terrified Scorpius.
"We aren't dating. Just hooking up." Scorpius didn't really know why he felt the need to defend himself, but something about Trix's attitude made it seem like she was talking down to him, and he didn't like it.
"Oh really?" She grinned and leaned into him closer. "Are you planning on hooking up tonight?"
"Yes, in fact we are." Scorpius replied, "Why, jealous?"
"Not quite. In fact, I just thought I would warn you." She practically purred in his ear. "Look around you Scorpius, all the witches and wizards in this room are soon to be the richest, beautiful and most influential that this world has to offer, except one, Albus Potter. You're one of us right now. Everyone knows you. Every guy in this room wants to be you. You have the Slytherin house and all the girls at Hogwarts under your thumb. You're powerful. If everyone here sees your kiss some awkward nobody at midnight that could all change. Do you really want to be seen with him, some shaggy haired geek? It'll ruin your image. It'll ruin your life Scorpius."
By the end it felt as if she was chanting in his ear. The words she was saying seemed like a spell, or more like a curse.
"Forget him Scorpius, I can offer you much more." Suddenly Trix had her body pressed up against his and she was clutching his arm tightly. "It's only a little while until midnight Malfoy," She whispered, "What are you going to do, run off and find your little boyfriend, or dance with me?"
"Oh come on Trix. Jaysen has been after you forever. Go find him if you're so desperate."
"Jaysen's hooking up with someone else tonight, he wont mind. Besides, I want you. I've heard the stories, I want to see if you're really as great as they say."
Scorpius tried to think about something other than Beatrix's words and the fact that he could feel her body pressed up against his. He knew she was tricking him, but he also wondered why he was trying to fight it so much. The most beautiful girl at the party was coming on to him, normally Scorpius wouldn't think twice. Was it because of Albus?
I don't owe him anything, Scorpius reminded himself. I'm not dating the guy, I can do whatever I want. It's not like I'm cheating on him.
"Scorpius, I'm waiting." Trix hissed, "And I won't wait long."
Scorpius looked down at her and decided. "Come on, let's go dance."
"You know, I never thought I would be saying this Albus, but maybe you should take it a little easy on that drink." Wendy offered.
Albus looked down at his glass and was surprised to see it already empty. Hadn't he just poured it? When did that happen?
"Yeah, I guess you're right." He replied. His lips felt slow and heavy when he spoke. He glanced up at the large clock that was hanging down from the center of the ballroom for the hundredth time. Ten minutes until midnight.
"Maybe I should go look for him." Albus offered, again.
Wendy just shook her head nervously. "No, he'll be here." She said.
"You seemed more confident the last time you said that." Albus pointed out.
About twenty minutes ago Wendy had found him and Stephanie standing off to the side of the party. Steph had basically handed him over to Wendy, and ran off with the boy that Jaysen had introduced her too. Albus knew he was being a pain, but he also didn't really know how to act at this party. He had only come because Scorpius invited him and now the prick was nowhere to be found.
"Maybe we should go dance." Wendy offered, "We can see more people from over there." She said pointing at the dance floor.
"Wendy, you don't have to babysit me all night." He answered sheepishly. "I know you would rather find someone to kiss at midnight."
"If Scorpius doesn't show up I'm kissing you!" Wendy said, dragging him towards the dancing mob.
Before they had even taken two steps Tess and Andrew appeared out of the mob. Tess spotted them and ran over, while Andrew trailed behind her.
"Wendy!" she yelled. "Wendy this is bad!"
Tess ran up and cupped her hands around Wendy's ear, whispering something.
Wendy's eyes widened, "He wouldn't." she gasped. "Has anyone tried to stop him?"
"Jaysen approached him but it didn't work." Andrew cut in. "They told him to fuck off."
"That fucking bitch!" Wendy yelled again, "I fucking hate her."
Albus knew that he was drunk but thought that even sober he wouldn't have been able to follow the conversation.
"Guys what's going on?" He asked. But before anyone had the chance to explain Stephanie came running out of the crowd as well.
"You guys!" She exclaimed.
"We know." The rest chorused back.
"I'll kill him!" Steph growled, "That motherfucking idiot."
"Are you guys talking about Scorpius?" Albus' face lit up. "Did you find him?"
No one responded, but they looked at Albus uneasily.
"What are we going to do?" Tess asked.
"Maybe we should just get him out of here." Andrew offered quietly, glancing over at Albus.
"No way!" Wendy shot back, "This isn't his fault."
They continued bickering around him, and Albus continued feeling more and more confused. He glanced up at the clock again and saw that there were only two more minutes until midnight. He might not know exactly what was going on, but he did know that Scorpius was in some kind of trouble. Maybe he needed Albus!
Suddenly determined Albus pushed past all his friends and made his way towards the dance floor.
"No, wait Albus come back!" He heard one of the girls yell.
A moment later he was surrounded by people. They were all moving and bumping into him from all sides. Soon Albus was all turned around. He looked back and couldn't see his friends anywhere. He kept turning until he saw something familiar, a tall blonde off to his left. Albus was sure it was Scorpius. There was less than a minute to midnight, it had to be him. He pushed his way towards the blonde head and when he got close enough his heart began to pound, it was Scorpius! But he wasn't alone. Albus stopped in his tracks, when he saw that with Scorpius was a beautiful blonde girl. They were dancing together, their bodies pressed up against one another. Their faces were inches apart. She said something to him and he laughed. She twirled her hips and he grabbed her ass. Albus thought he was going to be sick.
A hand grabbed onto his shoulder. It was Wendy.
"Come on." She said, "Let's go. You don't want to be here."
The music came to an abrupt stop and someone started to count down from 10.
Everyone stopped dancing and started chanting the numbers.
"10…9…8"
Albus watched Scorpius stop dancing. He looked up and saw Albus.
"7…6…5"
Scorpius' eyes widened while Albus' narrowed.
"4…3…2"
The girl that Scorpius was with turned and when she saw Albus she just grinned.
"1… HAPPY NEW YEAR"
The girl turned back to Scorpius and leaned into him, grabbing the back of his neck. Without any hesitation Scorpius pressed their lips together. It wasn't a quick kiss. They began to snog whole-heartedly and Albus had to turn away. Wendy was still standing there. She grabbed him and wrapped him in a hug, and then kissed him on the cheek.
"I'm sorry that wasn't the kiss you had in mind." She said. Then she was grabbing him by the hand and pulling him out of the mob of snogging teenagers, back to where the rest of their friends were standing.
"We're leaving." Stephanie announced as soon as she saw them. They followed her out of the ballroom and back into the floo room. The walk seemed like an eternity, and Albus felt like he had a million pounds weighing down on his shoulders. When they finally reached the fireplace Albus panicked.
"No, wait. I can't go home!" he realized, "My parents will want to know what happened, and I'm drunk! I'll be murdered!"
"You're not going home," Tess told him. Albus' face darkened.
"Well there's no way in hell I'm going back there." He said angrily. No one needed any clues to know he was talking about Scorpius' house.
"Don't worry your coming home with me." Tess said.
"I'm coming." Wendy said. She still hadn't let go of Albus' hand.
"Yeah me too." Stephanie decided.
"I better make sure the wanker gets home eventually." Andrew sighed, looking miserable. "Maybe I can find Sullivan and get him to help me."
"Help you what? Hide his body?" Tess joked. Andrew chuckled and kissed her softly. "I'll see you later," he said. Then he turned around and walked back out of the room.
Albus sighed, "I ruined everything." He moaned. "I'm so sorry."
Stephanie rolled her eyes. She grabbed Albus' shoulders and shook the boy. "This is not your fault ok?" She told him.
"But Steph, you were supposed to hook up with some cute French guy, and Tess I ruined your night with Andrew. And Wendy, you could have chosen any guy in this whole place, instead you're babysitting sad, pathetic Albus Potter."
"Oh stop being such a sad sack." Wendy grumbled. "We're not gonna let this change anything. We're just going to have to fight fire with fire."
The three girls all grinned at one another.
Albus did not like the sound of that.