Sunday morning when Albus woke the sun was shining brightly and Albus felt as if he was shining with it. He had slept in later than normal and by the time he got out of bed most of his roommates had already left for their early morning quidditch practice. Drew was lounging on his bed however, and Albus greeted his friend with a stretch and a yawn.
"You slept in for a while." Drew noted with a small smile.
"Yeah well I guess I was tired." Albus said, getting up and heading for the bathroom.
"You were out pretty late." Drew smirked. Albus just shrugged and went into the bathroom to brush his teeth. When he came back out Drew was still sitting, waiting for him.
"So what happened," He pressed, and Albus sighed.
"I spent the whole day at Hogsmeade, you know that."
Drew raised an eyebrow, "You were at Hogsmeade until past curfew?"
"It was hardly past curfew," Albus retorted. He realized that Drew wasn't going to leave him alone until he got a story out of him.
"Scorpius and I skipped dinner, then we went to the kitchens to get some food." Albus looked up only to see Drew's smile widening.
"Skipped dinner? And what did you and Scorpius do instead?"
Albus felt himself go slightly pink.
"None of your business." He said, turning away to get dressed. He heard Drew laughing behind him.
"No need to get so defensive." Drew responded, "Come on, let's go down and get some breakfast."
Albus agreed, easily able to forget Drew's teasing when presented with the option of breakfast. Once he had dressed the two boys walked down to the Great Hall together and Drew was careful not to say another word about Scorpius.
Albus and Drew entered the Great Hall and, having arrived late, struggled to find seats. Albus couldn't help but glance over at the Slytherin table and it didn't take him long to find Scorpius. The blond was deep in conversation, and Albus quickly looked away, not wanting to be caught staring. The two boys finally found seats towards the center of the table. Albus had barely enough time to take his seat and butter some toast before the screech of owls overhead announced the arrival of the mail. Glancing up curiously, Albus was rather surprised when he saw the family owl making its way over to him. His mother had just sent him a letter, not a few days before. Perhaps she was sending treats this time, he wondered. If surprise was the reaction Albus felt to seeing the owl, then the only way his reaction to the bright red letter that fell in front of him a moment later could be described would be absolute and complete disbelief. He only had a chance to put down his toast and hear Drew yelp at the sight of the envelope, before it sprang up off of the table and began opening itself.
"Shit."
The voice of Ginny Potter filled the Great Hall. The greeting began soft and sweet, which scared Albus more than anything else. The entire hall soon quieted. No one wanted to miss what Albus Potter must have done to deserve a howler.
"Albus, hello dear. How was your weekend? Your father and I had a great one, we went to your uncle Bill's house and dinner, and had a very interesting conversation. Your father and I were wondering if you could explain something to us."
There was a moment's pause, and then his mother's voice turned into a roar. "WHY IS LOUIS CONVINCED THAT YOU WERE PRESENT AT A NEW YEARS PARTY IN FRANCE? ALBUS SEVERUS POTTER, YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY WITHOUT PERMISSION."
Albus' survival instincts kicked in and he cast a quick silencing charm at the letter.
"DID YOU JUST TRY TO SILENCE ME ALBUS SEVERUS?" The letter boomed. It grew even louder than it had been before, although Albus didn't quite know how that was possible. Albus put his wand away. He had been stupid. Of course his mother had protected her letter from a silencing charm. Albus' next survival instinct was to run out of the room, but he was sure his mother would have protected against that too. The last thing he need was to have a screaming envelope chasing him around the castle all day. The letter continued to scream.
"WHAT IF SOMETHING HAD HAPPENED? HOW WOULD WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO FIND YOU? I DON'T KNOW WHAT COULD HAVE POSSIBLY BEEN GOING THROUGH YOUR MIND BUT YOU ARE NEVER ALLOWED TO SPEND THE NIGHT AT MALFOY MANOR EVER AGAIN. YOU ARE LUCKY YOU ARE AT SCHOOL, BECAUSE WHEN YOU GET HOME I AM GOING TO MAKE YOUR LIFE MISERABLE."
When the letter finished, with a thinly veiled threat of locking him in his room for the rest of his life, it fell on to the table where it lay open for him to read, is case he wanted to relive the torturous experience. Albus quickly folded the letter and jammed it in his pocket, but not before noticing the splotched and smeared ink on the parchment. His mother had written it hurriedly and angrily, her normal letters had very meticulous handwriting. Aware of all the eyes in the Great Hall on him Albus stood. The silence broke and people began whispering furiously as he walked down the hall toward the giant doors. His leg muscles felt tight from all the pressure it took for him to not break into a sprint. No, he took careful, deliberate steps with his eyes straight ahead, making eye contact with no one.
He had almost reached the doors when sudden gasps caused him to instinctively turn. The gasps had come from the Slytherin table, where Scorpius Malfoy had just shot up from the table. He had a determined look in his eyes as he strode quickly toward Albus.
Completely forgetting his careful and deliberate steps Albus turned and ran out of the Great Hall as quickly as he could.
It had taken a few moments for Scorpius to understand what was going on. He had been talking to Wendy when the voice suddenly boomed out of the letter. Howlers were a reasonably common occurrence at Hogwarts, usually one appeared every month or so. Scorpius turned with interest to see what poor soul had received the letter. His eyes widened with shock when he realized it was Albus and he could only gape as he heard the letter and watched as Albus' face went from bright pink to extremely pale in under a minute. Scorpius became aware at the mention of his name in the letter that students began to whisper and turn his way, but he couldn't tear his eyes from Albus. The letter finished and he watched as Albus shakily folded the letter, stood and began walking out of the hall.
Scorpius had a sinking feeling in his gut. He had to do something. A sharp jab in the ribs made him turn to face Wendy.
"Go!" She hissed angrily at him. As if her word had broken him out of a trance he immediately stood, which drew even more attention to himself, and also began walking towards the door. He watched as Albus turned and saw him. The boy froze looking terrified and then ran out of the Great Hall without looking back. Scorpius balked, he hadn't expected that, but he couldn't very well sit back down now. Sighing angrily Scorpius took off in a run as well, following the Gryffindor out of the room. The students didn't even bother to whisper anymore he noted as he passed through the doors hearing loud voice behind him, he even heard a few whoops and shouts of encouragement.
Outside of the hall was eerily quiet in comparison. Out of the corner of his eye Scorpius saw a cloak whip around a corner at the end of the hall. Scorpius followed quickly and was rewarded when he turned and saw Albus. The boy had stopped running and was now wandering aimlessly.
"Albus" he shouted, hurrying up to him. Albus turned and his face looked like he might try to run again, but he stayed put. As Scorpius got closer he noticed Albus' face was red and his eyes were brimming with tears. Scorpius was shocked, without any idea how to comfort the boy he stood awkwardly, simply watching.
Then Albus began to sob. Large tears rolled down his face, which he immediately hid in his hands and his cries echoed down the hallway.
Scorpius looked around, the hallway was deserted but the Great Hall would empty soon and the cries were sure to draw a crowd. Grabbing Albus by the shoulders Scorpius led him around another hallway, a much smaller one and hid them behind a large statue of a centaur rearing up on its hind legs. Scorpius backed Albus up against the wall and stood in front of him to shield him from anyone who might pass by. Wrapping his arms around the smaller boy's shoulders allowed Albus to sob into Scorpius' chest, which helped to muffle the sound. Albus' hands gripped at the sides of Scorpius' robes as he cried and Scorpius shushed him quietly feeling terribly awkward. Scorpius also couldn't help but feel the warmth radiating off of Albus' body and notice how nice his hair smelled. They stood there for a while but luckily no one walked down the hall. Finally Albus' sobs subsided and a muffled voice spoke into his robes. Reluctantly Scorpius let go of the boy to let him speak.
Albus' face was bright red and tear stained. His nose was running and he wiped it on the sleeve of his robes quickly.
"Sorry about your robes." He said quietly. Scorpius looked down and saw the stains down his front, but surprisingly wasn't bothered by them.
"I don't know what to do." Albus moaned miserably seconds later. "My parents are going to kill me. And James is going to be furious with me and the-" At this point Albus' voice caught and he started crying again "the professors!" He blubbered. "They all heard! And all the students, they are all gonna talk about it, and people were just starting to like me but now they are just going to make fun of me again." Albus continued choking out words through sobs while is hands began to shake.
Scorpius was unsure how to respond. The confident and cool boy he had been trying to lure for the last few weeks was gone. Albus had been reduced to a shaking, sobbing mess and it scared Scorpius. He knew that he should talk to the boy, say something reassuring but he didn't know what, so instead he grabbed him by the back of the neck and pulled their lips together in a soft kiss.
Well that shut the Gryffindor up, as least momentarily. Scorpius continued to kiss the boy until he stopped shaking began weakly kissing back. Then Scorpius slowly pulled them apart.
"You need to calm down." He told the Gryffindor carefully. He was pleased to see that kissing had helped to calm Albus down considerably. He had stopped crying but was now looking up at the Slytherin miserably. Scorpius considered some more snogging, but then he thought back to the previous day in Hogsmeade. When he had needed someone Albus had helped him, talked him down and made him feel better. Now it was Albus who needed the help and Scorpius wanted to be the one to do it. He took a deep breath and cleared his head. Glancing around he noticed the large centaur statue they were hiding behind and it gave him an idea.
"You need to get out of the castle." He said a moment later, "No library, you won't be able to focus anyway, people will just be staring and whispering. Go down to Hagrid's, ask him to take you to see those baby centaurs you were talking about yesterday."
"But Hagrid was in the Great Hall this morning." Albus replied miserably, "He heard the howler, I can't face him!"
Scorpius waved off Albus' argument. "Hagrid caught us snogging in the Care of Magical Creatures classroom last term. None of this should be particularly surprising to him. Besides," Scorpius continued, "He's not just a teacher, he's your friend and he will want to make you feel better."
Albus seemed to consider this for a moment. He took a deep breath and then nodded slowly.
"I would like to go see them." He said finally, looking back up to Scorpius with a small smile.
Scorpius smiled back and ruffled the smaller boys hair.
"Hey!" Albus swatted his hand away and tried to preserve the rest of his hair.
Scorpius laughed and planted a kiss on Albus' cheek.
"Meet us in the forest when you're done." Scorpius said. He took out his wand and cleaned the snot off of his robes, before walking down the hall away from Albus. He looked back and saw the Gryffindor hurrying the other way, off to the Hogwarts grounds.
Hagrid was more than happy to introduce him to the baby centaurs (and happier still that the boy didn't seem inclined to discuss the howler). Although the centaurs were barely a month old they were already as tall as Albus. They were extremely excited to have someone new to play with and Albus spent a good portion of the afternoon being chased around by them. He even taught them how to play hide and seek, though they normally were too impatient to stay hidden for long, and could find Albus almost immediately due to their heighten sense of smell. After a few hours Albus was sweaty and exhausted. Hagrid walked the boy back to the castle, excitedly talking about how smart Wayne and Gibbous had become. As they parted ways Hagrid pulled Albus into an awkward hug and patted him on the back. "It'll all be okay." He said gruffly.
Albus decided that it would be.
When Albus opened the hedge and stepped inside he was very surprised by what he saw. In place of the usual debauchery that his Slytherin friends committed in their secret hideout Albus walked into them sitting together all gathered around a large book. Sullivan seemed to be trying to explain something to them, but they all stopped talking once Albus appeared.
The girls immediately jumped up and wrapped their friend in a hug.
"Are you okay?"
"That was horrible."
"I can't believe your mom did that!"
Albus reassured them that he was fine, and that yes; it had been bad, but that he was over it.
"I want to know what you guys are doing." He said, changing the subject back to the large volume lying in the grass. Albus sat down to join the circle.
There was a moment of silence before Sullivan cleared his throat.
"We're going to apparate out of Hogwarts." He said.
Albus grinned. "Yeah sure." He grabbed the book off of the grass and flipped to the front cover, which read Major Theories and Methods in Apparition. Albus blinked a few times before looking back up at Sullivan.
"You can't be serious." Albus said with a small frown.
"Oh, we're very serious." Andrew replied, smiling, but Albus frowned even deeper.
"None of you have had any training in apparition." He shot back. "You'll all get splinched!"
This time Stephanie spoke up, which Albus was not expecting, seeing as she was the most reasonable one in the group normally.
"Lessons for students who have turned 17 start next month. Jayse has been 17 for a while now, and my birthday is in two weeks. We'll show everyone else how it's done."
Albus shook his head. He didn't even bother pointing out the obvious flaws in that idea and instead decided to focus on the more blaringly obvious issue.
"Why does any of that even matter? Everyone knows that there is no way to apparate outside of Hogwarts." He looked around, to see if anyone was even remotely bothered by this fact. They all just smiled back at him.
"That," Sullivan said, gently reaching out and grabbing the book back from Albus, "is where you are wrong."
Twenty minutes later, after Sullivan had finished unveiling their grand plan, Albus had to admit, he was rather impressed. It involved breaking about 100 school rules and also required a large amount of magic, but Sullivan was convinced that split between the 6 of them (or 7 is Albus decided to join) it would be a manageable task. The theories were obviously sound, the book was clear enough on how to apparate through a barrier, but theory and practice were two entirely different things.
"Why do you even want to apparate through the barrier?" Albus had finally asked. After he understood the how, he still wasn't too clear on the point of the whole thing.
"To make history of course." Scorpius has replied grandly. "First students to apparate outside of the castle. Quite a feat."
"What would you even do?" Albus questioned further. But his Slytherin friends had apparently been thinking of the answer to that question too.
"Go to the Colosseum." Wendy said.
"The pyramids." Answered Tess.
"Rio." Andrew supplied.
"New York City." Sullivan said.
"Maybe hit up some muggle parties." Jaysen grinned. Albus couldn't help but imagine his father's speech during Christmas dinner. Albus wondered if Jaysen had been one of the teen wizards causing the Ministry so much trouble.
"And you?" Albus asked, turning to Scorpius, the only one of the them who hadn't supplied a destination.
"Anywhere." The blond replied with a shrug and a smirk. "The real question, is are you coming with us?"
Albus almost laughed, almost. Because it was almost funny, almost.
"No." He deadpanned instead, not a hint of humor in his voice. This was clearly not the answer Scorpius had expected, he smirk faded.
"Why not Al?" Wendy pleaded. "It will be easier to pull off if you help. You're so smart."
"There's no way." Albus said coolly, ignoring her flattery completely. "Perhaps you are all forgetting, but I have only broken the rules once in my life, and it happened to be with you all. And this very morning I was very loudly and publicly ridiculed for it. Any of you remember that?"
"Oh come on." Andrew teased, "Who hasn't gotten a howler or two from their parents."
"Me, Andrew, that's who." Albus responded, more angrily than he had intended, "Sorry." He said a moment later. "I still need to figure out what I'm going to say to them, I guess I'm still stressing about it a little bit."
"I thought you said you were 'over it'" Stephanie added, quoting his words from before.
"Well, maybe not entirely." Albus confessed. "I just feel like if I'm honest with them about what happened they will never understand. They'll never see why I did it. They want me to be their perfect little baby boy forever and that's just not who I want to be anymore."
"Yeah, well that's what parents do." Jaysen said, "They try to suck the joy and fun out our lives."
"No Jayse, you're thinking of dementors." Sullivan said. They all had a good laugh, and spent the few next minutes comparing their parents to the evil creatures that guarded Azkaban.
Albus felt momentarily better, but in his heart, he knew his parents weren't dementor-like, not even in the slightest. His parents were the kindest people he knew, and he loved them with all his heart, and it was killing him to think that they were disappointed in him. He was pulled out of his thoughts when he felt a hand on his back. Scorpius was staring at him with concern and softly running a finger down his spine.
"What?" Albus asked quietly, letting the conversation of the group go on around them.
"You look worried." Scorpius replied softly, "I can see it on your face."
"Well I am." Albus shrugged.
"You should let me help you take your mind off of it." Scorpius leaned in towards Albus slightly, a smirk appearing on his face.
Albus tried to keep a straight face when he replied, "Oh yeah, and how are you going to do that?"
Scorpius leaned in even closer and whispered, "I have a few ideas."
"GET A ROOM!" Andrew yelled. Albus jumped, while Scorpius just laughed.
"I quite like the sound of that." Scorpius said, playfully. "What do you say?" He asked turning to Albus again, "Wanna head back to the castle?"
As much as Albus wanted to say yes, he also felt like he was somehow being made fun of. The way the rest of the group was eyeing him, as if he was falling into another one of the blonde's traps. So took a breath and then began to stand up.
Scorpius looked hopeful for a moment before Albus spoke.
"You're right, I really should head back to the castle. I still have a lot of homework to do after all." Scorpius' face fell quickly.
"What?" he asked confusedly.
Albus smiled slightly at the disappointment in Scorpius' voice. He really had been spending too much time with the Slytherins, because teasing Scorpius had become too fun lately.
"Sorry, but I really do have a lot of work to do, seeing as we spent all day at Hogsmeade yesterday."
"I'll go with you." Sullivan added, "I think there might be some books in the library that could help with this whole apparition business."
Scorpius shot Sullivan a look as if his words had been a grand betrayal.
As Albus stood Scorpius grabbed his hand, "You should come by after." He said, "We'll all be hanging out in the common room."
While Albus couldn't help but be flattered that the Slytherin seemed so desperate to spend time with him, his more sensible side took over before he responded. "It's a school night Scorpius."
Scorpius rolled his eyes in response, "What does that matter? Besides don't you have potions first on Mondays? The Slytherin dormitories are closer to the dungeons anyways."
Albus was caught off guard by the statement in more ways than one. First, why did Scorpius have his class schedule memorized? Second, and most importantly, "So now I'm spending the night am I?" He asked, raising one eyebrow trying to appear calm and cool.
"You could, if you wanted." Was Scorpius' equally as cool response. Albus had not been expecting that. He could feel his face turn bright red, and he suddenly became aware that everyone was silently watching them, again. Still blushing Albus pulled his hand away and mumbled, "we'll see" before saying a quick goodbye to the rest of the group and fleeing the enclosed area with Sullivan following right behind him.
After the two had disappeared behind the large hedge Scorpius let out a breath that he didn't know he had been holding. He laid back on the grass and closed his eyes mentally cursing himself for sounding so desperate, but the thought of Albus Potter spending the night in his bed did things to him that he would rather not admit. And the way Albus had said, "we'll see". Scorpius cursed himself again, wondering, not for the first time, who was playing with who.
Albus crumpled up a fifth piece of parchment and threw it into a pile with the other rejected attempts to write a response to his parents. Albus had been in the library with Sullivan for almost 5 hours. The two had grabbed a late lunch before heading up to a quiet and secluded corner of the Hogwarts library. Albus had wanted to write the letter to his parents first, to get it over with and off of his mind, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't seem to come up with the words to properly explain himself. In one draft he had tried honesty and told his parents that he had been desperate to please Scorpius Malfoy, doing whatever the boy wanted in order to impress him, because he was gay and in love with the Slytherin. Albus hadn't just crumpled up that version he had set it on fire, which had caused Sullivan to jump out of his seat in surprise. There was no way Albus could come out to his parents in a letter. But the truth seemed the only way to actually apologize, all his others attempts sounded shallow and insincere.
So Albus had put it off, and chosen instead to do all the other work imaginable before coming back to the dreaded letter. It was only when he caught himself recopying his transfiguration notes for the third time (because the other two copies had ink splotches on them) that he decided he was probably putting off the task unnecessarily. So here he was, back trying to find a way to make his parents understand that he hadn't been trying to lie to them or keep anything from them, but he had just needed something that was his own, something that was a change from who he had been his whole life. He had wanted to prove to himself that he could break out of the rut that he had fallen into and be the type of person that he always dreamed was inside him. Albus didn't even need to write that part down to realize that it was rubbish.
He groaned and laid his head down on the table in front of him. He was becoming frustrated and he even felt a tinge of anger brewing in the back of his mind. Why did he even have to explain himself to his parents? He had been a literal perfect son for almost his entire life. Why was he being punished so harshly for one little digression, one little slip-up? It's not like anything even happened. He hadn't hurt anyone, or hurt himself (well actually he had gotten hurt, but his parents didn't know that). Why couldn't his parents just let this one go? Why did they need to send a humiliating letter to make his mistake an even bigger disaster? Did they think that would stop him from breaking any more rules? Sure, this morning he had been upset and embarrassed, but seeing the complete lack of regard that his Slytherin friends had for the letter, Albus began to wonder if the howler had even been as bad as he thought. He had already told Rosie and Lily and Drew about the party. Maybe the rest of Hogwarts thought he was cool for sneaking out to some exclusive party in France.
"Uh Albus?"
Albus lifted his head to see Sully staring at him in concern.
"Do you need some help with your homework?"
Albus had to laugh when he realized that his reaction probably looked a little dramatic for someone working on homework. He had to laugh even harder when he realized that no homework problem had ever given him as much trouble as this letter.
"I'm trying to write a response to my parents letter." He responded, "I'll be happy to take any advice you have."
"Ahh, I see." Sullivan nodded in understanding. "Well, as you can imagine being friends with who I am friends with, I have had to write quite a few explanation letters to my parents. I've found the best strategy is just to tell them whatever they want to hear and then go about doing whatever it is you want. Your prat cousin is unable to rat on you here in Hogwarts, and the rest of your family doesn't seem the type, even your brother, as terrible as he may be."
Albus had to agree with that. Rosie and James were the mot likely to lecture him when they found out that he was possibly sneaking out or breaking rules with the Slytherins but he couldn't see them telling his parents. Lily of course would never say a word, and Hugo, well Hugo was pretty oblivious to anything that wasn't his stomach. It wasn't just family that he need to look out for however. Professor Longbottom and Hagrid were in touch with his parents as well. When Albus brought up this point to Sullivan the other boy just waved it off.
"We've been at this whole 'breaking the rules' gig for 6 years now. We aren't likely to get caught by any professors. "
Albus was a little surprised by Sullivan's arrogance; he always thought that Sully was the most levelheaded of all the Slytherins. Then again, Sullivan was the smartest student in Hogwarts by far; he got top marks even though he skipped class quite often with his friends. He also was attempting to break one of the strongest shields around Hogwarts, and he was having a surprisingly large amount of success at it. If Albus had to bet on anyone avoiding trouble it would definitely be Sullivan.
"If you say so." Albus said chuckling.
"I do." Sullivan replied, "Just tell your parents that you are sorry and that you will never do it again."
Albus did what he was told. He wrote a short but earnest response, about how he hadn't been thinking and he had learned his lesson and he hoped his parents could begin to trust him again. He handed it over to Sullivan when he finished. The Slytherin nodded in approval.
With the letter out of the way Albus realized that he had nothing more to do.
"I guess I'll go and mail this." He said, gathering up his things.
"Oh good," Sullivan closed the book he was looking at as well. "I can barely see straight, I've been reading for so long. I don't know how you can study so intently for this many hours."
Albus laughed, "Just a lot of practice I guess, we can't all be as naturally gifted as you. Some of us have to work for it."
As the boys packed up and made their way out of the library Albus glanced at the large clock sitting by the entrance to the library.
"Damn, we worked right through dinner." Albus noted. It hadn't been the first time he had gotten so absorbed in studying that he had skipped a meal. He wasn't even that hungry, he just didn't want his absence in the Great Hall to cause people to believe that he was still hiding out because of his howler that morning.
"Wendy probably grabbed me some sandwiches from dinner." Sullivan said, "She usually does when I disappear during mealtimes."
Albus smiled, Wendy was like that, she could appear ditzy and selfish, but she actually cared deeply about her friends.
"You coming down to hang out with us?" Sullivan asked.
Albus couldn't pretend he hadn't been thinking about it. Studying had been a great distraction, but he couldn't forget Scorpius' offer earlier that day. Whenever he thought about it for too long, he felt his face go red again.
"I don't know…" Albus trailed off, feeling himself go slightly pink. "It seems foolish, to mail a letter to my parents saying I will follow the rules and then immediately after go break a few rules."
Sullivan sighed. "Listen Albus, I really like you. I like having you in our friend group and I like hanging out with you, but you have got to stop trying to make everyone happy but yourself. I've watched you try to make Scorpius happy, try to make your parents happy, try to make Rose happy. You need to forget everyone else and just do what you want. If you want to come and hang out with us, then do it. If you don't, then go to bed. I don't care either way, but I can't stand watching you mentally debate these things, when you know perfectly well where you would rather be."
Albus gaped, he had never heard Sullivan say that much, ever.
"Yeah, okay." He responded finally.
Sullivan gave him a small smile, before turning and heading down towards to Slytherin dorms.
Albus thought about what Sully had said all the way to the owlry. On the way back his feet automatically took him down towards the dungeons, without even a moment of hesitation. Sullivan had been right, he knew what he wanted, so why was he so afraid of getting it? His parents weren't going to find out, and to hell what anyone else thought of him.
Entering the Slytherin common room, Albus noted that no one really looked at him too strangely anymore; in fact a few people even greeted him kindly. The majority of people smirked, apparently amused by his presence, but no one seemed angry.
He found his friends surrounding a familiar fireplace, Andrew was the first one to notice him walk up and he cheered loudly.
"The brave little lion enters the snake pit once again." He joked.
Everyone seemed excited by his presence. Albus noticed Sullivan, munching on the sandwich he had predicted would be waiting for him, wink at him.
Albus took a seat on the arm of the armchair that Scorpius has settled into. Scorpius smiled at him a little too widely.
"You ok?" Albus asked him. Then he noticed a bottle being passed around the circle and he understood.
"Really? On a Sunday?" He asked, looking down at the tipsy boy who was still beaming at him. "Where are your prefects? Don't they care?"
"You mean Trey?" Jaysen asked, pointing over to the other corner of the room, where a bunch of other Slytherins sat, passing around a similar looking bottle.
"HEY MERTON!" Scorpius called. One of the boys turned and sent a rude gesture back, "Fuck off Malfoy!"
"Love that guy." Scorpius chuckled. The bottle had made its way back to the blonde and he took a swig before handing it to Albus.
"None for me." Albus said trying to pass it along, but Jaysen, who was on his left, refused to take it.
"You have to at least drink some." He reason. Albus figured the longer he fought it the more insistent the group would become, so he took a swig and passed it on without anymore complaints.
It only took a few minutes for the alcohol to take its effect. His head began to feel light and warmer. He quickly remembered that he hadn't eaten any dinner, and watched jealously as Sullivan devoured the rest of his sandwich.
Before Albus had arrived Sullivan had apparently been explaining what he had found out in the library that afternoon. The group was excitedly discussing their plans for "Operation Escape Hogwarts" or "Operescahog" as they had dubbed it. Albus, thought it was a terrible name, but couldn't help but giggle whenever anyone said it aloud. He mostly just sat back and listened to the conversation, throwing his two pence in when he had something to say.
After a while a hand found its way to his waist. Scorpius had slipped his hand behind Albus and was holding the boy in place on the arm of the chair. The gentle touch sent shivers down Albus' spine and he suddenly became more aware of Scorpius. He moved his own hand to lace fingers with the Slytherin and the two sat there, holding hands as if it was the more natural thing in the world.
Albus hadn't felt this peaceful since Christmas Eve, the last time he hadn't been angry with Scorpius. He looked around at the group of Slytherins and felt like he was one of them, like he was no longer an outsider. It was mostly the alcohol, but Albus decided that he didn't mind that, and so the next time the bottle came around he took another swig.
"Mr. Potter!" Scorpius said in feigned astonishment, "On a Sunday?"
"Indeed Mr. Malfoy." He responded with a grin on his face. He playfully leaned towards Scorpius as he said the words, which Scorpius took as an opportunity to pull the Gryffindor off of his perch and onto the Slytherins lap.
"Hey!" Albus complained, trying to sit back up. But Scorpius refused to let him go.
"I like you better here." The Slytherin replied, wrapping his arms around the Gryffindor.
Albus' heartbeat immediately sped up, but he allowed himself to lean back against Scorpius' chest. The conversation continued around them as if nothing had happened but Albus could tell that the others were watching the two of them. Wendy in particular kept casting glances their way, grinning to herself every time. A few minutes later, Tess, who had been sitting next to Andrew, climbed into his lap, imitating Albus and Scorpius. Albus suddenly felt self-conscious. Tess and Andrew were a couple, well, close enough to one anyways. What were he and Scorpius? He had honestly no idea.
Albus turned his head to look at the Slytherin's face and was shocked to see that Scorpius was already staring at him. They locked eyes, and Albus' heart began to race again. His fuzzy head recalled something Sullivan had said to him earlier that evening "just do what you want".
Albus leaned in and whisper in Scorpius' ear. "Come on. Let's go."
Scorpius looked confused for a moment, then Albus began shifting, starting to stand up. The moment Scorpius understood what Albus had meant, the look in his eye made Albus feel hotter then any amount of firewhiskey could.
Albus grabbed his things left the circle around the fire without a word, and then let Scorpius lead him towards the dormitories. He was sure they were receiving some looks, from their friends and other students alike, but Albus couldn't have cared less about that at the moment.
Scorpius led him down a hallway in complete silence and they passed a few doors before Scorpius finally opened one on the left hand side. They both entered and the minute the door closed behind them it was like a spell had been broken. Scorpius grabbed Albus' wrist and pulled the other boy towards him. Their lips met immediately, and Albus began to kiss the other boy desperately. Scorpius pulled Albus' body towards his, until there was no space between the two, and began running his hands up and down the Gryffindor's back. Every touch made Albus' skin prickle underneath his shirt. Scorpius moved one hand to the back of Albus' head and he deepened the kiss, completely controlling it, leaving Albus in a puddle.
Suddenly, a loud voice from outside of the door caused the boys to break apart. The voice continued down the hallway and they both relaxed. Scorpius took Albus' hand and gently pulled the boy towards his bed. It had been such a long day; Albus couldn't believe that he had been in this same place only last night. It felt different this time, he felt different. It wasn't just the firewhiskey, which had honestly probably worn off by now. No, the feeling that was consuming him now was a desperate need for Scorpius. Albus would have felt embarrassed admitting this even to himself if it wasn't obvious that Scorpius felt the same way. The Slytherin was currently waving his wand over his bed and muttering some spells.
"What are you doing?" Albus asked him.
"Silencing charm." He said, putting his wand down. He looked back at Albus and grinned, "Wouldn't want to bother the roommates."
Albus blushed, he hadn't really considered that they would be doing… things with the other boys in the room. He also had to admit the idea turned him on a little bit.
Scorpius was taking off his shoes and Albus quickly followed in suit. He put down his bag at the foot of the bed and then his shoes and socks.
He looked up again and saw that Scorpius had already taken off his shirt and was now working on his trousers. Albus just stood staring at him until the Slytherin noticed.
"See something you like?" He asked smugly. Albus just turned away and began taking off his clothes as well. He pulled off his shirt but his hands were shaking slightly as he unbuttoned his jeans. He folded them both and laid them down next to his shoes. When he turned back around to face Scorpius he saw that the blond had taken a seat on the edge of the bed and was watching him.
"See something you like?" Albus mimicked with a smirk.
"Oh hell yes." Scorpius practically purred the words. Albus remembered when he had begged Tess not to buy him new pants in London. Now he couldn't have been happier to have them. He felt sexy and confident as he walked over to Scorpius and straddled the Slytherin. Scorpius scooted them closer to the center of the bed and closed the curtains of the four-poster bed behind them. The sudden change in light cast a soft glow over everything. Albus' breath hitched and he leaned down to kiss Scorpius. As soon as their lips touched they began snogging as insistently as before. Scorpius leaned back so that their bodies could lie against one another. The fabric of Albus' briefs was much thinner than his jeans, and the feeling of his erection rubbing against Scorpius' had him moaning almost immediately. He began moving his body up and down against Scorpius', desperate for more friction.
Scorpius broke their kiss long enough to whisper in his ear, "Can I assume that the above the belt stipulation has been removed?"
Albus responded by sliding his hand down the front of Scorpius' briefs and grabbing his erect member. Scorpius groaned, and then quickly reciprocated. Scorpius' hand wrapped around Albus' cock and began pumping it up and down. Albus tried to follow the same pace with his own hand, but felt like he could barely think, much less keep a rhythm. The tempo increased quickly, each boy trying to bring the other to completion as fast as possible. Albus was making sounds that he should have been embarrassed about but he couldn't care less because Scorpius' hand felt so damn good.
He gasped as he came and had a feeling of satisfaction as he heard Scorpius groan a moment later and felt his hand become hot and sticky with cum. Scorpius grabbed his wand quickly and cleaned them up. Albus was now feeling suddenly awkward, although, he decided, it was probably a little late for that. His sex-crazed brain had a moment of clarity and he felt nervous. Had that been good for Scorpius? What were they supposed to do now?
Thankfully Scorpius answered both of those questions, by pulling Albus into a long kiss and then murmuring, "mmm, that was great, but slower this time".
Albus nodded and continued kissing the blond. Scorpius moved his hands down Albus' back and dipped them under the elastic band of his briefs. Albus moaned as he felt Scorpius' fingers on his ass. They squeezed and fondled his butt. Occasionally a finger would dip down and rub him between the two cheeks. Needless to say after a few minutes Albus was hard and he began pushing himself insistently against Scorpius again.
Scorpius removed his hands and broke off their kiss. He pushed Albus away from him slightly, then he reached down and slid his briefs down his legs and kicked them off of his feet. Albus just sat staring at Scorpius Malfoy, completely naked and erect in front of him.
"You too." Scorpius said. Albus quickly obeyed, pulling down his pants and tossed them off to the side. He would have felt self-conscious but the look in Scorpius eye didn't allow him the chance.
Scorpius grabbed Albus' shoulder and spun them around so that Albus was now lying under the Slytherin. Scorpius propped himself on his elbows and knees, looming over Albus, but not touching him at all. He began kissing the smaller boy, first on his lips and then moving down his neck to his collarbone. Albus' lower half was throbbing, and he tried to push himself upwards to make contact with Scorpius' body.
Scorpius shifted and pushed Albus' hips back against the bed.
"What did I say?" He reprimanded softly in Albus ear, "Slowly this time." Then he resumed his kissing, sucking and biting his way down Albus' chest.
When he reached Albus' nipple the Gryffindor was surprised by how sensitive it felt. He had never thought of his nipples as sensitive before, but Scorpius was making him feel differently. Albus lifted his hands, running them through Scorpius' hair. Eventually Scorpius moved even lower, down to his navel, but didn't go any farther and instead started to work his way back up.
Albus groaned in frustration, his cock still throbbing. Scorpius just chuckled.
"What's wrong Al?" He asked kissing the Gryffindor's chest.
"I-I want more." Albus responded nervously. That clearly was a good answer because Scorpius hummed happily.
"Tell me what you want." He said, bringing their faces close once more.
"Touch me." Albus whispered, hoping that he wasn't completely botching the dirty talk.
Scorpius grinned in approval and laid his body on top of Albus', their erections pushed together between their bodies. Albus moaned loudly. Scorpius began thrusting his lower half back and forth at a painfully slow rate.
Albus couldn't take it, he tried to use his hand to speed things up, but Scorpius grabbed it and pinned his arms above his head.
"No hands." He said in a throaty voice. Then he brought their lips together. Albus kissed Scorpius desperately, mentally begging him to move faster. Scorpius began to gradually pick up the pace, and Albus moaned again as the friction and heat again caused him to lose focus. Scorpius stopped kissing him and began thrusting harder and faster, rubbing their cocks together between their bodies.
"Scorpius." Albus moaned. He felt himself getting close, and then Scorpius slowed his pace again. Albus groaned in frustration, trying to move his own body underneath the Slytherin, but he was being held firmly in place. This pattern continued again and again, Scorpius would speed up and then right as Albus was about to cum he would slow again. Albus was left panting and moaning underneath the Slytherin.
"Please Scor." He finally said, wriggling underneath the blond.
That seemed to hit the Slytherin in the right spot. Scorpius slowly started building the rhythm back up again, getting rougher and more urgent as he went.
"Oh, yes. Scorpius." Albus couldn't contain himself, the Slytherin was undoing him in all the best ways. He felt his body getting hotter and hotter until-. Albus' entire body arched as he came, with Scorpius following closely behind. They rode out their orgasms rubbing against one another before Scorpius relaxed on top of Albus. He freed the Gryffindor's hands from above his head and kissed the boy lightly. Albus was panting heavily, having trouble kissing back.
"See?" Scorpius said in between kisses, "Good things come to those who wait."
Albus grunted lightly. He wasn't exactly sure if he liked being manipulated by the Slytherin that way, but he couldn't exactly argue with the result, he had never had an orgasm that intense before. He felt slightly jealous by the fact that Scorpius could only be so good through lots of practice. But then again, he considered, he was really, really glad that the Slytherin was as talented as he was.
Scorpius had reached for his wand again and cleaned them up, then the blond was reaching down for their briefs, handing Albus his, before pulling on his own.
Albus pulled his pants back on, glad that Scorpius didn't seem interested in going another round, because he didn't know if he could take it.
Scorpius grabbed the blankets that had made their way down towards the bottom of the bed and pulled them up, covering the two of them.
Albus was worried that sharing a bed would be awkward or uncomfortable, but after Scorpius laid down, Albus curled up against his chest and it felt like the spot had been made for him. He closed his eyes and sighed, he couldn't remember a time he had felt more relaxed and cozy. Scorpius wrapped his arms around Albus as the Gryffindor snuggled himself closer into the Slytherin.
"Are you sure it's okay if I stay?" Albus asked quietly. Scorpius responded by just squeezing him tighter and Albus smiled. He was surprised by how tired he felt; he could hardly keep his eyes open. He could already hear Scorpius' breathing was slowing.
"Good night Scorpius," he yawned.
"G'night." Was the mumbled reply.
Then Albus slowly drifted off to sleep.
Worth the wait? Probably not... Sorry for disappearing again. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. xoxo