~What Am I Feeling?~

~Chapter 7- A Pang To The Heart~

Scorpius watched Albus from across the class as the brown haired boy chatted to that Hufflepuff girl, Danielle, Scorpius thought was her name. Albus had been talking to her a lot recently in class… Scorpius often saw his friend's eyes following the mousy haired girl as they walked down the corridor or when he was next to Scorpius in class, Albus would make the extra effort to go and sit next to Danielle.

Scorpius realised that over the years he and Albus had become more defined as people. They were still just as close, but it was just people understood and knew their personalities better. Albus had easily become one of the most popular boys in Ravenclaw since the beginning of their fifth year, with his bubbly personality and just pure kindness, more people started to notice and he started to develop other friendships, outside his and Scorpius'.

Of course, his and Scorpius' relationship had not grown any weaker, if not stronger, it's just that they had become different. Scorpius was still quiet and reserved, recently he was spending most his time studying for his OWLs. He tried to make Albus work hard as well, but really he wasn't putting as much effort in as he could do and Scorpius didn't understand why he was the one more worried about that than Albus himself.

A bit part of Albus' growing popularity was probably the fact that Albus had gained the position of Ravenclaw Seeker in his third year. And a very good one at that, by far the best in the school. His fellow housemates had seemed more captivated by Albus when he was winning all their Quidditch games for them, naturally. And other students in other houses who also had an interest in Quidditch, suddenly worshipped the young Seeker who had inherited the incredible skills of his forefathers.

Scorpius didn't mind Albus making new friends nor anything else like that, what he did mind was when said friends started making fun of him. He knew they didn't mean it in a rude way, but when you're constantly being called 'Albus' little follower' or even 'stalker' at some points, it got annoying.

What hurt even more was when James harassed him. He never did it around Albus, only when Scorpius was on his own. And Scorpius still refused to tell Albus. He didn't want to cause anything unnecessary between them. Even though James' harassment had escalated more and more, he still didn't tell. Even though James had even got violent, pushing and occasionally hitting him, he still didn't tell Albus. Because Albus loved his brother and he didn't want to ruin that. Scorpius just savoured the fact that this was James' last year in Hogwarts, so he would no longer be able to harm him after.

When he came back with cuts and bruises, he would stutter excuses to Albus about falling over or being careless with a potion. Albus didn't entirely believe it, but he knew his friend wouldn't lie to him at the same time, so just dismissed it and would tend to Scorpius' wounds as best as he could.

At the moment, Scorpius had a slight bruise over his eye, because James had pushed him into a wall and Scorpius had hit his head not so gracefully, just this morning. He hadn't had time to use any magic to disguise it so had hurried to class, trying to hide it behind his hair.

Physically, Albus had changed more than Scorpius. Albus had grown much taller and was nicely built, being a Quidditch player and all. The only change in his facial features was the fact that he looked more mature, and also had to shave from time to time, but his piercing green eyes were just as striking as always and his dark hair still untidy.

Scorpius however, had simply mostly gotten taller. There was no question that he was a lanky boy, only a few centimetres shorter than Albus, yet he had no meat to him. He was skinnier than some girls really. He looked older in the face slightly, but Albus always teased him for still having a 'baby face'. Really, the main difference was that the boys were both more mature in personality. They weren't constantly giggling like children; in fact, they were just no longer children, but instead they were turning into young men.

What had particularly become a big issue was his lack of interest for girls. While other boys in his year, including Al, had started to notice the opposite gender and think of them in a different way to they had done before, Scorpius felt nothing. He liked girls in the way that he could talk to them and feel comfortable around them as friends. Scorpius talked to Rose a lot recently for example, especially about their studies and Scorpius now considered Rose a friend to him and vice versa. But other than those feelings of friendship… Scorpius had never felt any romantic inclination towards a girl. But if he said he didn't feel any romantic inclination towards anyone… would be a lie.

Why his eyes followed boys, he did not know. Why he was cursed with the ability to notice which male was handsome, he did not know. Scorpius was clever and probably deep down he did know the reason, just didn't want to admit it to himself quite yet.

And then there was Albus.

See, as Albus became more interested in girls, the more jealous Scorpius became. No, Scorpius was never jealous when Albus made other friends, but the thought of him in a romantic relationship, really got Scorpius' blood boiling.

Albus would talk about girls confidently with Scorpius, saying which girl he thought looked pretty, or if he wasn't being so polite, 'hot'. Scorpius would listen, as he always did, but his face would heat up or he would grit his teeth, wishing Albus didn't feel that way for others.

When Albus had started to flirt with the Danielle girl, Scorpius couldn't stand it. He hated seeing her with Albus, his Albus.

To say Scorpius was severely confused at the moment, was an understatement. Becoming a teenager, was proving harder than he ever could have thought.

Scorpius continued to stare at Albus and Danielle, giggling at the back of the room. He watched as Albus delicately placed a hand on Danielle's arm and she leaned into the touch willingly.

The blonde tore his gaze from the two and tried to take notice of Professor Longbottom. Scorpius did like Herbology, he thought it was an interesting study and was more useful to your life than others would think. Though, at the moment they were mostly just going over things for their exams and Scorpius wasn't going to take it the following year, for NEWTs. It wouldn't help him with what he wanted to do in the future, which was study wandlore.

Although Scorpius was quite obviously a Ravenclaw, he did receive one Slytherin trait from his father, which was ambition. And Scorpius was ambitious, definitely.

Since the death of Garrick Ollivander, about a decade after the war and also due to the conditions of the war he faced and the illness he had gained from the troubled times, there was not a truly decent wandmaker in the United Kingdom. Ollivander had remained the best, even after death.

But Scorpius wanted to become a wandmaker himself, and he wouldn't settle for second best. He wanted to be just as good, if not better than Ollivander. Though, as ambitious as he was, didn't feel he could do it completely alone. Which was why he needed Teddy.

Since their first meeting at Grimmauld Place in Scorpius' first year, Teddy and Scorpius had realised they had more in common then they would have thought, with similar ambitions and goals. Teddy also wanted to a wandmaker. Him and Scorpius met on several occasions over the years and were constantly writing to each other anyway, mostly discussing Teddy's study of wandlore. Draco Malfoy had not even objected when Scorpius asked if Teddy could come to Malfoy Manor for dinner one night to his surprise, and after that, he had even asked Teddy's grandmother, Andromeda round as well, being their only relatives left alive.

One day last year, the subject had come up about what Teddy wanted to do after he finished his study of wandlore, where he informed Scorpius of his dream. When they both realised their goal was similar, naturally they had instantly started to make arrangements about opening up a shop together, where they could sell their wands.

Scorpius had it all planned out already. And nothing would stop him. Not even his teenage worries.

"God, I don't know why I took Herbology!" Henrietta groaned from next to the Ravenclaw. Henrietta and Scorpius weren't exactly friends, but they were on speaking terms since their first meeting on their first day at Hogwarts. They would talk if they sat next to each other in class and may talk in the hall sometimes, but very occasionally, "I honestly don't know what I was thinking when I took this class. It doesn't help me at all."

Scorpius nodded, bowing his head to look at his textbook in front of him, "It's interesting, but I don't think I will continue with it next year either."

"That's what's great about you Scorpius," Henrietta smirked, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair, "You find everything interesting. It's a good trait to have."

"Life would be boring if I didn't." Scorpius muttered, scribbling a few notes as Professor Longbottom looked over at them.

"But sometimes you need to find some things boring, so you can appreciate the more interesting things."

"I appreciate each and everything individually," Scorpius shrugged, "I don't need to think anything is lesser than another thing, just because I don't like it as much. They're just as important; even if it is not to me."

"You're different you are." Henrietta chuckled, shaking her head.

"I would rather be different than be like everyone else." Scorpius smiled.

Scorpius waited outside the class for Albus after packing up rather slowly, hoping his friend would have stopped talking to Danielle in the time it took him to get ready, but no. A few more minutes went by and Albus and Danielle were definitely the last out of the class.

Scorpius leant up against the wall, clutching his books to his chest and sighed. He knew that even this bothered him. He thought that maybe he should just leave… but he knew that he would want to see Al immediately after any way.

Albus soon sauntered out the class, Danielle following closely behind him with a grin on her face.

Scorpius admired that face. He didn't know whether she was pretty or not. He guessed she was… she had a lovely smile and nice brown eyes, but they were nothing compared to the brightness of Albus' smile and the beauty of Albus' eyes. But then, nothing was.

"So, I'll see you in Defence I guess. Kind of glad I have so many of my classes with you now," Albus said with a dashing smile, one that would have any one falling at his feet.

Danielle tucked her mousy hair behind her ear and a slight pink tinted her cheeks, "I am too. I don't think I would get through half my classes if it weren't for you," She glanced down the corridor as some girls, other Hufflepuffs, stood at the end of the corridor, watching intently, "I better get going. I'll see you around, Albus."

"See you."

Danielle quickly scurried away, joining her friends who giggled and linked arms with her as soon as she reached them. Albus' eyes followed her as she strutted away, the quirk of his lips not leaving.

Scorpius clenched his jaw together as he saw the way Albus watched her, "Are you ready to go?"

Albus suddenly snapped out of his gaze and blinked at Scorpius, "Oh yeah, sure Scor."

They made small talk as they headed up to the Ravenclaw common room, Scorpius inquiring about Albus' studies and Albus answering with his usual response of "You shouldn't worry about me so much, but you should focus on yourself." That always seemed to warm Scorpius' heart.

Albus was in front once they had climbed all the stairs of the Ravenclaw tower and reached the door.

"Give me food, and I shall live; give me water, and I shall die. What am I?"

Scorpius looked to Albus as he looked as if he was about to answer. But Albus stared at the door, dumbfounded. Scorpius frowned slightly; that's strange, Albus could always work out the riddles of the Ravenclaw common room.

"You are fire." Scorpius responded instead of Albus, like solving the riddle was as easy as breathing.

Albus almost blushed, knowing that he was so distracted he couldn't even get into the common room. Scorpius just shot him a stern glance before they made their way up the stairs, to their room.

Scorpius' bed was covered with books which he hadn't wished to remove, even for sleeping. Both boys loosened their ties and threw their robes off, before Scorpius jumped on his bed and opened his Potions book to study.

The Potter stood at the foot of his bed, grinning at his friend and shaking his head. He sat at the end of the bed, the urge to knock all the books off almost irresistible.

"Scor, you do realise you study too much?" Albus sniggered, reaching towards Scorpius to close the book himself.

As a reflex, Scorpius pulled the book closer to himself, "You don't study enough."

"I study a normal amount of time, thank you very much," Albus tilted his chin up smugly, but Scorpius just hummed in response. Albus couldn't help but chuckle and quickly snapped his hand forward and grabbed the book.

Scorpius' head shot up and he instantly reached out to Albus to try and snatch the book back, "That's not fair. You have a Seeker's reflex."

"That is why, you should have learnt to play Quidditch my friend."

Scorpius knew he wasn't going to get his potions book back until Al willed it himself so saved his energy. He sat cross legged on the bed and huffed.

"Scor, can I ask you something?" Albus said hesitantly, seating the book on his lap.

"Is it about Potions?" Scorpius challenged with a cheeky grin.

"Of course, because I spend all my time talking about Potions!" Albus playfully smacked Scorpius with the book, loving the giggle he earned from the blonde, "But no… really… do you know if Danielle likes me?"

Scorpius' eyes widened in surprise and his lips parted, "W-why are you asking me?"

"Because… I thought you might have been able to, you know, feel what she's feeling and everything."

"But Al… I've been wearing the stone like I normally always do… I can't know what she's feeling nor anyone else." Scorpius said, confused as to why Albus did not know this, even though he knew very well about his power.

"I know… I just thought you might have taken it off recently or something…" Albus lay back on the bed, despite the books digging into his back, and leant his head on Scorpius' lap. Scor instantly started stroking Albus' brown locks as if it were the most natural thing in the world, "I really like her."

It felt like a stab in the heart as Albus said those words. It had always been just Albus and Scorpius… but now was it going to be Danielle as well? Scorpius thought that was the reason he was getting so jealous, that Albus might not focus all his attention on him anymore. That there was the possibility of Albus getting as close to someone, as he was to Scorpius.

"I'm sure she likes you too," Scorpius replied with a slightly broken voice, but he was always going to be supportive towards his friend, because at the end of the day, he just wanted Albus to be happy, "How could she not? I don't need to feel her emotions to tell you she must think highly of you."

"Do you think I should stop being such a wimp and just ask her out?" Albus snickered, his emerald eyes meeting Scorpius' stormy silver.

Scorpius choked out a small yes, before turning his head away so their gaze was broken.

"Thanks Scor…" Albus tilted his head back blissfully, ending up admiring Scorpius', "Hey… you've got another bruise."

Scorpius' cheeks flushed as he fiddled with his fringe to hide the blemish, "It's nothing… I just bumped into a wall."

Albus threw his head back as he laughed loudly, "You're so clumsy, Scor. Really, maybe I should follow you around to make sure you don't hurt yourself more often."

Scor smirked, "My knight in shining armour."

~X~

A/N: I bet you were surprised to see this updated so quickly? Can you believe that I only updated this yesterday? I just sat down to write at about twelve last night and just kept going until I finished. Normally it takes me a few days to write a chapter! I really think that late at night is the best time for me to write. And the fact that I'm so into this story helps as well I guess.

So, someone suggested that I don't skip straight to the fifth year yesterday but do a few more filler chapters, which I thought was fair enough and everything. But I just didn't want to drag it out any longer and frankly, I didn't have any inspiration at the time to write another filler chapter (Watch when tomorrow I think of an idea for another filler chapter and I'll be like DAMN). And honestly, I was so desperate to get onto the drama in their fifth year as well, as I'm sure a few of you will be happy that I've got onto this part of the story.

What I found was funny, was that my own ideas of the boys physical appearances changed in this chapter. I don't know why, but when planning the story, I still thought of Albus and Scorpius as young, probably still eleven year old boys, and hadn't pictured them older yet, which is just plain strange on my part.

I also wanted to make it clear that the boys were getting more mature in the way they spoke and acted around each other. I think quite unintentionally, I made them more mature in the last chapter as well, when they were talking about Albus' parents etc so I guess it fitted that they had only grown up more here. They still have their playful banter, but Scorpius doesn't blush or giggle as much whereas Albus still teases but is careful not to comment on how 'cute' Scorpius is and stuff like that.

Now I'm just blabbering on. Though I think I needed to make a few comments after the big time gap and everything.

drumline, you will be pleased to know that James will be making some appearances soon and yes, he will be causing some drama!

Thanks to Becca'Babezz, drumline and EKdark for reviewing last chapter! Hope you're happy I updated so soon ;) Will have to try and write chapters for my other stories soon really, but we'll see what happens. Enjoying this story too much write now.

Decided that I would give you brief previews of the next chapter each time.

Next chapter:: Scorpius decides to go and talk to someone about his confusion. It just so happens that this person is a member of Albus' family and also very proudly gay.

^^Any guesses as to who it may be?