Fic: Puppy Love (2/2)
Title: Puppy Love (Part 2/2)
Author: HellusBellus
Rating: PG-13 (Light R)
Pairing/characters: Scorpius Malfoy/Hugo Weasley
Warnings/content: Highlight to read *Original Characters, 17-year-old with mildly sexual thoughts*
Word Count: ~12,640
Summary: Hugo Weasley is just the cutest little stalker ever to out a Prince of Slytherin.
Notes: Originally written for nextgen_mas, Prompt 13: "The new Prince of Slytherin and the adorable red-head Hufflepuff". Go to Part (1/2)
Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling. All works posted on this journal were created entirely for fun without making any profit. No copyright infringement is intended.
*
"-be waking up any minute now. Oh, here we are. Hello, Mr. Malfoy."
Scorpius blinked his eyes open, and took a deep breath. He wrinkled his nose. Scorpius had always thought the Hospital Wing smelled like baby powder and homework. That's where he was now, he knew. His prediction was proven correct when he managed to rub the sleep from his eyes and found a crowd of people standing around him. The one who was talking was Madam Pomfrey, a mediwitch with great sagging wrinkles that trembled under her chin.
"Hello, Mr. Malfoy," she repeated, looking down her nose at him. Scorpius frowned and squinted up at her, still coming to terms with the too-bright lights. He'd always felt that Pomfrey was rather more brusque with him than other students, and he felt comfortable blaming that entirely on his father.
"Hello," he said, and his voice came out in a rasp. He coughed. Then, he tried to sit up. About seven pairs of hands reached out to stop him.
"Hold on there, Mr. Malfoy. We're not quite done here."
Scorpius scowled. "Not done? But I feel fine." And he did. He vaguely remembered something about his ribs becoming part of his skull, but he felt perfectly well now. He couldn't understand the wide, frightened gazes that his friends were giving him until he looked down at where Pomfrey was fiddling with his blankets.
"Bloody Hell!" Scorpius yelped, and tried to jerk away from her hands.
"Watch your language, young man!" Madam Pomfrey grabbed his arm to keep him still. Scorpius shot her a frightened look before glancing back down at her hand, which was, right this minute, inside of Scorpius' ribcage. Or, at least, Scorpius assumed it was, because her wrist was very clearly connected to her arm, and her wrist was very plainly touching the side of his torso, and there was also very obviously no hand at the end of that wrist.
"What are you doing?" he said, and swallowed. How in the bloody Hell was he not feeling her fingers move inside of his chest?
"I'm putting your ribcage back together," said Madam Pomfrey, her tone indicating that this should be obvious, and that maybe he should shut his mouth and keep very still. At least, that was what Scorpius took away from it, and he made himself lay as quiet and still as possible while she worked.
While he waited, Scorpius tried to distract himself by looking to his friends. He thought it was unusual that Pomfrey would allow visitors during such a procedure, but from the looks on the Slytherins' faces, and the fact that not one of them had said a word to him yet, Scorpius imagined they'd been given very specific instructions on appropriate sickbed conduct.
Finally, after what seemed like ages of silence, Pomfrey straightened up, her hand slipping out of Scorpius' side. Scorpius didn't budge an inch until she nodded to him.
"You can sit up now," she said. Tentatively, Scorpius put his hands to the mattress. He traded glances with a concerned looking Christian before pushing himself into a sitting position.
"I've numbed the area where the Bludger hit," said Pomfrey, gathering up a few bottles and strange looking tools from Scorpius' bedside. "The ribs have been set back in their proper places. All you need now is to rest as the bones knit." Pomfrey glared at the people gathered around his bed. "Rest."
"Yes, Madam," said Christian. "We'll leave soon."
"Yes, you will," said Pomfrey. She glanced one more time at Scorpius before sniffing and bustling away.
Scorpius' friends closed in, forming a semi-circle around his bed. Christian and Miranda were there, as well as Zabini and Flint. Chris was the first to reach out a tentative hand and pat his shoulder. Scorpius spared him a pained smile.
"What happened?" said Scorpius. "Did we win?" He glanced between Zabini and Flint.
Flint and Zabini looked at each other, and then Flint turned back to him, grinning. "Oh yeah."
Scorpius smiled. A familiar burning pressure filled him from toes to eyebrows. He stretched his arms over his head. He whooped. His friends laughed.
After that moment of elation, smiles settled on most of their faces, including Scorpius'. Thanks to the numbing spell, Scorpius felt only faint twinges from his left side, and he maneuvered himself so Miranda could slip onto the bed next to him. She pulled his arm around her shoulder as his other friends found empty spots on the bed.
"Seriously, mate, you had us all out of our heads," said Flint, shaking his head vigorously. "You caught the bloody Snitch, then you just sort of hovered there, like you were waiting for the Bludger to hit you." Flint glanced nervously as Christian. They shared a look.
Scorpius frowned.
"Hey," said Flint, and his voice had a strange tone. He wouldn't meet Scorpius' eyes. "Hey, you weren't…you weren't waiting for it to hit you, right?" Flint laughed nervously, and looked around at the others gathered around Scorpius' bed.
Scorpius stared at Flint. Then he looked around the circle, but only Chris would meet his eyes, and his expression was, as usual, unreadable. Scorpius' voice was carefully blank when he spoke. "Did I wait for a Bludger to hit me, that's your question?"
"Uh…" Flint shifted. He rubbed his hands together.
Scorpius forced himself to laugh. Flint flinched. "Uh, no. No, I didn't wait for a Bludger to hit me. What the Hell are you people thinking? No, I just…I was distracted for a second, that's all."
"That's what I thought," said Miranda. She smiled at Scorpius and leaned her head against his shoulder. "I told them it was silly, but nobody ever listens to me."
"Yeah, well, maybe they should," said Scorpius. He shook his head at them all, but his eyes found Chris' face. "They should know better."
Chris had the decency to look down at his hands, chastised.
"Well, anyway," said Zabini, drawing them through a suddenly awkward silence. "You caught the Snitch, thank Circe, so we've got some serious training to do in the next couple of weeks. Pomfrey says you'll be back on your feet in a couple of days, but that your side will still be tender for the next match."
The words, 'I can play,' were halfway out of Scorpius' mouth before Zabini held up a hand. He rolled his eyes. "Of course, we'll wait and see how practice goes."
Scorpius closed his lips. He smiled, and Zabini's mouth twitched. Almost a smile, Scorpius thought, as close as Zabini really got.
"In any case, they're throwing one Hell of a bash in the dungeons," said Flint, jumping to his feet. Miranda coughed pointedly, and must've motioned towards Scorpius, because Flint was suddenly shamefaced. "Er…I mean... we'll save you some butterbeer, Scor. For sure."
Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Oh, thanks ever so, Flint, I really appreciate that."
Flint grinned. "You're welcome," he said brightly, and began to march out of the Hospital Wing. Zabini lifted himself away from the bed as well, giving Scorpius a little wave before trailing after his teammate.
A thud and soft, 'oof', drew Scorpius' attention to the doorway. "Watch where you're going," said Flint.
"S-sorry. Sorry."
Scorpius' heart began to pound.
Flint snorted, and then pushed past whoever had walked into him. Zabini glanced from the figure in the doorway to Scorpius. He raised an eyebrow, but said nothing, and after a moment continued on his way.
The sun glinted off Hugo's hair as he walked into the Hospital Wing. He already sported a blush on his cheeks, his hands tucked in his pockets and his eyes glancing between Scorpius' friends and the ground.
"Hey," he said softly. Scorpius stared.
"Oh my God…" said Miranda. She and Chris traded looks, and then, almost simultaneously, stood up and away from the bed. Scorpius' eyes went wide. He reached out to grab Miranda's arm, but she was already walking towards the Hospital Wing doors, Chris right behind her.
"We'll come see you after dinner, okay, Scor?" she chirped, smiling brightly at him. She glanced at Hugo and then gave him a double thumbs-up sign before ducking out the door. Scorpius' mouth fell open. You're leaving me alone? He wanted to shout. With Him?
Chris paused next to Hugo. He tucked his hands in his pockets, mirroring Hugo's posture. "You just can't take a hint, can you?"
Hugo bit his lip, but when he lifted his head, he was glaring. Scorpius blinked. It was the first sign of aggression that he'd ever seen Hugo display. Apparently, it was the first Chris had seen, too, because he looked equally surprised. Then it passed, and Chris smirked. "Good luck with that," he said, and nodded at Scorpius before following Miranda out the door.
"Wait-" Scorpius reached out a hand, but his friends were gone. Left him. Alone. The bastards.
Scorpius glowered at Hugo and crossed his arms over his chest. "What do you want?"
Hugo sighed, and his resigned expression told Scorpius that he'd been expecting this sort of reception. That fact made Scorpius feel a little strangely guilty, but he tried to suppress that as much as he could. Scorpius looked at his blankets for a moment, and his tightly crossed arms loosened. He looked back up when Hugo cleared his throat.
"I'm sorry," said Hugo, his gaze drifting somewhere near Scorpius' ear. Scorpius' brow crumpled. For what?
Scorpius waited, but Hugo didn't follow up with anything else, so Scorpius opened his mouth to tell him that he was very obviously okay, and that Hugo could kindly get lost.
"Look, I know you don't want to see me, and you think I'm annoying, and maybe I am, but I just…" Hugo huffed, and looked at his feet. "I saw you fall," he said softly. He ran a hand through his shining red hair. "I just wanted to know that you were all right, all right? And…you are, right?"
Scorpius licked his lips. "Yeah," he said. "I'm all right."
Hugo nodded. "Good. I mean…yeah." He hesitated. He sighed. "Okay," he said, and he turned to walk away.
Scorpius' hands tightened on his blanket. He didn't plan to say anything. He really didn't. "Hey, Weas-um. Hugo, I mean."
Hugo stopped. He looked back, a look in his eyes like he was steeling himself to be hit.
Scorpius looked down at his hands. "Wait a second," he said.
"What?"
Scorpius picked at the loose weave of the Hospital Wing blankets. "Why are you…I mean, why do you keep…" Scorpius sighed, and scrubbed his hands through his hair. He looked up, and Hugo had turned fully around to face Scorpius' bed. "Why me?" he blurted.
Hugo blushed, and looked down at his feet. He seemed to ponder the question for a moment, and then shrugged, hands still in his pockets. Scorpius realized that this was all the answer he was going to get.
"But don't you mind?" Scorpius insisted.
"Mind what?" said Hugo.
"Everybody…" Scorpius huffed. "Everybody calls you queer."
Hugo blinked. He raised his eyebrows, and his lips twitched upwards. Scorpius scowled. He looked down at his knees and shifted on the bed, pushing himself fully upright. Who was this Hugo to laugh at him, anyway, huh?
When Scorpius looked back up, Hugo was standing at the foot of his bed. Scorpius folded his hands into fists and swallowed.
"Scorpius," said Hugo, smiling, "I am queer."
Scorpius gave him an incredulous look. Well…okay, but…Scorpius shook his head. How stupid was this kid? Didn't he know anything? Scorpius looked back up at Hugo's eyes, prepared to ask these very questions, but once he met Hugo's eyes, his tongue felt too heavy to move. Hugo's eyes bore down on him, the same as that day in the hallway, as in the library, as in the Great Hall…but closer. Much closer. And not filled with shock, or shame, or anything like that.
Scorpius felt something turn over in his stomach, and his breath came faster. Hugo's eyes dropped from Scorpius', and Scorpius looked down, confused.
Oh.
Scorpius blushed, and bent his knees, hugging them close to his bare chest. His chest, which that cheeky Hufflepuff had been staring at. He glared at Hugo, who immediately flushed and looked away, crossing his arms over his own chest.
"I-uh…" Hugo rubbed the flat of his hand against his shoulder. He wouldn't look back at Scorpius. "I, um…yeah." Hugo walked away from Scorpius' bed, practically jogging by the time he reached the double doors that lead out of the Hospital Wing.
Scorpius scowled until he saw the last winking lock of red hair disappear. He huffed. Then, just for a second, he looked down at his chest. He was good looking, he thought. A Seeker, of course, but he was tall and lean-looking and Miranda always told him he had nice eyes….
Scorpius brought his eyes back up and told himself to stop being so fucking weird.
*
Pomfrey released him from the Hospital Wing two days later with strict instructions to rest himself. Scorpius nodded obediently and then, as soon as the Hospital Wing doors were out of sight, sprinted down to the dungeons. He and Chris spent the next couple of hours up in the air, tossing a Quaffle back and forth and talking about all the gossip he'd missed.
It wasn't until he was smiling and laughing on the way back that he thought about Hugo and what he'd said. Before the whole, awkward, 'I caught you staring at my nipples'-thing, Hugo had just…just said it. Like it was nothing. Like it was stupid to not say something so obvious. But Hugo wasn't really…obvious. He didn't lisp or anything and he didn't mince around calling everybody, 'Honey,' and, 'Darling.' He was sort of buff, actually. And if he was…kind of…cute, he just seemed shy, not effete. Hugo could absolutely, no problem, pass…if he wanted. Plus, Hugo had about a million relatives who would almost certainly injure anybody who said anything nasty about him.
Scorpius didn't have any of that. Actually, he was sort of fussy. He didn't like to change in front of people. He didn't really like to get dirty. Sometimes, when he wasn't thinking about it, his hand-gestures got kind of out of control. He had to work at it. He had to cover himself. It was a bit of work, frankly, but if anybody ever found out, Scorpius just didn't know what he'd do. Probably hide in his room until death, he figured. God, if Chris found out…
Scorpius spared his friend a thoughtful look, which, thankfully, Chris was too busy thinking his own thoughts to notice. That was one of the things he liked about Chris: he didn't need to talk all the time. He and Scorpius could walk from the pitch to the dungeons and never have to say two words to each other, and nobody would be hurt about it. He was probably Scorpius' best friend. But.
But Scorpius remembered the way Christian had spoken about being, 'that way'. Like it was…like it was just unmentionable. Scorpius bit his lip. What did he expect, anyway? Chris was a pretty normal bloke. Wouldn't his first thought, if Scorpius admitted he was…whatever…wouldn't it be, 'Did you ever fancy me?' Scorpius never had, but why should Chris believe that? Yeah, Chris would definitely be disgusted.
Speaking of which, what about Scorpius' parents? He thought his mother might try to understand, but just the idea of saying 'homosexual' to Draco Malfoy made Scorpius shudder. And yet…
Yet still, Scorpius couldn't get Hugo's eyes out of his head. His little smile. His almost-laughter.
"I am queer," Scorpius muttered, trying the taste of the words on his tongue.
"What was that?" said Chris, glancing at his friend.
"Uh, nothing. My side hurts."
*
His first morning back in the Great Hall for breakfast, every Slytherin he walked past had a smile and pat on the back for him. Most of the Ravenclaws glowered. However, Scorpius wasn't interested in any of them. He hovered behind the bench for a long moment before sitting down, scanning the Hufflepuff table for a particular redhead.
"Scorpius?" said Chris. He'd already sat down in usual place.
"Uh, yeah," said Scorpius. He sat down. "Just, you know, waking up. Used to sleeping in now," he said, smiling in Chris' direction and scooping scrambled eggs onto his plate.
"Yeah, I bet," said Chris, grumbling good-naturedly about spoiled little invalids. Chris leaned forward to grab a piece of toast, and where his head had been a moment before was a small window opening on the Hufflepuff table, including Hugo Weasley. Hugo, who stared right through that window and into Scorpius' eyes. Scorpius blushed, and looked down at his plate just as Chris leaned back.
"Hey, Scor, you okay?" Chris' brow furrowed. "You look flushed. Do you have a fever?"
"Uh." Scorpius licked his lips. "Uh, no. I'm fine. Just a little…spicy. The, um…eggs."
Chris raised an eyebrow and glanced at Scorpius' plate. "Right," he said.
*
Scorpius tried to keep his head down and his eyes to himself, but that resolve only lasted through his first class. As soon as he stepped into the corridor, he couldn't help it; his eyes scanned the visible students for redheads. There were none, but Scorpius didn't stop looking up every few seconds until he and Chris were almost back to their dormitory. That's when he saw Hugo coming out of the Potions classroom, chatting amiably with another Hufflepuff. Scorpius swallowed, and waited. It was the first time he'd ever seen Hugo before Hugo had seen him. He didn't know what he was even waiting for. Maybe Hugo wouldn't even look up. Why should he? It's not like he was looking for Scorpius, right? Why was Scorpius even looking? This was silly.
Hugo looked up, and he scanned the corridor, eyes flicking from face to face until he reached Scorpius. When he found Scorpius already gazing at him, his eyes widened. Half of Scorpius' instincts told him to look away and run, but the other half… Hugo smiled at him, and a small fire lit in Scorpius' chest.
Scorpius walked past him, and held his breath. He knew the exact moment that they were closest. Then it was gone, and Scorpius turned back to Chris' chatter.
*
It happened again. And again. And again. Every day. Usually twice a day, Scorpius would look up, and Hugo would be there. Sometimes, Hugo would smile at him, and though that usually prompted Scorpius to look away, he couldn't help the warmth that filled him every time it happened, or the way he couldn't wait until it happened again.
It was almost a week before anybody noticed. Or, at least, it was a week before anybody commented.
Scorpius had just looked up from his Arithmancy textbook, and automatically swiped his eyes around the room. They caught. Hugo was watching him from a study table a few yards away, his gaze steady and his smile quiet. Scorpius' stomach fluttered. He looked down at his textbook.
His hand curled around the edge of the page, and though Scorpius curled his lips under, he couldn't suppress the grin that fought its way onto his face. He shifted in his seat, and dragged his hand through his hair. He wondered if Hugo was still watching him, if he'd seen that smile…what he thought about it…
Scorpius glanced up, wondering if he could find Hugo again without Hugo noticing, when he was caught by a different pair of eyes. Chris was staring at Scorpius like he'd grown another head. Scorpius paled. He struggled for something to say.
Slowly, Chris turned around his seat. Across the room, Scorpius saw Hugo hastily put his eyes back on his homework. Chris turned back to face Scorpius, his expression positively bemused.
"Scor-"
"So tired," said Scorpius. He jumped out of his seat and grabbed his book bag. He plastered a fake smile on his face. "Going to head to bed. See you later, mate."
"Scor, wait, are you-"
"Fine, fine, I promise. Just tired," said Scorpius. He smiled one last time at Chris before forcing himself to stroll out of library. He avoided looking at Hugo as much as possible.
Scorpius shoved his Arithmancy book into his bag as he walked. He ripped his hands through his hair.
"What are you doing?" he demanded. "What the bloody…what are you doing? What are you doing?" What was he doing?
A few of his classmates called out to him in the Common Room, but Scorpius was too distracted to even wave. He went straight up to his dorm and collapsed onto his bed, drawing the curtains.
Scorpius stared up at the ceiling for a long moment before closing his eyes. He pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes. Except, while the pressure left licks of color on his sight, it didn't erase the image in his mind, which was Chris turning, real, real slowly, to face Hugo. Then his confusion. What's the puppy to you? his eyes asked. I don't know, Scorpius wailed. I don't know what Hugo is.
God, Hugo. And his stupid, stupid, beautiful eyes. And his stupid, stupid, beautiful mouth. Wide and pink and soft-looking. Hugo was always smiling at him, or biting his lip. Scorpius licked his lips. He knew he shouldn't, but he couldn't help it. Hugo seemed to like him so much…he bet Hugo wanted to kiss him. Scorpius had kissed girls before, and it was fun, but he'd never wanted to go further than that. With Hugo…he thought about what it'd feel like to kiss Hugo's mouth. To press his big shoulders against a wall and kiss him hard. He'd smooth his hands over Hugo's flat, muscular chest, and around his neck, twirling his fingertips in Hugo's red hair.
Scorpius swallowed; the image was full of colors in front of his eyes and full of heat and delicious sounds in his imagination. Scorpius felt a twitch of arousal in his groin. He groaned, and turned over onto his stomach. He folded his hands over the back of his head.
What was he doing?
*
If getting caught made Scorpius a little shy of stealing looks at Hugo, Hugo certainly did not feel the same. It was like nothing had even happened.
Except, obviously, something had happened, because Scorpius was about to walk right past Hugo, was counting down to that moment when they were the closest, where they could almost touch, when Hugo reached out and grabbed Scorpius' wrist. Scorpius had no choice. He stopped walking.
Scorpius stared at him, and Hugo stared back, his chin thrust out defiantly, but the look in his eyes was pleading and soft. Scorpius' breathing quickened. Beside him, Miranda looked between them, her eyes wide.
"What?" said Scorpius.
Hugo didn't say anything. He slid his fingers down Scorpius' wrist and onto his palm. Instinctively, Scorpius curled his fingers down, slipping their palms together, twining their fingers. Hugo smiled, and squeezed Scorpius' hand. Scorpius' blood thrummed hot through his veins.
"Scor?" said Miranda, glancing between the two boys.
Scorpius blinked. His eyes widened. He looked away from Hugo's eyes and ripped his hand out of Hugo's grasp. He walked down the corridor.
Miranda glanced at Hugo, who was staring after Scorpius' retreating back. She skipped a few steps to catch up with Scorpius. Christian, however, was walking the other direction down the corridor and stopped in his tracks to watch the exchange. He was still staring at Hugo when Scorpius brushed past him.
"Hey!" said Chris. He spun around, the second person to stop Scorpius in his tracks that day, this time with a tight grip on his shoulder.
"What is it?" said Scorpius, but his eyes flicked away from Chris' gaze. Oh God, he prayed. Oh, God.
Chris gaped at him. "What's wrong with you?" he said finally.
"I don’t know what you mean."
"You don’t…come on." Chris marched down the corridor, dragging Scorpius behind him.
Finally, after Chris had turned them and dragged Scorpius down yet another corridor, Miranda left far behind, Scorpius snapped. "Damn it, Chris, let go of me." Scorpius ripped his arm away. "What's wrong with you?"
Chris turned to face him, and his eyebrows were drawn together. He was angry, Scorpius realized, and somehow he was surprised.
"Scorpius…" Chris paused. He shook his head and rubbed a hand over his eyes.
Scorpius' heart pounded. "What?"
"Scor…" Chris kept shaking his head.
"What? What is it? What do you want to know?"
Chris chewed on the inside of his cheek, arms folded across his chest. When he spoke, it was more like he burst. "Scor, do you fancy Weasley?"
No, don't be ridiculous.
Scorpius' jaw tightened. He couldn't say it. He looked down at his feet. He looked down for so long, he heard Chris sigh. His silence was an answer in itself, but Scorpius wasn't satisfied with that. Chris deserved more than that, he thought. So did Hugo, probably.
"Yeah, I think I do," he said.
Chris sighed again. "Merlin, Scorpius…"
Scorpius glanced up, but Chris wasn't looking at him. He had one arm folded across his chest, the other hand folded over his eyes, rubbing his temples.
"I think I'm…gay."
Chris' hand dropped. The look he gave Scorpius was a mix of incredulity and disgust. Scorpius felt like every part of his body had become heavy, heavy liquid, swirling and sinking at the same time.
"You think so, huh?"
"Yeah."
"For how long, exactly?"
Scorpius swallowed. "A long time."
"A long time."
"Yeah."
Chris nodded, and looked away from Scorpius' face again. "Okay," he said.
"Okay?"
"Yeah, okay," said Chris. He turned away from Scorpius and started walking. "Whatever," he muttered.
Scorpius hesitated. Somehow, it didn't feel like it was okay. It took him a long time to work up the courage to catch up to Chris and walk to their next class together. They didn't really talk again until dinner.
*
"So, do you two have valentines, yet?" asked Miranda, taking a dainty bite of her salad. She beamed at them both.
"Not really, no," said Chris. He turned his blank eyes to Scorpius. "You, Scor?"
Scorpius stared at him for a moment, trying to read his expression, but trying to read Chris was impossible. He looked at Miranda instead. "Yeah, I don't know. Maybe. It's sort of complicated."
Miranda scooted closer to him. "Really? Ooo, tell me. Who is she?"
Scorpius glanced at Chris, but Chris didn't say anything. His expression didn't change. He wasn't eating. He just stared. Scorpius fidgeted, and looked back to Miranda. "It's…I mean, like I said, it's sort of complicated."
"Spoil sport," said Miranda, turning back to her salad. She gestured at Chris with her fork. "But at least Scor's got somebody. You're just a grump."
Chris sighed, and picked up his fork.
"Did you hear me?" said Miranda, still brandishing her fork.
Chris looked up, eyes flicking from Miranda, to Scorpius, then back to Miranda. "Yep," he said. "I heard you."
Scorpius felt very cold. Chris somehow avoided looking him in the eyes for the rest of the evening, even though they were, like always, seated across from each other.
*
Valentine's Day was gray and chilly, a bit of winter leftovers, and Scorpius didn't know how to feel about that. Chris hadn't spoken more than three complete sentences to him in days, and Miranda was going around chattering abut Valentine's Day like it really mattered to anybody but hormonal third years.
Scorpius was still seeing Hugo everywhere he went, and Hugo had even touched him a couple more times, but Scorpius had brushed him off. He just didn't know what to do. He didn't know, and now it was Valentine's Day, and he couldn't bear to face Miranda or Chris. Instead, Scorpius grabbed his winter coat and walked out onto the grounds, heading towards the broomshed. It'd be nice to leave this whole mess below him for a while.
Scorpius sighed as he pushed open the broomshed door. He was taking a step into the musty darkness when something heavy hit his back. Scorpius yelped, stumbling forward. He hissed when his tender side hit a workbench, but he caught himself with both hands and pushed himself around, hand going for his wand even as his eyes searched the dark for his attacker.
The pale light winked off of copper hair. Scorpius' hand froze.
"Hugo?"
Hugo scowled and stalked towards him. Scorpius took a step back, backing himself against the work bench. Hugo's eyes were narrowed, and he glared at Scorpius.
"Hu-"
Hugo reached up and grabbed handfuls of Scorpius' lapels, ripping him away from the work bench and shoving him up against the stone wall of the shed. Scorpius gasped, eyes wide, head bumping against the stone. Hugo moved forward until only a few inches separated their chests, and Scorpius noticed they were both breathing hard. He could feel Hugo's breath against his neck, but hotter than that was the fierce, possessive look that Hugo ran over Scorpius' face and throat. Scorpius' heart skittered.
"I'm going to kiss you," said Hugo. His eyes dropped from Scorpius' gaze to Scorpius' mouth.
Scorpius stared, unable to move even an inch.
Hugo drew in a shaky breath. "I fancy you, Malfoy, and I know, I know you fancy me too, but you're just too much of a coward to do anything about it. S-so…so, I'm going to kiss you, and you don't even have to talk to me, or look at me, or care about me at all, b-but you will kiss me back." Hugo glared up into Scorpius' eyes.
For a moment, they just stared at each other.
Something snapped inside of Scorpius. "Okay," he breathed.
Hugo blinked. His grip on Scorpius' lapels loosened. "W-what?"
"Fine," said Scorpius. "Do it."
Hugo stared.
"Kiss me?" Scorpius prompted. Hugo blushed. He looked down at his hands on Scorpius' chest, and he flattened them. He took a small step back.
"I…Uh…this was…Merlin…"
Scorpius rolled his eyes. "You're pathetic."
Hugo flinched, and started to turn away, but he stopped when Scorpius grabbed the collar of his coat. Scorpius dragged Hugo towards him, leaned down, and pressed their lips together.
Hugo made a small, surprised noise. His lips were still, and dry, and a little cold under Scorpius', but the moment their skins touched, Scorpius' heart jumped into his throat. He smoothed his fingers away from Hugo's collar, burying them in Hugo's hair and tilting his head back. Scorpius moved their mouths together softly, brushing slightly chapped lips in a slow, maddening crush. He sighed when Hugo's hands smoothed up the front of his jacket, fingers curling against his chest. When he pulled back, Hugo's eyes were hooded, and his face was flushed. His lips were dark and slightly parted. Immediately, Scorpius wanted to kiss him again.
"Oh," said Hugo, so softly it was almost more breath than sound.
Scorpius leaned back against the shed wall, hands cupped around the back of Hugo's neck, drawing him close. Hugo shot Scorpius a tentative look before moving in closer and resting his cheek against the curve of Scorpius' neck.
"Oh," Hugo said again.
Scorpius laughed a little, and wrapped his arms around Hugo's shoulders. Hugo brought his arms around Scorpius' waist and hugged him close. Scorpius closed his eyes, and buried his face in Hugo's hair, breathing him in. He felt so warm, Scorpius thought. So warm, and comfortable, and yet his blood rushed like he was diving for the Snitch or telling a lie. For long minutes, Scorpius just let himself be held, breathing in the scent of Hugo's shampoo and the dusty musk of the broomshed.
Something niggled at the back of Scorpius' mind. "Maybe we could go to Hogsmeade this weekend."
Hugo pulled back so he could look at Scorpius' eyes. He seemed cautious, but when he spoke, his tone was hopeful. "Yeah?"
"Yeah," said Scorpius firmly.
"Why?"
Scorpius laughed. "Why? Well, because you'll just follow me anyway, right?"
Hugo blushed, and looked down at Scorpius' chest for a moment before meeting his eyes again. "Probably," he admitted.
Scorpius smiled, and reached up to fiddle with a lock of Hugo's hair. "Your dad's going to kill you, you know."
Hugo grinned. "No way. He's going to kill you."
Scorpius smiled, and started to reply, but then a thought occurred to him. A very distant possibility, but still… "Hey," he said. "I'm not just a way to piss off your daddy, am I? I mean, I'm not necessarily saying that's a deal-breaker, but just so I know.…"
Hugo's brow furrowed. "No. Well…" Hugo shrugged. "Maybe. But mostly no."
"…Fair enough."
Scorpius studied the copper lock between his fingers, and Hugo studied Scorpius' face.
"So…what about your dad?"
Scorpius frowned. What about his dad… "I don't know," he said finally. "When I get in trouble he usually just looks at me and sighs, then waves his hand so I know I can leave his study."
"…That's it?"
"Sometimes he yells."
"Oh…" Obviously, Hugo had been expecting something a little more impressive from the Malfoys. Scorpius was almost sad to disappoint him.
"Yeah, I think Mum'll talk him down."
"Oh," said Hugo again. His eyes drifted from Scorpius' and settled on his mouth. "…Cool," he said. "So…um…"
Scorpius smirked. "What?"
"Could I…" Hugo licked his lips and glanced up at Scorpius' eyes.
"Only if you stop asking."
The second kiss was not cold at all, in any way. In fact, Scorpius thought he might never be cold again.
*
Hugo's grip on his hand began to loosen as they approached the doors to the Great Hall. Scorpius cast him a sidelong glance, but Hugo was looking down at his feet, resignation written in the slump of his shoulders.
Scorpius stopped, and so Hugo did. He looked at Scorpius questioningly.
"Do you want to let go?" Scorpius asked, and nodded at their hands.
Hugo looked down, then back up at Scorpius' face. He shook his head - no.
"So don't," said Scorpius. Hugo stared at him for a moment, and then smiled a faint smile.
"Okay," he said.
They walked into the Great Hall together, Hugo's fingers tensed hard around Scorpius' hand, almost like he was afraid Scorpius was going to run away. Scorpius considered that for a moment and thought, not entirely happily, that it was probably a valid fear. He squeezed Hugo's hand and met his eyes before they had to part to go sit at their separate tables. Hugo smiled, and Scorpius smiled back, and that familiar warmth was lit in Scorpius' chest.
It was almost enough to keep Scorpius feeling proud and confident as he approached his table. The Slytherins stared. His friends stared, their mouths either opened in small 'O's of shock, or hardened into straight lines of judgment. Scorpius ignored them all as he walked down the line of backs to his usual spot across from Chris, next to Miranda.
Miranda bounced up and down in her seat, grabbing onto Scorpius' shoulder as soon as he slid onto the bench.
"You found a leash!" she accused, her eyes glinting and her smile wide. Scorpius stared for a moment before realizing what she meant, and when he did, he laughed along with her.
"Yeah, I did," he said. "I told you it was complicated."
"Oh, I hate you," said Miranda. "You keep all the good stuff from me. I bet you told Chris, though, didn’t you?"
Scorpius took a deep breath and looked across the table at his friend. His bestfriend, he reminded himself. He quailed beneath Christian's gaze. This time, there was no incredulity to soften the blow. The look on Christian's face was nothing less than disgust.
"I told Chris," he said. He felt like whispering, but he made himself say it normally. He felt like staring at his plate, but he made himself meet Chris' eyes instead. He was Scorpius Malfoy, damn it -- practically Slytherin royalty, brilliant NEWT student, and a brilliant Seeker. He didn't need to wince and cower; in fact, he refused. His lips thinned into a line as he stared Chris down across the table.
Miranda sighed. "What's going on? Chris, are you being stupid?"
"No, I'm not being stupid, Miranda."
Miranda blinked, surprised by Chris' harsh tone. It wasn't like him to snap. She pursed her lips.
"What, exactly, is the nature of your problem?" Scorpius' voice was cold.
Chris stared at him, and then looked down at his plate. The expression he wore took Scorpius aback. He looked…hurt. Hurt. Wait. Where did Chris get off being hurt? Wasn't he the one who'd been such a total arse the last couple of days? Right after Scorpius had told him something so important? Hurt? Scorpius scowled.
"What, I'm a shirt-lifter so you don't like me anymore, is that how it goes? Seven years of friendship, just…" Scorpius shook his head.
"Scorpius," Miranda whined, but Scorpius ignored her. He watched Chris.
"No," said Christian. "You self-righteous little pouf, you lied to me for seven years, so I'm thinking it over. That's how it goes." Chris looked up from his plate, glaring, and Scorpius' mouth dropped open.
"I-I never…" Except yes, he had. He'd lied every day. He'd lied about his mannerisms. He'd lied about girls. He'd lied about blokes. He'd lied about Quidditch. He'd lied about Hugo. He'd lied to pass, but that didn't make his words any truer. Scorpius paused. "I'm sorry," he said finally, and he meant it.
"Yeah…" said Chris. "Me too."
*
Scorpius walked down the cobbled streets of Hogsmeade with his hand curled around Hugo's.
"So, Rose is really upset with me," said Hugo.
"About us?"
"How'd you guess?"
Scorpius and Hugo traded smiles. Hugo swung their hands as they approached the Three Broomsticks.
"She says I'm behaving irrationally. She says that we don't even know each other."
"She's just jealous that you're prettier than she is."
Hugo laughed, and held the door open for Scorpius. Scorpius smiled and stepped over the threshold, waiting for Hugo to step in beside him. "Pick a table," he said, gesturing towards the tables and approaching the bar to get their drinks.
While the bar-wench fetched him two butterbeers, Scorpius sat on a stool, eyes darting lazily around the pub while he considered what sorts of things he could talk to Hugo about. They really didn't know that much about each other, he admitted. But that's why they were dating, right? Because they wanted to; because he wanted to know Hugo's favorite color, and his favorite subject, and what he wanted to be when he graduated, and why he wanted to make his dad angry, and what, exactly, he'd thought Scorpius' dad was going to do to him for being gay; and because that's what people expected you to do when you were snogging all the time. Scorpius grinned.
"Here they are, dearie."
Scorpius turned around on the stool and reached into his pocket for his money.
"Look, I don't know, all right? Why don't you just ask him?"
Scorpius' head popped up. He glanced around. Hugo wasn't one for raising his voice, so hearing him talking loudly enough to be heard over the din of the Broomsticks caught Scorpius' attention.
"Um, hello?" said the wench.
Scorpius slapped his coins down on the counter and grabbed a butterbeer in each hand. He finally managed to spot Hugo through the swarm of bodies and the high-backed booths. The redhead was sitting at a small table in the corner, his back pressed against the wall, and there, settled in the chair next to him, tall and muscular and every inch of his body shouting, 'intimidation,' was Sebastian Nott. Scorpius' hands tightened around his butterbeers. His jaw set.
"I don't understand, aren't you mates?" said Hugo, and he did look honestly confused. Sebastian laughed.
"Me and the fairy Prince? Not likely."
God, he hated Sebastian Nott. He hurried towards the table.
"Look, why don't you just bugger off, in that case?" Hugo glared, drawing himself up, but he was still at least a head shorter than Sebastian.
"Yeah, yeah, I will, of course, but first, you know, I have to know how you did it."
"Did what?"
"Convert him, of course. I mean, you should've heard him a few weeks ago. Wow. Did not like you. So, you know, just let me in on it. You suck him off or something?"
Scorpius was going to kill him. That's all there was to it. Once he managed to wade through this bloody crowd, he was going to kill Sebastian Nott. He didn't even care if he went to Azkaban. Screw it. He'd had a good run.
Hugo was practically trembling with rage himself, his entire face flushing. "Fuck off."
Sebastian laughed. "Is that a yes?"
"Actually, I beat him to it."
Nott spun around, and, for a moment, Scorpius paused. He stared, watching as Christian settled himself against the wall near Sebastian's back. Chris stared down at Sebastian with that familiar, cold, blank gaze.
"What?" Sebastian scoffed.
"Hugo was too slow. I converted Scor. Handjobs after lights out, you know how that goes. Terribly jealous when he chose the little badger over me, of course."
Nott gaped. "Are-are you serious?"
Chris stared at him for a long moment, and Scorpius came to his senses. He fought his way through the last of the crowd.
"Of course not, you fuckwit," said Chris. "I'm not queer, and they're just dating. I'm sure Scorpius is nowhere near that smooth."
Scorpius finally reached the table, slamming his bottles of butterbeer down with two twin snaps. Nott shot him startled look. Hugo smiled at Scorpius. Scorpius smiled at Nott. They wore very different expressions.
Sebastian's eyes flicked from Hugo, to Scorpius, to Chris. He stood up slowly and backed away. Chris watched him go with an arched eyebrow.
When Chris turned back, he and Scorpius just looked at each other for a moment. Finally, Chris shrugged, and looked away. Scorpius sat down, and Chris pushed himself away from the wall, walking back across the room to where Miranda was watching the encounter with her mouth open wide, butterbeer forgotten in one hand.
"Who's that?" Hugo nodded towards Chris. He picked up one of the butterbeers and sipped.
"My best mate," said Scorpius.
"Oh," said Hugo. "He's cute," he said, and grinned.
Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, too late. You stalked me. No returns or refunds."
Hugo smiled. "That was really nice of you two, don’t get me wrong, but I could've totally handled that myself."
"Oh?" Scorpius snickered.
"Absolutely," said Hugo. "Would've been fun."
"He's, like, a thousand feet taller than you."
"So? I'd trip him."
"He's, like, twice your weight."
"Which makes him, like, four times yours," said Hugo, rolling his eyes.
Scorpius grinned and looked down at his drink. "Hey, Hugo?"
"What?"
"What's your favorite color?"
-The End-
Author: HellusBellus
Rating: PG-13 (Light R)
Pairing/characters: Scorpius Malfoy/Hugo Weasley
Warnings/content: Highlight to read *Original Characters, 17-year-old with mildly sexual thoughts*
Word Count: ~12,640
Summary: Hugo Weasley is just the cutest little stalker ever to out a Prince of Slytherin.
Notes: Originally written for nextgen_mas, Prompt 13: "The new Prince of Slytherin and the adorable red-head Hufflepuff". Go to Part (1/2)
Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling. All works posted on this journal were created entirely for fun without making any profit. No copyright infringement is intended.
*
"-be waking up any minute now. Oh, here we are. Hello, Mr. Malfoy."
Scorpius blinked his eyes open, and took a deep breath. He wrinkled his nose. Scorpius had always thought the Hospital Wing smelled like baby powder and homework. That's where he was now, he knew. His prediction was proven correct when he managed to rub the sleep from his eyes and found a crowd of people standing around him. The one who was talking was Madam Pomfrey, a mediwitch with great sagging wrinkles that trembled under her chin.
"Hello, Mr. Malfoy," she repeated, looking down her nose at him. Scorpius frowned and squinted up at her, still coming to terms with the too-bright lights. He'd always felt that Pomfrey was rather more brusque with him than other students, and he felt comfortable blaming that entirely on his father.
"Hello," he said, and his voice came out in a rasp. He coughed. Then, he tried to sit up. About seven pairs of hands reached out to stop him.
"Hold on there, Mr. Malfoy. We're not quite done here."
Scorpius scowled. "Not done? But I feel fine." And he did. He vaguely remembered something about his ribs becoming part of his skull, but he felt perfectly well now. He couldn't understand the wide, frightened gazes that his friends were giving him until he looked down at where Pomfrey was fiddling with his blankets.
"Bloody Hell!" Scorpius yelped, and tried to jerk away from her hands.
"Watch your language, young man!" Madam Pomfrey grabbed his arm to keep him still. Scorpius shot her a frightened look before glancing back down at her hand, which was, right this minute, inside of Scorpius' ribcage. Or, at least, Scorpius assumed it was, because her wrist was very clearly connected to her arm, and her wrist was very plainly touching the side of his torso, and there was also very obviously no hand at the end of that wrist.
"What are you doing?" he said, and swallowed. How in the bloody Hell was he not feeling her fingers move inside of his chest?
"I'm putting your ribcage back together," said Madam Pomfrey, her tone indicating that this should be obvious, and that maybe he should shut his mouth and keep very still. At least, that was what Scorpius took away from it, and he made himself lay as quiet and still as possible while she worked.
While he waited, Scorpius tried to distract himself by looking to his friends. He thought it was unusual that Pomfrey would allow visitors during such a procedure, but from the looks on the Slytherins' faces, and the fact that not one of them had said a word to him yet, Scorpius imagined they'd been given very specific instructions on appropriate sickbed conduct.
Finally, after what seemed like ages of silence, Pomfrey straightened up, her hand slipping out of Scorpius' side. Scorpius didn't budge an inch until she nodded to him.
"You can sit up now," she said. Tentatively, Scorpius put his hands to the mattress. He traded glances with a concerned looking Christian before pushing himself into a sitting position.
"I've numbed the area where the Bludger hit," said Pomfrey, gathering up a few bottles and strange looking tools from Scorpius' bedside. "The ribs have been set back in their proper places. All you need now is to rest as the bones knit." Pomfrey glared at the people gathered around his bed. "Rest."
"Yes, Madam," said Christian. "We'll leave soon."
"Yes, you will," said Pomfrey. She glanced one more time at Scorpius before sniffing and bustling away.
Scorpius' friends closed in, forming a semi-circle around his bed. Christian and Miranda were there, as well as Zabini and Flint. Chris was the first to reach out a tentative hand and pat his shoulder. Scorpius spared him a pained smile.
"What happened?" said Scorpius. "Did we win?" He glanced between Zabini and Flint.
Flint and Zabini looked at each other, and then Flint turned back to him, grinning. "Oh yeah."
Scorpius smiled. A familiar burning pressure filled him from toes to eyebrows. He stretched his arms over his head. He whooped. His friends laughed.
After that moment of elation, smiles settled on most of their faces, including Scorpius'. Thanks to the numbing spell, Scorpius felt only faint twinges from his left side, and he maneuvered himself so Miranda could slip onto the bed next to him. She pulled his arm around her shoulder as his other friends found empty spots on the bed.
"Seriously, mate, you had us all out of our heads," said Flint, shaking his head vigorously. "You caught the bloody Snitch, then you just sort of hovered there, like you were waiting for the Bludger to hit you." Flint glanced nervously as Christian. They shared a look.
Scorpius frowned.
"Hey," said Flint, and his voice had a strange tone. He wouldn't meet Scorpius' eyes. "Hey, you weren't…you weren't waiting for it to hit you, right?" Flint laughed nervously, and looked around at the others gathered around Scorpius' bed.
Scorpius stared at Flint. Then he looked around the circle, but only Chris would meet his eyes, and his expression was, as usual, unreadable. Scorpius' voice was carefully blank when he spoke. "Did I wait for a Bludger to hit me, that's your question?"
"Uh…" Flint shifted. He rubbed his hands together.
Scorpius forced himself to laugh. Flint flinched. "Uh, no. No, I didn't wait for a Bludger to hit me. What the Hell are you people thinking? No, I just…I was distracted for a second, that's all."
"That's what I thought," said Miranda. She smiled at Scorpius and leaned her head against his shoulder. "I told them it was silly, but nobody ever listens to me."
"Yeah, well, maybe they should," said Scorpius. He shook his head at them all, but his eyes found Chris' face. "They should know better."
Chris had the decency to look down at his hands, chastised.
"Well, anyway," said Zabini, drawing them through a suddenly awkward silence. "You caught the Snitch, thank Circe, so we've got some serious training to do in the next couple of weeks. Pomfrey says you'll be back on your feet in a couple of days, but that your side will still be tender for the next match."
The words, 'I can play,' were halfway out of Scorpius' mouth before Zabini held up a hand. He rolled his eyes. "Of course, we'll wait and see how practice goes."
Scorpius closed his lips. He smiled, and Zabini's mouth twitched. Almost a smile, Scorpius thought, as close as Zabini really got.
"In any case, they're throwing one Hell of a bash in the dungeons," said Flint, jumping to his feet. Miranda coughed pointedly, and must've motioned towards Scorpius, because Flint was suddenly shamefaced. "Er…I mean... we'll save you some butterbeer, Scor. For sure."
Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Oh, thanks ever so, Flint, I really appreciate that."
Flint grinned. "You're welcome," he said brightly, and began to march out of the Hospital Wing. Zabini lifted himself away from the bed as well, giving Scorpius a little wave before trailing after his teammate.
A thud and soft, 'oof', drew Scorpius' attention to the doorway. "Watch where you're going," said Flint.
"S-sorry. Sorry."
Scorpius' heart began to pound.
Flint snorted, and then pushed past whoever had walked into him. Zabini glanced from the figure in the doorway to Scorpius. He raised an eyebrow, but said nothing, and after a moment continued on his way.
The sun glinted off Hugo's hair as he walked into the Hospital Wing. He already sported a blush on his cheeks, his hands tucked in his pockets and his eyes glancing between Scorpius' friends and the ground.
"Hey," he said softly. Scorpius stared.
"Oh my God…" said Miranda. She and Chris traded looks, and then, almost simultaneously, stood up and away from the bed. Scorpius' eyes went wide. He reached out to grab Miranda's arm, but she was already walking towards the Hospital Wing doors, Chris right behind her.
"We'll come see you after dinner, okay, Scor?" she chirped, smiling brightly at him. She glanced at Hugo and then gave him a double thumbs-up sign before ducking out the door. Scorpius' mouth fell open. You're leaving me alone? He wanted to shout. With Him?
Chris paused next to Hugo. He tucked his hands in his pockets, mirroring Hugo's posture. "You just can't take a hint, can you?"
Hugo bit his lip, but when he lifted his head, he was glaring. Scorpius blinked. It was the first sign of aggression that he'd ever seen Hugo display. Apparently, it was the first Chris had seen, too, because he looked equally surprised. Then it passed, and Chris smirked. "Good luck with that," he said, and nodded at Scorpius before following Miranda out the door.
"Wait-" Scorpius reached out a hand, but his friends were gone. Left him. Alone. The bastards.
Scorpius glowered at Hugo and crossed his arms over his chest. "What do you want?"
Hugo sighed, and his resigned expression told Scorpius that he'd been expecting this sort of reception. That fact made Scorpius feel a little strangely guilty, but he tried to suppress that as much as he could. Scorpius looked at his blankets for a moment, and his tightly crossed arms loosened. He looked back up when Hugo cleared his throat.
"I'm sorry," said Hugo, his gaze drifting somewhere near Scorpius' ear. Scorpius' brow crumpled. For what?
Scorpius waited, but Hugo didn't follow up with anything else, so Scorpius opened his mouth to tell him that he was very obviously okay, and that Hugo could kindly get lost.
"Look, I know you don't want to see me, and you think I'm annoying, and maybe I am, but I just…" Hugo huffed, and looked at his feet. "I saw you fall," he said softly. He ran a hand through his shining red hair. "I just wanted to know that you were all right, all right? And…you are, right?"
Scorpius licked his lips. "Yeah," he said. "I'm all right."
Hugo nodded. "Good. I mean…yeah." He hesitated. He sighed. "Okay," he said, and he turned to walk away.
Scorpius' hands tightened on his blanket. He didn't plan to say anything. He really didn't. "Hey, Weas-um. Hugo, I mean."
Hugo stopped. He looked back, a look in his eyes like he was steeling himself to be hit.
Scorpius looked down at his hands. "Wait a second," he said.
"What?"
Scorpius picked at the loose weave of the Hospital Wing blankets. "Why are you…I mean, why do you keep…" Scorpius sighed, and scrubbed his hands through his hair. He looked up, and Hugo had turned fully around to face Scorpius' bed. "Why me?" he blurted.
Hugo blushed, and looked down at his feet. He seemed to ponder the question for a moment, and then shrugged, hands still in his pockets. Scorpius realized that this was all the answer he was going to get.
"But don't you mind?" Scorpius insisted.
"Mind what?" said Hugo.
"Everybody…" Scorpius huffed. "Everybody calls you queer."
Hugo blinked. He raised his eyebrows, and his lips twitched upwards. Scorpius scowled. He looked down at his knees and shifted on the bed, pushing himself fully upright. Who was this Hugo to laugh at him, anyway, huh?
When Scorpius looked back up, Hugo was standing at the foot of his bed. Scorpius folded his hands into fists and swallowed.
"Scorpius," said Hugo, smiling, "I am queer."
Scorpius gave him an incredulous look. Well…okay, but…Scorpius shook his head. How stupid was this kid? Didn't he know anything? Scorpius looked back up at Hugo's eyes, prepared to ask these very questions, but once he met Hugo's eyes, his tongue felt too heavy to move. Hugo's eyes bore down on him, the same as that day in the hallway, as in the library, as in the Great Hall…but closer. Much closer. And not filled with shock, or shame, or anything like that.
Scorpius felt something turn over in his stomach, and his breath came faster. Hugo's eyes dropped from Scorpius', and Scorpius looked down, confused.
Oh.
Scorpius blushed, and bent his knees, hugging them close to his bare chest. His chest, which that cheeky Hufflepuff had been staring at. He glared at Hugo, who immediately flushed and looked away, crossing his arms over his own chest.
"I-uh…" Hugo rubbed the flat of his hand against his shoulder. He wouldn't look back at Scorpius. "I, um…yeah." Hugo walked away from Scorpius' bed, practically jogging by the time he reached the double doors that lead out of the Hospital Wing.
Scorpius scowled until he saw the last winking lock of red hair disappear. He huffed. Then, just for a second, he looked down at his chest. He was good looking, he thought. A Seeker, of course, but he was tall and lean-looking and Miranda always told him he had nice eyes….
Scorpius brought his eyes back up and told himself to stop being so fucking weird.
*
Pomfrey released him from the Hospital Wing two days later with strict instructions to rest himself. Scorpius nodded obediently and then, as soon as the Hospital Wing doors were out of sight, sprinted down to the dungeons. He and Chris spent the next couple of hours up in the air, tossing a Quaffle back and forth and talking about all the gossip he'd missed.
It wasn't until he was smiling and laughing on the way back that he thought about Hugo and what he'd said. Before the whole, awkward, 'I caught you staring at my nipples'-thing, Hugo had just…just said it. Like it was nothing. Like it was stupid to not say something so obvious. But Hugo wasn't really…obvious. He didn't lisp or anything and he didn't mince around calling everybody, 'Honey,' and, 'Darling.' He was sort of buff, actually. And if he was…kind of…cute, he just seemed shy, not effete. Hugo could absolutely, no problem, pass…if he wanted. Plus, Hugo had about a million relatives who would almost certainly injure anybody who said anything nasty about him.
Scorpius didn't have any of that. Actually, he was sort of fussy. He didn't like to change in front of people. He didn't really like to get dirty. Sometimes, when he wasn't thinking about it, his hand-gestures got kind of out of control. He had to work at it. He had to cover himself. It was a bit of work, frankly, but if anybody ever found out, Scorpius just didn't know what he'd do. Probably hide in his room until death, he figured. God, if Chris found out…
Scorpius spared his friend a thoughtful look, which, thankfully, Chris was too busy thinking his own thoughts to notice. That was one of the things he liked about Chris: he didn't need to talk all the time. He and Scorpius could walk from the pitch to the dungeons and never have to say two words to each other, and nobody would be hurt about it. He was probably Scorpius' best friend. But.
But Scorpius remembered the way Christian had spoken about being, 'that way'. Like it was…like it was just unmentionable. Scorpius bit his lip. What did he expect, anyway? Chris was a pretty normal bloke. Wouldn't his first thought, if Scorpius admitted he was…whatever…wouldn't it be, 'Did you ever fancy me?' Scorpius never had, but why should Chris believe that? Yeah, Chris would definitely be disgusted.
Speaking of which, what about Scorpius' parents? He thought his mother might try to understand, but just the idea of saying 'homosexual' to Draco Malfoy made Scorpius shudder. And yet…
Yet still, Scorpius couldn't get Hugo's eyes out of his head. His little smile. His almost-laughter.
"I am queer," Scorpius muttered, trying the taste of the words on his tongue.
"What was that?" said Chris, glancing at his friend.
"Uh, nothing. My side hurts."
*
His first morning back in the Great Hall for breakfast, every Slytherin he walked past had a smile and pat on the back for him. Most of the Ravenclaws glowered. However, Scorpius wasn't interested in any of them. He hovered behind the bench for a long moment before sitting down, scanning the Hufflepuff table for a particular redhead.
"Scorpius?" said Chris. He'd already sat down in usual place.
"Uh, yeah," said Scorpius. He sat down. "Just, you know, waking up. Used to sleeping in now," he said, smiling in Chris' direction and scooping scrambled eggs onto his plate.
"Yeah, I bet," said Chris, grumbling good-naturedly about spoiled little invalids. Chris leaned forward to grab a piece of toast, and where his head had been a moment before was a small window opening on the Hufflepuff table, including Hugo Weasley. Hugo, who stared right through that window and into Scorpius' eyes. Scorpius blushed, and looked down at his plate just as Chris leaned back.
"Hey, Scor, you okay?" Chris' brow furrowed. "You look flushed. Do you have a fever?"
"Uh." Scorpius licked his lips. "Uh, no. I'm fine. Just a little…spicy. The, um…eggs."
Chris raised an eyebrow and glanced at Scorpius' plate. "Right," he said.
*
Scorpius tried to keep his head down and his eyes to himself, but that resolve only lasted through his first class. As soon as he stepped into the corridor, he couldn't help it; his eyes scanned the visible students for redheads. There were none, but Scorpius didn't stop looking up every few seconds until he and Chris were almost back to their dormitory. That's when he saw Hugo coming out of the Potions classroom, chatting amiably with another Hufflepuff. Scorpius swallowed, and waited. It was the first time he'd ever seen Hugo before Hugo had seen him. He didn't know what he was even waiting for. Maybe Hugo wouldn't even look up. Why should he? It's not like he was looking for Scorpius, right? Why was Scorpius even looking? This was silly.
Hugo looked up, and he scanned the corridor, eyes flicking from face to face until he reached Scorpius. When he found Scorpius already gazing at him, his eyes widened. Half of Scorpius' instincts told him to look away and run, but the other half… Hugo smiled at him, and a small fire lit in Scorpius' chest.
Scorpius walked past him, and held his breath. He knew the exact moment that they were closest. Then it was gone, and Scorpius turned back to Chris' chatter.
*
It happened again. And again. And again. Every day. Usually twice a day, Scorpius would look up, and Hugo would be there. Sometimes, Hugo would smile at him, and though that usually prompted Scorpius to look away, he couldn't help the warmth that filled him every time it happened, or the way he couldn't wait until it happened again.
It was almost a week before anybody noticed. Or, at least, it was a week before anybody commented.
Scorpius had just looked up from his Arithmancy textbook, and automatically swiped his eyes around the room. They caught. Hugo was watching him from a study table a few yards away, his gaze steady and his smile quiet. Scorpius' stomach fluttered. He looked down at his textbook.
His hand curled around the edge of the page, and though Scorpius curled his lips under, he couldn't suppress the grin that fought its way onto his face. He shifted in his seat, and dragged his hand through his hair. He wondered if Hugo was still watching him, if he'd seen that smile…what he thought about it…
Scorpius glanced up, wondering if he could find Hugo again without Hugo noticing, when he was caught by a different pair of eyes. Chris was staring at Scorpius like he'd grown another head. Scorpius paled. He struggled for something to say.
Slowly, Chris turned around his seat. Across the room, Scorpius saw Hugo hastily put his eyes back on his homework. Chris turned back to face Scorpius, his expression positively bemused.
"Scor-"
"So tired," said Scorpius. He jumped out of his seat and grabbed his book bag. He plastered a fake smile on his face. "Going to head to bed. See you later, mate."
"Scor, wait, are you-"
"Fine, fine, I promise. Just tired," said Scorpius. He smiled one last time at Chris before forcing himself to stroll out of library. He avoided looking at Hugo as much as possible.
Scorpius shoved his Arithmancy book into his bag as he walked. He ripped his hands through his hair.
"What are you doing?" he demanded. "What the bloody…what are you doing? What are you doing?" What was he doing?
A few of his classmates called out to him in the Common Room, but Scorpius was too distracted to even wave. He went straight up to his dorm and collapsed onto his bed, drawing the curtains.
Scorpius stared up at the ceiling for a long moment before closing his eyes. He pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes. Except, while the pressure left licks of color on his sight, it didn't erase the image in his mind, which was Chris turning, real, real slowly, to face Hugo. Then his confusion. What's the puppy to you? his eyes asked. I don't know, Scorpius wailed. I don't know what Hugo is.
God, Hugo. And his stupid, stupid, beautiful eyes. And his stupid, stupid, beautiful mouth. Wide and pink and soft-looking. Hugo was always smiling at him, or biting his lip. Scorpius licked his lips. He knew he shouldn't, but he couldn't help it. Hugo seemed to like him so much…he bet Hugo wanted to kiss him. Scorpius had kissed girls before, and it was fun, but he'd never wanted to go further than that. With Hugo…he thought about what it'd feel like to kiss Hugo's mouth. To press his big shoulders against a wall and kiss him hard. He'd smooth his hands over Hugo's flat, muscular chest, and around his neck, twirling his fingertips in Hugo's red hair.
Scorpius swallowed; the image was full of colors in front of his eyes and full of heat and delicious sounds in his imagination. Scorpius felt a twitch of arousal in his groin. He groaned, and turned over onto his stomach. He folded his hands over the back of his head.
What was he doing?
*
If getting caught made Scorpius a little shy of stealing looks at Hugo, Hugo certainly did not feel the same. It was like nothing had even happened.
Except, obviously, something had happened, because Scorpius was about to walk right past Hugo, was counting down to that moment when they were the closest, where they could almost touch, when Hugo reached out and grabbed Scorpius' wrist. Scorpius had no choice. He stopped walking.
Scorpius stared at him, and Hugo stared back, his chin thrust out defiantly, but the look in his eyes was pleading and soft. Scorpius' breathing quickened. Beside him, Miranda looked between them, her eyes wide.
"What?" said Scorpius.
Hugo didn't say anything. He slid his fingers down Scorpius' wrist and onto his palm. Instinctively, Scorpius curled his fingers down, slipping their palms together, twining their fingers. Hugo smiled, and squeezed Scorpius' hand. Scorpius' blood thrummed hot through his veins.
"Scor?" said Miranda, glancing between the two boys.
Scorpius blinked. His eyes widened. He looked away from Hugo's eyes and ripped his hand out of Hugo's grasp. He walked down the corridor.
Miranda glanced at Hugo, who was staring after Scorpius' retreating back. She skipped a few steps to catch up with Scorpius. Christian, however, was walking the other direction down the corridor and stopped in his tracks to watch the exchange. He was still staring at Hugo when Scorpius brushed past him.
"Hey!" said Chris. He spun around, the second person to stop Scorpius in his tracks that day, this time with a tight grip on his shoulder.
"What is it?" said Scorpius, but his eyes flicked away from Chris' gaze. Oh God, he prayed. Oh, God.
Chris gaped at him. "What's wrong with you?" he said finally.
"I don’t know what you mean."
"You don’t…come on." Chris marched down the corridor, dragging Scorpius behind him.
Finally, after Chris had turned them and dragged Scorpius down yet another corridor, Miranda left far behind, Scorpius snapped. "Damn it, Chris, let go of me." Scorpius ripped his arm away. "What's wrong with you?"
Chris turned to face him, and his eyebrows were drawn together. He was angry, Scorpius realized, and somehow he was surprised.
"Scorpius…" Chris paused. He shook his head and rubbed a hand over his eyes.
Scorpius' heart pounded. "What?"
"Scor…" Chris kept shaking his head.
"What? What is it? What do you want to know?"
Chris chewed on the inside of his cheek, arms folded across his chest. When he spoke, it was more like he burst. "Scor, do you fancy Weasley?"
No, don't be ridiculous.
Scorpius' jaw tightened. He couldn't say it. He looked down at his feet. He looked down for so long, he heard Chris sigh. His silence was an answer in itself, but Scorpius wasn't satisfied with that. Chris deserved more than that, he thought. So did Hugo, probably.
"Yeah, I think I do," he said.
Chris sighed again. "Merlin, Scorpius…"
Scorpius glanced up, but Chris wasn't looking at him. He had one arm folded across his chest, the other hand folded over his eyes, rubbing his temples.
"I think I'm…gay."
Chris' hand dropped. The look he gave Scorpius was a mix of incredulity and disgust. Scorpius felt like every part of his body had become heavy, heavy liquid, swirling and sinking at the same time.
"You think so, huh?"
"Yeah."
"For how long, exactly?"
Scorpius swallowed. "A long time."
"A long time."
"Yeah."
Chris nodded, and looked away from Scorpius' face again. "Okay," he said.
"Okay?"
"Yeah, okay," said Chris. He turned away from Scorpius and started walking. "Whatever," he muttered.
Scorpius hesitated. Somehow, it didn't feel like it was okay. It took him a long time to work up the courage to catch up to Chris and walk to their next class together. They didn't really talk again until dinner.
*
"So, do you two have valentines, yet?" asked Miranda, taking a dainty bite of her salad. She beamed at them both.
"Not really, no," said Chris. He turned his blank eyes to Scorpius. "You, Scor?"
Scorpius stared at him for a moment, trying to read his expression, but trying to read Chris was impossible. He looked at Miranda instead. "Yeah, I don't know. Maybe. It's sort of complicated."
Miranda scooted closer to him. "Really? Ooo, tell me. Who is she?"
Scorpius glanced at Chris, but Chris didn't say anything. His expression didn't change. He wasn't eating. He just stared. Scorpius fidgeted, and looked back to Miranda. "It's…I mean, like I said, it's sort of complicated."
"Spoil sport," said Miranda, turning back to her salad. She gestured at Chris with her fork. "But at least Scor's got somebody. You're just a grump."
Chris sighed, and picked up his fork.
"Did you hear me?" said Miranda, still brandishing her fork.
Chris looked up, eyes flicking from Miranda, to Scorpius, then back to Miranda. "Yep," he said. "I heard you."
Scorpius felt very cold. Chris somehow avoided looking him in the eyes for the rest of the evening, even though they were, like always, seated across from each other.
*
Valentine's Day was gray and chilly, a bit of winter leftovers, and Scorpius didn't know how to feel about that. Chris hadn't spoken more than three complete sentences to him in days, and Miranda was going around chattering abut Valentine's Day like it really mattered to anybody but hormonal third years.
Scorpius was still seeing Hugo everywhere he went, and Hugo had even touched him a couple more times, but Scorpius had brushed him off. He just didn't know what to do. He didn't know, and now it was Valentine's Day, and he couldn't bear to face Miranda or Chris. Instead, Scorpius grabbed his winter coat and walked out onto the grounds, heading towards the broomshed. It'd be nice to leave this whole mess below him for a while.
Scorpius sighed as he pushed open the broomshed door. He was taking a step into the musty darkness when something heavy hit his back. Scorpius yelped, stumbling forward. He hissed when his tender side hit a workbench, but he caught himself with both hands and pushed himself around, hand going for his wand even as his eyes searched the dark for his attacker.
The pale light winked off of copper hair. Scorpius' hand froze.
"Hugo?"
Hugo scowled and stalked towards him. Scorpius took a step back, backing himself against the work bench. Hugo's eyes were narrowed, and he glared at Scorpius.
"Hu-"
Hugo reached up and grabbed handfuls of Scorpius' lapels, ripping him away from the work bench and shoving him up against the stone wall of the shed. Scorpius gasped, eyes wide, head bumping against the stone. Hugo moved forward until only a few inches separated their chests, and Scorpius noticed they were both breathing hard. He could feel Hugo's breath against his neck, but hotter than that was the fierce, possessive look that Hugo ran over Scorpius' face and throat. Scorpius' heart skittered.
"I'm going to kiss you," said Hugo. His eyes dropped from Scorpius' gaze to Scorpius' mouth.
Scorpius stared, unable to move even an inch.
Hugo drew in a shaky breath. "I fancy you, Malfoy, and I know, I know you fancy me too, but you're just too much of a coward to do anything about it. S-so…so, I'm going to kiss you, and you don't even have to talk to me, or look at me, or care about me at all, b-but you will kiss me back." Hugo glared up into Scorpius' eyes.
For a moment, they just stared at each other.
Something snapped inside of Scorpius. "Okay," he breathed.
Hugo blinked. His grip on Scorpius' lapels loosened. "W-what?"
"Fine," said Scorpius. "Do it."
Hugo stared.
"Kiss me?" Scorpius prompted. Hugo blushed. He looked down at his hands on Scorpius' chest, and he flattened them. He took a small step back.
"I…Uh…this was…Merlin…"
Scorpius rolled his eyes. "You're pathetic."
Hugo flinched, and started to turn away, but he stopped when Scorpius grabbed the collar of his coat. Scorpius dragged Hugo towards him, leaned down, and pressed their lips together.
Hugo made a small, surprised noise. His lips were still, and dry, and a little cold under Scorpius', but the moment their skins touched, Scorpius' heart jumped into his throat. He smoothed his fingers away from Hugo's collar, burying them in Hugo's hair and tilting his head back. Scorpius moved their mouths together softly, brushing slightly chapped lips in a slow, maddening crush. He sighed when Hugo's hands smoothed up the front of his jacket, fingers curling against his chest. When he pulled back, Hugo's eyes were hooded, and his face was flushed. His lips were dark and slightly parted. Immediately, Scorpius wanted to kiss him again.
"Oh," said Hugo, so softly it was almost more breath than sound.
Scorpius leaned back against the shed wall, hands cupped around the back of Hugo's neck, drawing him close. Hugo shot Scorpius a tentative look before moving in closer and resting his cheek against the curve of Scorpius' neck.
"Oh," Hugo said again.
Scorpius laughed a little, and wrapped his arms around Hugo's shoulders. Hugo brought his arms around Scorpius' waist and hugged him close. Scorpius closed his eyes, and buried his face in Hugo's hair, breathing him in. He felt so warm, Scorpius thought. So warm, and comfortable, and yet his blood rushed like he was diving for the Snitch or telling a lie. For long minutes, Scorpius just let himself be held, breathing in the scent of Hugo's shampoo and the dusty musk of the broomshed.
Something niggled at the back of Scorpius' mind. "Maybe we could go to Hogsmeade this weekend."
Hugo pulled back so he could look at Scorpius' eyes. He seemed cautious, but when he spoke, his tone was hopeful. "Yeah?"
"Yeah," said Scorpius firmly.
"Why?"
Scorpius laughed. "Why? Well, because you'll just follow me anyway, right?"
Hugo blushed, and looked down at Scorpius' chest for a moment before meeting his eyes again. "Probably," he admitted.
Scorpius smiled, and reached up to fiddle with a lock of Hugo's hair. "Your dad's going to kill you, you know."
Hugo grinned. "No way. He's going to kill you."
Scorpius smiled, and started to reply, but then a thought occurred to him. A very distant possibility, but still… "Hey," he said. "I'm not just a way to piss off your daddy, am I? I mean, I'm not necessarily saying that's a deal-breaker, but just so I know.…"
Hugo's brow furrowed. "No. Well…" Hugo shrugged. "Maybe. But mostly no."
"…Fair enough."
Scorpius studied the copper lock between his fingers, and Hugo studied Scorpius' face.
"So…what about your dad?"
Scorpius frowned. What about his dad… "I don't know," he said finally. "When I get in trouble he usually just looks at me and sighs, then waves his hand so I know I can leave his study."
"…That's it?"
"Sometimes he yells."
"Oh…" Obviously, Hugo had been expecting something a little more impressive from the Malfoys. Scorpius was almost sad to disappoint him.
"Yeah, I think Mum'll talk him down."
"Oh," said Hugo again. His eyes drifted from Scorpius' and settled on his mouth. "…Cool," he said. "So…um…"
Scorpius smirked. "What?"
"Could I…" Hugo licked his lips and glanced up at Scorpius' eyes.
"Only if you stop asking."
The second kiss was not cold at all, in any way. In fact, Scorpius thought he might never be cold again.
*
Hugo's grip on his hand began to loosen as they approached the doors to the Great Hall. Scorpius cast him a sidelong glance, but Hugo was looking down at his feet, resignation written in the slump of his shoulders.
Scorpius stopped, and so Hugo did. He looked at Scorpius questioningly.
"Do you want to let go?" Scorpius asked, and nodded at their hands.
Hugo looked down, then back up at Scorpius' face. He shook his head - no.
"So don't," said Scorpius. Hugo stared at him for a moment, and then smiled a faint smile.
"Okay," he said.
They walked into the Great Hall together, Hugo's fingers tensed hard around Scorpius' hand, almost like he was afraid Scorpius was going to run away. Scorpius considered that for a moment and thought, not entirely happily, that it was probably a valid fear. He squeezed Hugo's hand and met his eyes before they had to part to go sit at their separate tables. Hugo smiled, and Scorpius smiled back, and that familiar warmth was lit in Scorpius' chest.
It was almost enough to keep Scorpius feeling proud and confident as he approached his table. The Slytherins stared. His friends stared, their mouths either opened in small 'O's of shock, or hardened into straight lines of judgment. Scorpius ignored them all as he walked down the line of backs to his usual spot across from Chris, next to Miranda.
Miranda bounced up and down in her seat, grabbing onto Scorpius' shoulder as soon as he slid onto the bench.
"You found a leash!" she accused, her eyes glinting and her smile wide. Scorpius stared for a moment before realizing what she meant, and when he did, he laughed along with her.
"Yeah, I did," he said. "I told you it was complicated."
"Oh, I hate you," said Miranda. "You keep all the good stuff from me. I bet you told Chris, though, didn’t you?"
Scorpius took a deep breath and looked across the table at his friend. His bestfriend, he reminded himself. He quailed beneath Christian's gaze. This time, there was no incredulity to soften the blow. The look on Christian's face was nothing less than disgust.
"I told Chris," he said. He felt like whispering, but he made himself say it normally. He felt like staring at his plate, but he made himself meet Chris' eyes instead. He was Scorpius Malfoy, damn it -- practically Slytherin royalty, brilliant NEWT student, and a brilliant Seeker. He didn't need to wince and cower; in fact, he refused. His lips thinned into a line as he stared Chris down across the table.
Miranda sighed. "What's going on? Chris, are you being stupid?"
"No, I'm not being stupid, Miranda."
Miranda blinked, surprised by Chris' harsh tone. It wasn't like him to snap. She pursed her lips.
"What, exactly, is the nature of your problem?" Scorpius' voice was cold.
Chris stared at him, and then looked down at his plate. The expression he wore took Scorpius aback. He looked…hurt. Hurt. Wait. Where did Chris get off being hurt? Wasn't he the one who'd been such a total arse the last couple of days? Right after Scorpius had told him something so important? Hurt? Scorpius scowled.
"What, I'm a shirt-lifter so you don't like me anymore, is that how it goes? Seven years of friendship, just…" Scorpius shook his head.
"Scorpius," Miranda whined, but Scorpius ignored her. He watched Chris.
"No," said Christian. "You self-righteous little pouf, you lied to me for seven years, so I'm thinking it over. That's how it goes." Chris looked up from his plate, glaring, and Scorpius' mouth dropped open.
"I-I never…" Except yes, he had. He'd lied every day. He'd lied about his mannerisms. He'd lied about girls. He'd lied about blokes. He'd lied about Quidditch. He'd lied about Hugo. He'd lied to pass, but that didn't make his words any truer. Scorpius paused. "I'm sorry," he said finally, and he meant it.
"Yeah…" said Chris. "Me too."
*
Scorpius walked down the cobbled streets of Hogsmeade with his hand curled around Hugo's.
"So, Rose is really upset with me," said Hugo.
"About us?"
"How'd you guess?"
Scorpius and Hugo traded smiles. Hugo swung their hands as they approached the Three Broomsticks.
"She says I'm behaving irrationally. She says that we don't even know each other."
"She's just jealous that you're prettier than she is."
Hugo laughed, and held the door open for Scorpius. Scorpius smiled and stepped over the threshold, waiting for Hugo to step in beside him. "Pick a table," he said, gesturing towards the tables and approaching the bar to get their drinks.
While the bar-wench fetched him two butterbeers, Scorpius sat on a stool, eyes darting lazily around the pub while he considered what sorts of things he could talk to Hugo about. They really didn't know that much about each other, he admitted. But that's why they were dating, right? Because they wanted to; because he wanted to know Hugo's favorite color, and his favorite subject, and what he wanted to be when he graduated, and why he wanted to make his dad angry, and what, exactly, he'd thought Scorpius' dad was going to do to him for being gay; and because that's what people expected you to do when you were snogging all the time. Scorpius grinned.
"Here they are, dearie."
Scorpius turned around on the stool and reached into his pocket for his money.
"Look, I don't know, all right? Why don't you just ask him?"
Scorpius' head popped up. He glanced around. Hugo wasn't one for raising his voice, so hearing him talking loudly enough to be heard over the din of the Broomsticks caught Scorpius' attention.
"Um, hello?" said the wench.
Scorpius slapped his coins down on the counter and grabbed a butterbeer in each hand. He finally managed to spot Hugo through the swarm of bodies and the high-backed booths. The redhead was sitting at a small table in the corner, his back pressed against the wall, and there, settled in the chair next to him, tall and muscular and every inch of his body shouting, 'intimidation,' was Sebastian Nott. Scorpius' hands tightened around his butterbeers. His jaw set.
"I don't understand, aren't you mates?" said Hugo, and he did look honestly confused. Sebastian laughed.
"Me and the fairy Prince? Not likely."
God, he hated Sebastian Nott. He hurried towards the table.
"Look, why don't you just bugger off, in that case?" Hugo glared, drawing himself up, but he was still at least a head shorter than Sebastian.
"Yeah, yeah, I will, of course, but first, you know, I have to know how you did it."
"Did what?"
"Convert him, of course. I mean, you should've heard him a few weeks ago. Wow. Did not like you. So, you know, just let me in on it. You suck him off or something?"
Scorpius was going to kill him. That's all there was to it. Once he managed to wade through this bloody crowd, he was going to kill Sebastian Nott. He didn't even care if he went to Azkaban. Screw it. He'd had a good run.
Hugo was practically trembling with rage himself, his entire face flushing. "Fuck off."
Sebastian laughed. "Is that a yes?"
"Actually, I beat him to it."
Nott spun around, and, for a moment, Scorpius paused. He stared, watching as Christian settled himself against the wall near Sebastian's back. Chris stared down at Sebastian with that familiar, cold, blank gaze.
"What?" Sebastian scoffed.
"Hugo was too slow. I converted Scor. Handjobs after lights out, you know how that goes. Terribly jealous when he chose the little badger over me, of course."
Nott gaped. "Are-are you serious?"
Chris stared at him for a long moment, and Scorpius came to his senses. He fought his way through the last of the crowd.
"Of course not, you fuckwit," said Chris. "I'm not queer, and they're just dating. I'm sure Scorpius is nowhere near that smooth."
Scorpius finally reached the table, slamming his bottles of butterbeer down with two twin snaps. Nott shot him startled look. Hugo smiled at Scorpius. Scorpius smiled at Nott. They wore very different expressions.
Sebastian's eyes flicked from Hugo, to Scorpius, to Chris. He stood up slowly and backed away. Chris watched him go with an arched eyebrow.
When Chris turned back, he and Scorpius just looked at each other for a moment. Finally, Chris shrugged, and looked away. Scorpius sat down, and Chris pushed himself away from the wall, walking back across the room to where Miranda was watching the encounter with her mouth open wide, butterbeer forgotten in one hand.
"Who's that?" Hugo nodded towards Chris. He picked up one of the butterbeers and sipped.
"My best mate," said Scorpius.
"Oh," said Hugo. "He's cute," he said, and grinned.
Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, too late. You stalked me. No returns or refunds."
Hugo smiled. "That was really nice of you two, don’t get me wrong, but I could've totally handled that myself."
"Oh?" Scorpius snickered.
"Absolutely," said Hugo. "Would've been fun."
"He's, like, a thousand feet taller than you."
"So? I'd trip him."
"He's, like, twice your weight."
"Which makes him, like, four times yours," said Hugo, rolling his eyes.
Scorpius grinned and looked down at his drink. "Hey, Hugo?"
"What?"
"What's your favorite color?"
-The End-