Too Much
Summary: Scorpius likes boys. Especially Albus. And Albus's skin.
Char/Pair: AS/S, Rose chillin' there on the side
Genre: romance/slash, humor
Rating: PG-13
Author's Notes: For albuscorpius100, #2: exposed! Um, subtle prompt is subtle? It's still there though XD
Scorpius had a thing for boys. Yes, it’s exactly the type of "thing" you’re thinking about. But it wasn’t Scorpius’s fault. Sure, being gay was probably something that didn’t run through the Malfoy blood… it probably skipped a few generations or so. But now it was in him, and Scorpius couldn’t be any more satisfied.
He always liked Hogwarts, too. When he had first heard he was going to Hogwarts-which was around seven, when his magic started showing-his father and mother had told him that even though everyone in their families had been in Slytherin for generations now, they didn’t care whether he was a Slytherin, a Gryffindor or even a wussy little Hufflepuff. They just told him to follow his heart, no matter what. Well, not like Scorpius really cared though-and his parents were regardless more proud than usual when they’d heard he’d been placed in Slytherin-that wasn’t the part of Hogwarts that he really cared about.
What he liked were the dormitories. Specifically, the fact that they were separated by gender and Scorpius shared a room with seven other boys, who weren’t bad-looking, quite honestly. Sure, when they were eleven he was only intrigued by boys (and less hormonal, thank you very much), and then when he was thirteen and fourteen it was sort of awkward, because that was when things started changing and there was acne and pimples and the boys were a little less attractive than they could have been. (Thank goodness Malfoys never got pimples.) But after the summer of fifth year, when he reentered the Slytherin dormitories…
… everyone had changed.
For the better, of course. Nate was tall and had high-cheekbones, Lawrence lost most of his baby fat, and Oliver could bench eighty kilograms. Melvin had nice abs and broad shoulders (shoulders!), Patrick’s freckles looked more endearing than gross, and Samuel was just plain hot, especially in those dragon-hide boots of his. And Albus Severus Potter, golden boy of Slytherin (who knew?), was more gorgeous than ever.
**
That’s not where this story starts, though. This story starts on one fine day in October, during one of the Slytherin-Gryffindor joint Potions classes. Scorpius was lighting a fire under his cauldron, and secretly ogling all the boys in his class.
He was lucky to be placed in Slytherin, actually-though it probably wasn’t just luck-but all the Slytherin boys in fifth year were the best-looking ones. Even the Hufflepuff girls unashamedly stared at them, especially at Scorpius, who was well-aware of this fact. Though, he didn’t really care about the Hufflepuff girls. First of all, they were Hufflepuffs. Second of all, they were girls.
But the Gryffindor boys weren’t that bad either. There was Timothy Hall, who played Quidditch aggressively and attractively. There was Wilson Boor, who had messy blond hair and long legs. There was Hugo Weasley, who was adorable in his own special way. And there were other Gryffindor boys that Scorpius didn’t bother learning the names of, but stared at anyways.
He was just getting up from making sure his cauldron had been adjusted right, when the sounds of a conversation caught his ear. He glanced to the side, to see Albus Potter and his cousin, Rose Weasley, talking in not-so-silent hushed undertones.
“James said he’d give me the map once he leaves!” Albus said indignantly. “You can’t stop me from getting it!”
“But you could get in trouble,” Rose insisted, cutting apart a salamander tail. “What if Filch catches you?”
Albus scoffed. “That old man? I’ll use it to make sure he doesn’t! And even if he does, I’ll just wipe it clean! You know how to do that.”
“It seems like a really bad idea, Al,” said Rose.
“You sound like Aunt Hermione,” said Albus, rolling his eyes.
He turned then and lazily dropped in a few unicorn hair strands into his cauldron, causing it to bubble slightly. Then he yawned and lifted up the back of his shirt, exposing skin and scratching himself carelessly.
Scorpius stared.
**
Scorpius had always been enamored by Albus Potter. What, with the way he wasn’t extremely confident but still rather self-assured, and how Albus was nice to everyone, except for those he hated-and he hated them just because they were mean to everyone. Albus was excellent at Quidditch, having made Seeker in second year, and he had plenty of friends from every house. Plus, there was the fact that he wasn’t bad-looking, which Scorpius didn’t mind at all.
To Scorpius, Albus was a thing of beauty. Scorpius had always had a thing for dark hair, and while he was rather fond of his own platinum blond, darkness just seemed so… mysterious. Sexy. Also, it stuck up all the time, but Scorpius liked it because it gave him that post-shag appearance. His brilliant green eyes were always smiling, laughing, the same way Albus always was. He was carefree and kind and attractive. Scorpius was just one of admirers.
But that was okay, because Scorpius was perfectly happy just using Albus as eye candy. Though, things did get better when he talked to Rose Weasley a few days after that day in Potions.
Scorpius and Rose got along fairly well, despite both of their fathers’ protests (they had told each other about both.) Rose wasn’t stupid like most of the Gryffindors, and she had been honored when Scorpius had made her his very own fag hag.
“You know,” said Rose as they walked back from Arinthmancy together. “Albus is bent, too.”
Scorpius nearly cracked his neck when he turned to look at her. “What?”
“Just thought I’d let you know,” said Rose. “He came out to me a few weeks ago. Maybe you can finally get a boyfriend you’ve been wanting ever since you were twelve.”
“Shut up! I do not want a boyfriend!” It was true. Scorpius wasn’t quite sure what it would be like to be in a relationship, and he was sort of frightened. Not like he’d ever admit this out loud.
“Okay then. Someone to snog.” Rose rolled her eyes. Then she brightened up. “Oh look! Here he comes now!”
And indeed, Albus Potter came running down the corridor and to Rose and Scorpius. He smiled when he saw the both of them.
“Rose,” he said. And then, noticing Scorpius, “Scorpius.”
“Hi Al,” Rose said cheerfully.
“Hello Albus,” said Scorpius, forcing himself to stop staring at Albus’s gorgeous green eyes. He looked down. It wasn’t much better. He could see his collarbone beneath his shirt, too.
“What are you guys doing?” asked Albus curiously, cocking his head to the side.
“Going to lunch,” Rose replied. “Want to join us? If you’re not still working on that Transfiguration essay, of course.”
“I’m done that,” Albus so very clearly lied. Scorpius recalled the previous night that Albus had announced he wasn’t even halfway done. And Albus wasn’t very efficient with his homework, anyways. “I’ll walk with you two.”
They headed to the Great Hall together. Scorpius was very aware of the fact that just as they stepped inside, Albus reached into the collar of his shirt and scratched his shoulder, exposing even more of his shoulder.
Scorpius swallowed.
**
So Albus Potter was bent? Scorpius wasn’t sure if Albus actually wanted him to know, so he didn’t say anything. But that put quite a twist on things. A very nice twist.
And Scorpius started noticing things. How he just smiled at the girls who flirted with him, denied all the dates he was asked out on. Complained about his mother bothering him to get a girlfriend, and hung out with Rose all the time. It was so obvious, he realized. Albus really was bent. Why did he not see it before? And why couldn’t anyone else tell?
He wasn’t going to mention it of course, but when he lay in bed one late morning while all the other boys were gone down to breakfast, he was thinking… Maybe he could ask him out. On one date. Or something. Just one date. They were both gay, right? And they knew each other pretty well. So why not? Though Scorpius wasn’t sure if he had enough courage to actually do such a thing, ask Albus Potter out. But he could consider it.
He was about to climb out of bed and head to the toilet when he realized that the emerald drapes around a single bed were still up. They were Albus’s. And unless Scorpius was very much mistaken, he couldn’t hear anything that was going inside of his bed. Which meant that Albus had put a Silencing Charm on himself. Which mean that Albus was doing something that he didn’t want to be heard. Which meant that he was wanking.
Scorpius grinned at the thought, and then walked into the bathroom. So, Albus was wanking right now, was he? Right here, where Scorpius happened to be not twenty feet away. As Scorpius walked into the bathroom, he could feel himself get harder at the very thought, and quickly stripped himself and went into the shower.
When he was done, he dried himself off, threw on some robes he had brought with him, and then walked out-just as the drapes around Albus’s bed flew open.
Albus’s eyes were wide when he saw him. Scorpius shot a glance to his crotch. Damn, he had put his trousers back on.
“Scorpius?” Albus squeaked. “You’re still here?”
“Yeah. I… wanted to take a shower after breakfast,” Scorpius lied.
“Oh,” said Albus, and then awkwardly moved toward his trunk. “Well, er… I’m going to change my clothes now. So.”
“What were you doing just then?” Scorpius couldn’t help asking. Even though he knew exactly what.
Albus blushed a deep red and busied himself with looking through his trunk. “Um. You know. That thing. That no one talks about. But does.” He blushed even harder.
Scorpius stared at him. Albus looked quite nice like this. And as Albus bent down even more, his shirt rode up, exposing a bit of bare stomach. Scorpius grinned.
“Oh, that,” he said. “Yes, well, I’m sure as an adolescent boy, of course you’ll have to do it. I did it just now, in fact.”
And then he left, smirking, leaving a bemused Albus Potter still on his bed.
**
“Hey, Malfoy! Malfoy!”
Scorpius spun around, to see Albus running after him. A bit stunned, he stood there, waiting for him.
“You… walk… really… fast,” panted Albus once he caught up with Scorpius.
“It’s a habit,” said Scorpius. “Don’t want to stay in one place for too long.” There weren’t many cute boys around the Charms corridor, anyways.
“Right,” said Albus. Then, regaining his breath, he smiled and said, “I had a question to ask you.”
“Really,” said Scorpius, although he was quite intrigued. Had Rose told Albus that Scorpius was bent? Was it just all a ploy to get the two of them together? … Not like Scorpius really minded (but seriously. Relationships.)
“Yeah. About the Potions homework,” said Albus.
Scorpius deflated, if only a little. “Yes? What’s your question?”
“Um.” Albus shifted from foot to foot. “Do you think that you can help me? With tonight’s essay? I mean, I’m okay with Potions and all, but I didn’t really understand the whole thing about theories and laws and I know you’re usually good at that, and I’d ask Rose but she says that she’s swamped with Ancient Runes homework, and I don’t know if you’re in Ancient Runes so I was just wondering…”
Scorpius watched him for a moment. Albus’s eyes were green, wild.
Scorpius smiled.
“Sure,” he said.
Albus’s face broke out into a grin. “Great!” he said. “Then… dormitory or common room?”
“Common room,” said Scorpius firmly. He was afraid that if he was in the boys’ dormitory alone with Albus again, it’d be much more difficult to not jump him right there.
“Awesome,” said Albus. They walked down the hall together. Then, Albus suddenly bent down and said, “Wait.”
Scorpius had no idea why Albus was still walking with him, but waiting for him wouldn’t hurt too much. So he waited.
Albus bent down and unknotted then retied his shoelaces. Scorpius noticed that his trousers lifted up slightly. He stared at Albus’s ankles. They were nice ankles.
Albus glanced up at him. “Sor-what are you looking at?”
“What?” Scorpius tore his gaze away from the top of Albus’s foot and looked him in the eye. “Nothing,” he said hastily.
Albus continued to look at him curiously, though, so Scorpius just said, “Rose is really slow with the Ancient Runes homework, isn’t she?”
**
That night in the common room, Scorpius found him sitting side-by-side with Albus. What’s more, he also had a strange attraction to his ankles. Which were nice. But strange. Who knew that people could actually have nice ankles?
Albus was also acting a bit weird around him. First of all, he looked a bit cautious to sit next to Scorpius. Not uncomfortable, but… cautious. Second, he kept scratching at his collar. It took all of Scorpius not to stare at him the entire time they were there.
“So…” said Albus. “There actually isn’t a potion that can cure all poisons? It’s just the reverse of everything?”
“Well there’s a bezoar, which we learned about in first year,” said Scorpius patiently. “But they can only cure most, not all.”
“Oh yeah. I remember Dad mentioning something about bezoars and Uncle Ron,” mused Albus, scratching at his neck again.
Scorpius couldn’t take it. “Do you have an itch there or something?” he exclaimed, pointing at Albus’s neck.
Albus looked at him. In the dim firelight, it looked like he’d blushed. “Oh-er, yes,” he said, moving his collar even lower and exposing a gratuitous amount of skin. Scorpius was sure he had never stared this hard in his life. “Does it look bad?”
“It just looks… red. From. When you were scratching it so much.” Had it gotten hotter in here?
“Oh yeah. It feels kind of warm. Think you can make it better?” asked Albus.
Scorpius swallowed, and nodded mindlessly. Whispering an incantation under his breath, he waved his wand and some lotion appeared on his fingers. He brought his hand up and rubbed the patch of skin that Albus had been scratching. It felt warm, soft.
His hand lingered for a few seconds when he had finished. Albus didn’t say anything. Scorpius quickly brought his hand back.
“Um,” he said, glancing down to his parchment. “We should return to this essay.”
**
A few days later, Scorpius was eating breakfast at the Slytherin table when he suddenly heard someone say, “Scorpius, can you please pass the sugar?”
He looked up from his bacon. Albus was sitting right across from him, smiling. His sleeves were rolled up.
Albus wasn’t very muscular, but he did have rather nice arms.
“Sure,” said Scorpius, hastening to look away. He focused on the sugar bowl instead, and handed it to Albus.
“Thanks,” said Albus, reaching over. His shirt slid up a little, exposing some of his flat stomach again.
Merlin, Scorpius was getting hard during breakfast. He quickly excused himself to go to the restroom.
**
Scorpius decided he really, really hated Potions classes.
Sure, there were the cute boys. Sure, he was a natural. Sure, Slughorn didn’t really pay attention to them as long as they could concoct perfect potions.
But there was also-
“Ow!” exclaimed Albus, gaining the attention of the entire class. “Fuck! Bloody buggering fuck!”
“Albus, language,” Rose said warningly from beside him.
“Do you think I care?” said Albus indignantly, gesturing to himself. A load of the potion had splashed out and onto him-the potion, which was mostly harmless, but fire-hot and singed parts of his robes, showing and exposing a lot of skin.
Scorpius quickly glanced away as Professor Slughorn jerked away and nearly toppled out of his seat, shouting, “Don’t touch my pineapple!”
**
Scorpius furrowed his eyebrows and bit at his (Sugar) Quill, staring at his Herbology text. Herbology had never been one of his best (or favorite) subjects, though that might be because he regarded it as a useless subject anyways.
He scratched his ankle below his trousers. The grass was infuriating. Bloody plants.
Scorpius suddenly felt something hit his head. Scowling, he looked up to see a Fanged Frisbee fly back into its owner’s hand.
“Hey Malfoy! Nice catch!” shouted some seventh year Gryffindor. Scorpius couldn’t tell who he was. He probably wasn’t very attractive.
Just then, someone ran over to the Gryffindor to tell him off. Scorpius couldn’t tell who that was, but he sure hoped it was someone cute.
The Gryffindor ran off. The boy turned to look at Scorpius. It was Albus Potter.
He was pink, but he approached Scorpius with an air of some confidence. Scorpius thought it was all very attractive. He smirked at Albus.
“My knight in shining armor,” he drawled.
Albus blushed again. “It was my brother,” he said. “Sorry. He just likes picking on you, but it’s nothing personal. He likes picking on me too.”
“Don’t worry.” Scorpius smiled. “I’ve been thinking of ways to get him back.”
“You have? Count me in on the plan!”
Scorpius really hadn’t (he rarely wasted a thought on James Potter. Red hair was not attractive), but he’d do whatever he could to spend more time with Albus.
“What are you working on?” Albus asked curiously, peering at Scorpius’s books.
Scorpius shrugged, and blushed when Albus picked up his current, half-arsed essay. “Homework,” he replied.
“I think you meant to say that Neopola roots are common, not rare,” said Albus, bending down to pick up Scorpius’s extra quill to correct his paper.
Scorpius blushed when he saw Albus’s covered backside, and then Albus’s robes rode up so that he could see a bit of his back. He quickly looked away.
If he hadn’t, he would have seen Albus grinning mischievously.
**
Over the next week, Scorpius flirted with Albus-really, he did. Even if it didn’t seem like it. Scorpius talked to him, walked with him, stared at his arse every moment he could… it counted at flirting. At least, in his book.
And he still had that thought of asking Albus out, though he wasn’t considering doing it any time soon. Maybe when he found that Gryffindor courage of his, deep, deep down inside. Maybe. If it even existed.
Scorpius would love to go out with Albus, actually. But relationships were still pretty scary because Scorpius was afraid that whoever he was with wouldn’t like him as much as Scorpius liked him, and not because Scorpius was afraid that he might cheat on him. And he would definitely not cheat on Albus-no boy could measure up to him. Even as much as Scorpius ogled at other boys, Albus was ten times more attractive than all the others. It was still the whole combination of being a good person plus being really attractive. Plus not being a Hufflepuff and/or a ginger. Scorpius still never liked Hufflepuffs, or gingers.
“You like me,” Rose told him once Scorpius spilled all his secret feelings of Albus out to her. (Scorpius was never good at keeping his secrets away from his fag hag.)
Scorpius gave her a look. “You know what I mean,” he said. “And your hair’s not all orange and frizzy and stuff. It’s actually red.”
“That’s the hair color most gingers have.”
“No, most gingers have like orange, orange hair.” Scorpius let out an exasperated sigh. “And that’s not the point! The point is that I’m bent, apparently he’s bent, and I want to ask him out except I can’t because I’m afraid!”
Rose rolled her eyes. “You just need to man up and ask him out. It’s not that hard.”
“Yes it is!” said Scorpius.
“It’s not,” said Rose. “And besides, Albus will probably say yes. He doesn’t have the heart to say no.”
“He said no to all those girls!”
“Because he doesn’t like girls,” Rose said, very, very patiently. “He likes blokes. He likes males. He likes boys. He likes dicks, cocks, penises, not vaginas-”
“Okay, okay, I get it!” said Scorpius, pink blotches appearing on his face as he quickly rushed to shut Rose up. “And don’t say that so loudly, okay?” he added to her in a whisper.
Rose rolled her eyes again and shoved him off. “Oh please. Everyone’s already figured out already,” she said to him.
Scorpius’s eyes widened. “Even Albus?”
“No, not Albus actually.” Rose smirked. “He’s a bit too dense to realize the obvious. You’re in luck.”
“I’m not in luck! That means I have to tell him instead of him figuring it out by himself!”
“Well then have fun with that,” said Rose cheerfully, and walked away with Scorpius staring hopelessly after her.
**
Scorpius did his best to study in the dormitory. A few beds over, Albus was flicking his quill against his lips.
Up… down… up… down…
Scorpius did his best to not make it obvious that he was staring. Albus’s lips were plump and pink. Scorpius wanted to snog the living daylights out of him, right now.
Up… down… up… down…
Scorpius shifted slightly on his bed, and pointedly turned his head away so that he wasn’t staring at Albus anymore. But he wanted to stare at him. He just didn’t want Albus to know. And Albus probably didn’t know. So Scorpius moved again, and looked over his Potions text discreetly to stare at Albus’s quill. Again.
Albus was now frowning at whatever he was reading-he looked so concentrated that he probably didn’t even notice Scorpius was there. He hadn’t even looked up when Scorpius came into the dormitory to study (what a surprise, to see Albus there. When did Albus ever study?) Scorpius was very curious as to what he was reading. It wouldn’t hurt to ask, would it?
But just as Scorpius considered that thought Albus stuck his tongue out and licked his upper lip. And then he turned the page. Scorpius was too distracted by that brief exposure of pink to really care about anything else.
And then the quill came back to Albus’s lips.
Up… down… up… down…
Scorpius really couldn’t take it anymore. He really couldn’t. Especially when Albus reached into the top of his shirt and scratched his collarbone, exposing even more skin.
“Can you stop that?” he snapped.
Albus’s head shot up. He looked at Scorpius innocently. “What?”
“That! Your quill-flicking, lip-licking… torture!” Scorpius pointed at Albus accusingly.
“Torture?” Albus’s eyebrows flew up.
“You’re teasing me!” Scorpius all but exploded.
Albus’s lip curled. “Am I?” he said slyly.
“Yes! So can you please stop?” Scorpius growled. He turned back to his Potions text. Bloody… Albus Potter… stupid…
“I’m stupid?” Oh shit, Scorpius had probably said that out loud, hadn’t he?
“No, just…” Scorpius sighed and looked at Albus again. “Annoying.”
Albus’s face fell. “I’m annoying?”
“No!” Scorpius said quickly. Merlin, what was he doing? What was he thinking? “I just… you’re too… attractive…”
Albus stared at him.
“You’re attractive.” Scorpius cleared his throat. “And, ah. It’s distracting. Which makes it annoying. And stupid. So, um. Can you stop it, please?”
“Stop being attractive?”
“Yes.” Merlin, Scorpius was probably bright pink right now.
Albus’s lips quirked.
“It’s okay Scorpius,” he said. And when Scorpius pointedly looked away, Albus said, though blushing this time, “I’ve known how you… well, not felt, really, but how you’ve been staring at me for a while now. Like whenever I showed my skin. So I just thought I’d do it some more, to see if you were bent. I always thought you were.”
Damn Rose and being wrong for once.
“And I…” Albus bit his lip. “I didn’t think you would actually like me.”
Scorpius looked at him incredulously. “Of course I’d like you! I do like you!” And then Scorpius couldn’t believe what he just said.
Albus looked up at him, still biting his lip. He was smiling, though. “Really?”
“Really.” Scorpius grinned, slipped off his bed and walked over to Albus. “What about you?” he asked, a smile playing on his lips.
“I like you too,” said Albus. “A lot. God, I never thought I’d be telling you this,” he muttered, running a hand through his dark hair.
Scorpius grabbed his hand then. And then when Albus looked at him questioningly, Scorpius just leant down so that they were eye-to-eye, and said, “Well I never thought I’d be doing this, either.”
He inched forward and kissed Albus lightly on the lips. When he pulled, he saw that Albus was beaming.
Scorpius beamed back.
Char/Pair: AS/S, Rose chillin' there on the side
Genre: romance/slash, humor
Rating: PG-13
Author's Notes: For albuscorpius100, #2: exposed! Um, subtle prompt is subtle? It's still there though XD
Scorpius had a thing for boys. Yes, it’s exactly the type of "thing" you’re thinking about. But it wasn’t Scorpius’s fault. Sure, being gay was probably something that didn’t run through the Malfoy blood… it probably skipped a few generations or so. But now it was in him, and Scorpius couldn’t be any more satisfied.
He always liked Hogwarts, too. When he had first heard he was going to Hogwarts-which was around seven, when his magic started showing-his father and mother had told him that even though everyone in their families had been in Slytherin for generations now, they didn’t care whether he was a Slytherin, a Gryffindor or even a wussy little Hufflepuff. They just told him to follow his heart, no matter what. Well, not like Scorpius really cared though-and his parents were regardless more proud than usual when they’d heard he’d been placed in Slytherin-that wasn’t the part of Hogwarts that he really cared about.
What he liked were the dormitories. Specifically, the fact that they were separated by gender and Scorpius shared a room with seven other boys, who weren’t bad-looking, quite honestly. Sure, when they were eleven he was only intrigued by boys (and less hormonal, thank you very much), and then when he was thirteen and fourteen it was sort of awkward, because that was when things started changing and there was acne and pimples and the boys were a little less attractive than they could have been. (Thank goodness Malfoys never got pimples.) But after the summer of fifth year, when he reentered the Slytherin dormitories…
… everyone had changed.
For the better, of course. Nate was tall and had high-cheekbones, Lawrence lost most of his baby fat, and Oliver could bench eighty kilograms. Melvin had nice abs and broad shoulders (shoulders!), Patrick’s freckles looked more endearing than gross, and Samuel was just plain hot, especially in those dragon-hide boots of his. And Albus Severus Potter, golden boy of Slytherin (who knew?), was more gorgeous than ever.
**
That’s not where this story starts, though. This story starts on one fine day in October, during one of the Slytherin-Gryffindor joint Potions classes. Scorpius was lighting a fire under his cauldron, and secretly ogling all the boys in his class.
He was lucky to be placed in Slytherin, actually-though it probably wasn’t just luck-but all the Slytherin boys in fifth year were the best-looking ones. Even the Hufflepuff girls unashamedly stared at them, especially at Scorpius, who was well-aware of this fact. Though, he didn’t really care about the Hufflepuff girls. First of all, they were Hufflepuffs. Second of all, they were girls.
But the Gryffindor boys weren’t that bad either. There was Timothy Hall, who played Quidditch aggressively and attractively. There was Wilson Boor, who had messy blond hair and long legs. There was Hugo Weasley, who was adorable in his own special way. And there were other Gryffindor boys that Scorpius didn’t bother learning the names of, but stared at anyways.
He was just getting up from making sure his cauldron had been adjusted right, when the sounds of a conversation caught his ear. He glanced to the side, to see Albus Potter and his cousin, Rose Weasley, talking in not-so-silent hushed undertones.
“James said he’d give me the map once he leaves!” Albus said indignantly. “You can’t stop me from getting it!”
“But you could get in trouble,” Rose insisted, cutting apart a salamander tail. “What if Filch catches you?”
Albus scoffed. “That old man? I’ll use it to make sure he doesn’t! And even if he does, I’ll just wipe it clean! You know how to do that.”
“It seems like a really bad idea, Al,” said Rose.
“You sound like Aunt Hermione,” said Albus, rolling his eyes.
He turned then and lazily dropped in a few unicorn hair strands into his cauldron, causing it to bubble slightly. Then he yawned and lifted up the back of his shirt, exposing skin and scratching himself carelessly.
Scorpius stared.
**
Scorpius had always been enamored by Albus Potter. What, with the way he wasn’t extremely confident but still rather self-assured, and how Albus was nice to everyone, except for those he hated-and he hated them just because they were mean to everyone. Albus was excellent at Quidditch, having made Seeker in second year, and he had plenty of friends from every house. Plus, there was the fact that he wasn’t bad-looking, which Scorpius didn’t mind at all.
To Scorpius, Albus was a thing of beauty. Scorpius had always had a thing for dark hair, and while he was rather fond of his own platinum blond, darkness just seemed so… mysterious. Sexy. Also, it stuck up all the time, but Scorpius liked it because it gave him that post-shag appearance. His brilliant green eyes were always smiling, laughing, the same way Albus always was. He was carefree and kind and attractive. Scorpius was just one of admirers.
But that was okay, because Scorpius was perfectly happy just using Albus as eye candy. Though, things did get better when he talked to Rose Weasley a few days after that day in Potions.
Scorpius and Rose got along fairly well, despite both of their fathers’ protests (they had told each other about both.) Rose wasn’t stupid like most of the Gryffindors, and she had been honored when Scorpius had made her his very own fag hag.
“You know,” said Rose as they walked back from Arinthmancy together. “Albus is bent, too.”
Scorpius nearly cracked his neck when he turned to look at her. “What?”
“Just thought I’d let you know,” said Rose. “He came out to me a few weeks ago. Maybe you can finally get a boyfriend you’ve been wanting ever since you were twelve.”
“Shut up! I do not want a boyfriend!” It was true. Scorpius wasn’t quite sure what it would be like to be in a relationship, and he was sort of frightened. Not like he’d ever admit this out loud.
“Okay then. Someone to snog.” Rose rolled her eyes. Then she brightened up. “Oh look! Here he comes now!”
And indeed, Albus Potter came running down the corridor and to Rose and Scorpius. He smiled when he saw the both of them.
“Rose,” he said. And then, noticing Scorpius, “Scorpius.”
“Hi Al,” Rose said cheerfully.
“Hello Albus,” said Scorpius, forcing himself to stop staring at Albus’s gorgeous green eyes. He looked down. It wasn’t much better. He could see his collarbone beneath his shirt, too.
“What are you guys doing?” asked Albus curiously, cocking his head to the side.
“Going to lunch,” Rose replied. “Want to join us? If you’re not still working on that Transfiguration essay, of course.”
“I’m done that,” Albus so very clearly lied. Scorpius recalled the previous night that Albus had announced he wasn’t even halfway done. And Albus wasn’t very efficient with his homework, anyways. “I’ll walk with you two.”
They headed to the Great Hall together. Scorpius was very aware of the fact that just as they stepped inside, Albus reached into the collar of his shirt and scratched his shoulder, exposing even more of his shoulder.
Scorpius swallowed.
**
So Albus Potter was bent? Scorpius wasn’t sure if Albus actually wanted him to know, so he didn’t say anything. But that put quite a twist on things. A very nice twist.
And Scorpius started noticing things. How he just smiled at the girls who flirted with him, denied all the dates he was asked out on. Complained about his mother bothering him to get a girlfriend, and hung out with Rose all the time. It was so obvious, he realized. Albus really was bent. Why did he not see it before? And why couldn’t anyone else tell?
He wasn’t going to mention it of course, but when he lay in bed one late morning while all the other boys were gone down to breakfast, he was thinking… Maybe he could ask him out. On one date. Or something. Just one date. They were both gay, right? And they knew each other pretty well. So why not? Though Scorpius wasn’t sure if he had enough courage to actually do such a thing, ask Albus Potter out. But he could consider it.
He was about to climb out of bed and head to the toilet when he realized that the emerald drapes around a single bed were still up. They were Albus’s. And unless Scorpius was very much mistaken, he couldn’t hear anything that was going inside of his bed. Which meant that Albus had put a Silencing Charm on himself. Which mean that Albus was doing something that he didn’t want to be heard. Which meant that he was wanking.
Scorpius grinned at the thought, and then walked into the bathroom. So, Albus was wanking right now, was he? Right here, where Scorpius happened to be not twenty feet away. As Scorpius walked into the bathroom, he could feel himself get harder at the very thought, and quickly stripped himself and went into the shower.
When he was done, he dried himself off, threw on some robes he had brought with him, and then walked out-just as the drapes around Albus’s bed flew open.
Albus’s eyes were wide when he saw him. Scorpius shot a glance to his crotch. Damn, he had put his trousers back on.
“Scorpius?” Albus squeaked. “You’re still here?”
“Yeah. I… wanted to take a shower after breakfast,” Scorpius lied.
“Oh,” said Albus, and then awkwardly moved toward his trunk. “Well, er… I’m going to change my clothes now. So.”
“What were you doing just then?” Scorpius couldn’t help asking. Even though he knew exactly what.
Albus blushed a deep red and busied himself with looking through his trunk. “Um. You know. That thing. That no one talks about. But does.” He blushed even harder.
Scorpius stared at him. Albus looked quite nice like this. And as Albus bent down even more, his shirt rode up, exposing a bit of bare stomach. Scorpius grinned.
“Oh, that,” he said. “Yes, well, I’m sure as an adolescent boy, of course you’ll have to do it. I did it just now, in fact.”
And then he left, smirking, leaving a bemused Albus Potter still on his bed.
**
“Hey, Malfoy! Malfoy!”
Scorpius spun around, to see Albus running after him. A bit stunned, he stood there, waiting for him.
“You… walk… really… fast,” panted Albus once he caught up with Scorpius.
“It’s a habit,” said Scorpius. “Don’t want to stay in one place for too long.” There weren’t many cute boys around the Charms corridor, anyways.
“Right,” said Albus. Then, regaining his breath, he smiled and said, “I had a question to ask you.”
“Really,” said Scorpius, although he was quite intrigued. Had Rose told Albus that Scorpius was bent? Was it just all a ploy to get the two of them together? … Not like Scorpius really minded (but seriously. Relationships.)
“Yeah. About the Potions homework,” said Albus.
Scorpius deflated, if only a little. “Yes? What’s your question?”
“Um.” Albus shifted from foot to foot. “Do you think that you can help me? With tonight’s essay? I mean, I’m okay with Potions and all, but I didn’t really understand the whole thing about theories and laws and I know you’re usually good at that, and I’d ask Rose but she says that she’s swamped with Ancient Runes homework, and I don’t know if you’re in Ancient Runes so I was just wondering…”
Scorpius watched him for a moment. Albus’s eyes were green, wild.
Scorpius smiled.
“Sure,” he said.
Albus’s face broke out into a grin. “Great!” he said. “Then… dormitory or common room?”
“Common room,” said Scorpius firmly. He was afraid that if he was in the boys’ dormitory alone with Albus again, it’d be much more difficult to not jump him right there.
“Awesome,” said Albus. They walked down the hall together. Then, Albus suddenly bent down and said, “Wait.”
Scorpius had no idea why Albus was still walking with him, but waiting for him wouldn’t hurt too much. So he waited.
Albus bent down and unknotted then retied his shoelaces. Scorpius noticed that his trousers lifted up slightly. He stared at Albus’s ankles. They were nice ankles.
Albus glanced up at him. “Sor-what are you looking at?”
“What?” Scorpius tore his gaze away from the top of Albus’s foot and looked him in the eye. “Nothing,” he said hastily.
Albus continued to look at him curiously, though, so Scorpius just said, “Rose is really slow with the Ancient Runes homework, isn’t she?”
**
That night in the common room, Scorpius found him sitting side-by-side with Albus. What’s more, he also had a strange attraction to his ankles. Which were nice. But strange. Who knew that people could actually have nice ankles?
Albus was also acting a bit weird around him. First of all, he looked a bit cautious to sit next to Scorpius. Not uncomfortable, but… cautious. Second, he kept scratching at his collar. It took all of Scorpius not to stare at him the entire time they were there.
“So…” said Albus. “There actually isn’t a potion that can cure all poisons? It’s just the reverse of everything?”
“Well there’s a bezoar, which we learned about in first year,” said Scorpius patiently. “But they can only cure most, not all.”
“Oh yeah. I remember Dad mentioning something about bezoars and Uncle Ron,” mused Albus, scratching at his neck again.
Scorpius couldn’t take it. “Do you have an itch there or something?” he exclaimed, pointing at Albus’s neck.
Albus looked at him. In the dim firelight, it looked like he’d blushed. “Oh-er, yes,” he said, moving his collar even lower and exposing a gratuitous amount of skin. Scorpius was sure he had never stared this hard in his life. “Does it look bad?”
“It just looks… red. From. When you were scratching it so much.” Had it gotten hotter in here?
“Oh yeah. It feels kind of warm. Think you can make it better?” asked Albus.
Scorpius swallowed, and nodded mindlessly. Whispering an incantation under his breath, he waved his wand and some lotion appeared on his fingers. He brought his hand up and rubbed the patch of skin that Albus had been scratching. It felt warm, soft.
His hand lingered for a few seconds when he had finished. Albus didn’t say anything. Scorpius quickly brought his hand back.
“Um,” he said, glancing down to his parchment. “We should return to this essay.”
**
A few days later, Scorpius was eating breakfast at the Slytherin table when he suddenly heard someone say, “Scorpius, can you please pass the sugar?”
He looked up from his bacon. Albus was sitting right across from him, smiling. His sleeves were rolled up.
Albus wasn’t very muscular, but he did have rather nice arms.
“Sure,” said Scorpius, hastening to look away. He focused on the sugar bowl instead, and handed it to Albus.
“Thanks,” said Albus, reaching over. His shirt slid up a little, exposing some of his flat stomach again.
Merlin, Scorpius was getting hard during breakfast. He quickly excused himself to go to the restroom.
**
Scorpius decided he really, really hated Potions classes.
Sure, there were the cute boys. Sure, he was a natural. Sure, Slughorn didn’t really pay attention to them as long as they could concoct perfect potions.
But there was also-
“Ow!” exclaimed Albus, gaining the attention of the entire class. “Fuck! Bloody buggering fuck!”
“Albus, language,” Rose said warningly from beside him.
“Do you think I care?” said Albus indignantly, gesturing to himself. A load of the potion had splashed out and onto him-the potion, which was mostly harmless, but fire-hot and singed parts of his robes, showing and exposing a lot of skin.
Scorpius quickly glanced away as Professor Slughorn jerked away and nearly toppled out of his seat, shouting, “Don’t touch my pineapple!”
**
Scorpius furrowed his eyebrows and bit at his (Sugar) Quill, staring at his Herbology text. Herbology had never been one of his best (or favorite) subjects, though that might be because he regarded it as a useless subject anyways.
He scratched his ankle below his trousers. The grass was infuriating. Bloody plants.
Scorpius suddenly felt something hit his head. Scowling, he looked up to see a Fanged Frisbee fly back into its owner’s hand.
“Hey Malfoy! Nice catch!” shouted some seventh year Gryffindor. Scorpius couldn’t tell who he was. He probably wasn’t very attractive.
Just then, someone ran over to the Gryffindor to tell him off. Scorpius couldn’t tell who that was, but he sure hoped it was someone cute.
The Gryffindor ran off. The boy turned to look at Scorpius. It was Albus Potter.
He was pink, but he approached Scorpius with an air of some confidence. Scorpius thought it was all very attractive. He smirked at Albus.
“My knight in shining armor,” he drawled.
Albus blushed again. “It was my brother,” he said. “Sorry. He just likes picking on you, but it’s nothing personal. He likes picking on me too.”
“Don’t worry.” Scorpius smiled. “I’ve been thinking of ways to get him back.”
“You have? Count me in on the plan!”
Scorpius really hadn’t (he rarely wasted a thought on James Potter. Red hair was not attractive), but he’d do whatever he could to spend more time with Albus.
“What are you working on?” Albus asked curiously, peering at Scorpius’s books.
Scorpius shrugged, and blushed when Albus picked up his current, half-arsed essay. “Homework,” he replied.
“I think you meant to say that Neopola roots are common, not rare,” said Albus, bending down to pick up Scorpius’s extra quill to correct his paper.
Scorpius blushed when he saw Albus’s covered backside, and then Albus’s robes rode up so that he could see a bit of his back. He quickly looked away.
If he hadn’t, he would have seen Albus grinning mischievously.
**
Over the next week, Scorpius flirted with Albus-really, he did. Even if it didn’t seem like it. Scorpius talked to him, walked with him, stared at his arse every moment he could… it counted at flirting. At least, in his book.
And he still had that thought of asking Albus out, though he wasn’t considering doing it any time soon. Maybe when he found that Gryffindor courage of his, deep, deep down inside. Maybe. If it even existed.
Scorpius would love to go out with Albus, actually. But relationships were still pretty scary because Scorpius was afraid that whoever he was with wouldn’t like him as much as Scorpius liked him, and not because Scorpius was afraid that he might cheat on him. And he would definitely not cheat on Albus-no boy could measure up to him. Even as much as Scorpius ogled at other boys, Albus was ten times more attractive than all the others. It was still the whole combination of being a good person plus being really attractive. Plus not being a Hufflepuff and/or a ginger. Scorpius still never liked Hufflepuffs, or gingers.
“You like me,” Rose told him once Scorpius spilled all his secret feelings of Albus out to her. (Scorpius was never good at keeping his secrets away from his fag hag.)
Scorpius gave her a look. “You know what I mean,” he said. “And your hair’s not all orange and frizzy and stuff. It’s actually red.”
“That’s the hair color most gingers have.”
“No, most gingers have like orange, orange hair.” Scorpius let out an exasperated sigh. “And that’s not the point! The point is that I’m bent, apparently he’s bent, and I want to ask him out except I can’t because I’m afraid!”
Rose rolled her eyes. “You just need to man up and ask him out. It’s not that hard.”
“Yes it is!” said Scorpius.
“It’s not,” said Rose. “And besides, Albus will probably say yes. He doesn’t have the heart to say no.”
“He said no to all those girls!”
“Because he doesn’t like girls,” Rose said, very, very patiently. “He likes blokes. He likes males. He likes boys. He likes dicks, cocks, penises, not vaginas-”
“Okay, okay, I get it!” said Scorpius, pink blotches appearing on his face as he quickly rushed to shut Rose up. “And don’t say that so loudly, okay?” he added to her in a whisper.
Rose rolled her eyes again and shoved him off. “Oh please. Everyone’s already figured out already,” she said to him.
Scorpius’s eyes widened. “Even Albus?”
“No, not Albus actually.” Rose smirked. “He’s a bit too dense to realize the obvious. You’re in luck.”
“I’m not in luck! That means I have to tell him instead of him figuring it out by himself!”
“Well then have fun with that,” said Rose cheerfully, and walked away with Scorpius staring hopelessly after her.
**
Scorpius did his best to study in the dormitory. A few beds over, Albus was flicking his quill against his lips.
Up… down… up… down…
Scorpius did his best to not make it obvious that he was staring. Albus’s lips were plump and pink. Scorpius wanted to snog the living daylights out of him, right now.
Up… down… up… down…
Scorpius shifted slightly on his bed, and pointedly turned his head away so that he wasn’t staring at Albus anymore. But he wanted to stare at him. He just didn’t want Albus to know. And Albus probably didn’t know. So Scorpius moved again, and looked over his Potions text discreetly to stare at Albus’s quill. Again.
Albus was now frowning at whatever he was reading-he looked so concentrated that he probably didn’t even notice Scorpius was there. He hadn’t even looked up when Scorpius came into the dormitory to study (what a surprise, to see Albus there. When did Albus ever study?) Scorpius was very curious as to what he was reading. It wouldn’t hurt to ask, would it?
But just as Scorpius considered that thought Albus stuck his tongue out and licked his upper lip. And then he turned the page. Scorpius was too distracted by that brief exposure of pink to really care about anything else.
And then the quill came back to Albus’s lips.
Up… down… up… down…
Scorpius really couldn’t take it anymore. He really couldn’t. Especially when Albus reached into the top of his shirt and scratched his collarbone, exposing even more skin.
“Can you stop that?” he snapped.
Albus’s head shot up. He looked at Scorpius innocently. “What?”
“That! Your quill-flicking, lip-licking… torture!” Scorpius pointed at Albus accusingly.
“Torture?” Albus’s eyebrows flew up.
“You’re teasing me!” Scorpius all but exploded.
Albus’s lip curled. “Am I?” he said slyly.
“Yes! So can you please stop?” Scorpius growled. He turned back to his Potions text. Bloody… Albus Potter… stupid…
“I’m stupid?” Oh shit, Scorpius had probably said that out loud, hadn’t he?
“No, just…” Scorpius sighed and looked at Albus again. “Annoying.”
Albus’s face fell. “I’m annoying?”
“No!” Scorpius said quickly. Merlin, what was he doing? What was he thinking? “I just… you’re too… attractive…”
Albus stared at him.
“You’re attractive.” Scorpius cleared his throat. “And, ah. It’s distracting. Which makes it annoying. And stupid. So, um. Can you stop it, please?”
“Stop being attractive?”
“Yes.” Merlin, Scorpius was probably bright pink right now.
Albus’s lips quirked.
“It’s okay Scorpius,” he said. And when Scorpius pointedly looked away, Albus said, though blushing this time, “I’ve known how you… well, not felt, really, but how you’ve been staring at me for a while now. Like whenever I showed my skin. So I just thought I’d do it some more, to see if you were bent. I always thought you were.”
Damn Rose and being wrong for once.
“And I…” Albus bit his lip. “I didn’t think you would actually like me.”
Scorpius looked at him incredulously. “Of course I’d like you! I do like you!” And then Scorpius couldn’t believe what he just said.
Albus looked up at him, still biting his lip. He was smiling, though. “Really?”
“Really.” Scorpius grinned, slipped off his bed and walked over to Albus. “What about you?” he asked, a smile playing on his lips.
“I like you too,” said Albus. “A lot. God, I never thought I’d be telling you this,” he muttered, running a hand through his dark hair.
Scorpius grabbed his hand then. And then when Albus looked at him questioningly, Scorpius just leant down so that they were eye-to-eye, and said, “Well I never thought I’d be doing this, either.”
He inched forward and kissed Albus lightly on the lips. When he pulled, he saw that Albus was beaming.
Scorpius beamed back.