Fic: 'Glitches and Snitches' AS/S PG13
Title: Glitches and Snitches
Author: softly_sweetly
Beta: alexis_sd
Characters/Pairing: Albus Severus/Scorpius, cameos from any and all
Length: ~1,300
Rating: PG13 for now
Disclaimer: The characters contained herein are the property of J.K. Rowling. I make no money from this piece of fanfiction.
Warnings: A little swearing
Summary: Al has a glittering Quidditch career - and halfway decent grades, hopefully - heading his way. If only Scorpius would stop crossing his path...
Author Notes: Counts to prompt #69 Again from my 100quills Next Generation Table
Written for Week One of the ass_carnival, using all the prompts.
Al loved the fair. He'd loved it as a child, when he could ride around on his Dad's shoulders and get free candyfloss because of his sweet smile. He'd loved the games he could play there, the hook-a-duck to get sweeties and soft toys, and the water-gun targets, where he'd once won a fish he'd called Marty. Marty had lived just as long as Al had enjoyed the fair as a child, finally dying after three years when Al turned thirteen.
It was when he'd turned thirteen, and gone back to the summer fair to win a new fish, that Al had realised he no longer liked the fair because of the games and the rides - and he hadn't been able to sit on his Dad's shoulders without breaking his back for years now. Al liked the fair because of the people. Big, busty women blowing kisses at men to entice them into buying more tickets for the rides. Al's eyes had popped, his trousers straining almost as much as the hard-working buttons on the women's tiny denim shirts. And the men were just as bad. Once you weeded out the hairy, louts with beer bellies and mullets, there were gorgeous young boys with tight jeans and fatal aversions to shirts.
The summer before last, Al had blown his entire summer's allowance on riding the Tunnel of Love over and over again, purely to get a chance to ogle the gorgeous man collecting the tickets and leaning over to strap you in.
His joy at the fair hadn't abated now that he was eighteen and fresh out of Hogwarts; if anything, it had increased. The fair made him feel like a child, and had taken his mind off his impending NEWT results for a full two days. His parents no longer came with him - not that he'd want them to, they were getting embarrassing in their middle age - but Lily had been bribed into attending, and James was always up for a laugh.
"These cheap-thrill seekers, crowding the place up. It's a fucking spectacle of poverty."
Al would recognise that voice anywhere, and as he left James to pay for the tickets he stepped around to the side of the vendor's booth. Sure enough, there was Michael Zabini and his motley crew. Al saw the flash of blond and tried to ignore the tug in his gut; school-boy crushes were totally inappropriate once you'd left school. Al doubted Zabini would know a Muggle note if it furled up and slid into his prick, so he couldn't understand how they had paid to get in.
A strip of parchment with the shimmer of a Disillusionment charm on it answered his question. Pricks.
"Al, you badgered us into coming, so get with it, yeah?"
"Yeah..." Shaking his head a little, Al refocused. "Yeah, I'm with it. Come on, Lils, we're riding the rollercoaster first."
"Like fuck we are," Lily retorted cheerfully, grabbing Al's arm and dragging him in a direction that looked suspiciously pink and fluffy. "You promised you'd win me something."
Nodding absently, Al glanced over his shoulder as the group of Slytherins walked the other way. The fair was huge - he'd probably never see them again.
~~~~~♥~~~~~
The fit boy was no longer working the Tunnel of Love, but Al rode it twice just to be sure. Finally accepting that all of the men this year were the beer-bellied, mullet-wearing louts - and the women no longer interested him - Al got out of his cart and nipped around the back of the trailer. The queues for the portaloos were always ridiculous, and the blazing heat of the shock Indian summer had already wrecked the grass.
Zipping back up, Al fully intended to go in search of James and Lily. Fully. Except he'd just seen a shock of blond hair walking by, and his curiosity had always been a problem. Speeding up and weaving through the crowds, Al paused by the side of the pictures stall and watched. Scorpius was on his own and Al couldn't resist going over. "Would have bet money this was the last place I'd see you."
Scorpius looked up - dignified even while eating some form of meat product on a stick - and shrugged. "The carnival came by my town, and I thought I should give it a whirl."
"You know this is a Muggle thing, right?"
"You know you have candyfloss in your hair, right?"
Heat flooding his cheeks, Al reached up and cursed as his fingers encountered the glob of sticky fluff in his hair. "Lily was flicking the stuff at me."
"You've brought your baby sister to the carnival. How sweet."
The sarcasm in Scorpius' tone was clear, and Al bristled. "And your scumbag friends have deserted you, I see. Couldn't wait to be free, I'm sure."
Infuriated when Scorpius didn't rise to the bait, Al forced himself to stay still as Scorpius turned and stalked off.
"Tell me you're not stalking Malfoy again?"
"We were just talk-... what do you mean, again?"
James sighed, pushing a stick of candyfloss into Al's hand and heading off in the direction of the hook-a-duck. Al had no choice but to follow, taking two quick steps to every one of James' long strides.
"Al, was following him around school not enough?"
"I didn't... oh, sod off. I'm going home."
~~~~~♥~~~~~
After finally brushing all the candyfloss out of his teeth, Al pulled on his pyjamas and slipped out of the bathroom. Bloody James had put a dampener on the whole evening, and Al's yearly fair experience was distinctly soured. He knew he wouldn't sleep, but with no schoolwork to do and no desire to read, his options were severely limited. Deciding on a glass of milk and a raid on his Dad's "special" desk drawer, Al almost tripped over James on the way down the stairs.
"Can't sleep?"
Shaking his head Al pressed back against the wall, leaving enough room for James to walk by comfortably. It was one of those things that he'd sworn never to tell anyone about, but if even his dense brother had noticed, Al felt that he had no choice. "James... why do we end up with crushes on people that are just wrong for us? Like you with Auntie Daphne, or you with Melissa Sands, or you with Amy Johnson, or you with..."
Al shut up when James dead-armed him, feeling that his list of James' past crushes had earned him back a few of the sibling points he'd lost in the fair.
"That's the way we are wired."
"That's your answer?" Al asked incredulously, expecting slightly more wisdom from his big brother. Or at least some practical advice on shaking an unwanted crush.
James shrugged. "Yeah; that's the way we are wired. It's the way we're wired. It sucks but it's just a fact of nature. It's also tragic."
"Yeah, but, how do I fix it?"
James shrugged again, climbing a few steps. Turning around slowly, he pulled a face and winced, like he was recalling a particularly painful memory. "Try kissing them. You'll get grounded, or slapped, or both. That tends to clear things up pretty well."
Al scoffed and turned away from James, continuing down the stairs slowly. James was rubbish at advice. And tonight was just an anomaly; Al would likely never see Scorpius again, and it was hard to have a crush on someone you never saw. Besides, once he got his grades and had his offer from the Barnsley Bumble Bees confirmed, Al would have his pick of the Quidditch groupies, and Scorpius would be a spot on the arse end of Al's life story.
Chapter Two
Author: softly_sweetly
Beta: alexis_sd
Characters/Pairing: Albus Severus/Scorpius, cameos from any and all
Length: ~1,300
Rating: PG13 for now
Disclaimer: The characters contained herein are the property of J.K. Rowling. I make no money from this piece of fanfiction.
Warnings: A little swearing
Summary: Al has a glittering Quidditch career - and halfway decent grades, hopefully - heading his way. If only Scorpius would stop crossing his path...
Author Notes: Counts to prompt #69 Again from my 100quills Next Generation Table
Written for Week One of the ass_carnival, using all the prompts.
Al loved the fair. He'd loved it as a child, when he could ride around on his Dad's shoulders and get free candyfloss because of his sweet smile. He'd loved the games he could play there, the hook-a-duck to get sweeties and soft toys, and the water-gun targets, where he'd once won a fish he'd called Marty. Marty had lived just as long as Al had enjoyed the fair as a child, finally dying after three years when Al turned thirteen.
It was when he'd turned thirteen, and gone back to the summer fair to win a new fish, that Al had realised he no longer liked the fair because of the games and the rides - and he hadn't been able to sit on his Dad's shoulders without breaking his back for years now. Al liked the fair because of the people. Big, busty women blowing kisses at men to entice them into buying more tickets for the rides. Al's eyes had popped, his trousers straining almost as much as the hard-working buttons on the women's tiny denim shirts. And the men were just as bad. Once you weeded out the hairy, louts with beer bellies and mullets, there were gorgeous young boys with tight jeans and fatal aversions to shirts.
The summer before last, Al had blown his entire summer's allowance on riding the Tunnel of Love over and over again, purely to get a chance to ogle the gorgeous man collecting the tickets and leaning over to strap you in.
His joy at the fair hadn't abated now that he was eighteen and fresh out of Hogwarts; if anything, it had increased. The fair made him feel like a child, and had taken his mind off his impending NEWT results for a full two days. His parents no longer came with him - not that he'd want them to, they were getting embarrassing in their middle age - but Lily had been bribed into attending, and James was always up for a laugh.
"These cheap-thrill seekers, crowding the place up. It's a fucking spectacle of poverty."
Al would recognise that voice anywhere, and as he left James to pay for the tickets he stepped around to the side of the vendor's booth. Sure enough, there was Michael Zabini and his motley crew. Al saw the flash of blond and tried to ignore the tug in his gut; school-boy crushes were totally inappropriate once you'd left school. Al doubted Zabini would know a Muggle note if it furled up and slid into his prick, so he couldn't understand how they had paid to get in.
A strip of parchment with the shimmer of a Disillusionment charm on it answered his question. Pricks.
"Al, you badgered us into coming, so get with it, yeah?"
"Yeah..." Shaking his head a little, Al refocused. "Yeah, I'm with it. Come on, Lils, we're riding the rollercoaster first."
"Like fuck we are," Lily retorted cheerfully, grabbing Al's arm and dragging him in a direction that looked suspiciously pink and fluffy. "You promised you'd win me something."
Nodding absently, Al glanced over his shoulder as the group of Slytherins walked the other way. The fair was huge - he'd probably never see them again.
~~~~~♥~~~~~
The fit boy was no longer working the Tunnel of Love, but Al rode it twice just to be sure. Finally accepting that all of the men this year were the beer-bellied, mullet-wearing louts - and the women no longer interested him - Al got out of his cart and nipped around the back of the trailer. The queues for the portaloos were always ridiculous, and the blazing heat of the shock Indian summer had already wrecked the grass.
Zipping back up, Al fully intended to go in search of James and Lily. Fully. Except he'd just seen a shock of blond hair walking by, and his curiosity had always been a problem. Speeding up and weaving through the crowds, Al paused by the side of the pictures stall and watched. Scorpius was on his own and Al couldn't resist going over. "Would have bet money this was the last place I'd see you."
Scorpius looked up - dignified even while eating some form of meat product on a stick - and shrugged. "The carnival came by my town, and I thought I should give it a whirl."
"You know this is a Muggle thing, right?"
"You know you have candyfloss in your hair, right?"
Heat flooding his cheeks, Al reached up and cursed as his fingers encountered the glob of sticky fluff in his hair. "Lily was flicking the stuff at me."
"You've brought your baby sister to the carnival. How sweet."
The sarcasm in Scorpius' tone was clear, and Al bristled. "And your scumbag friends have deserted you, I see. Couldn't wait to be free, I'm sure."
Infuriated when Scorpius didn't rise to the bait, Al forced himself to stay still as Scorpius turned and stalked off.
"Tell me you're not stalking Malfoy again?"
"We were just talk-... what do you mean, again?"
James sighed, pushing a stick of candyfloss into Al's hand and heading off in the direction of the hook-a-duck. Al had no choice but to follow, taking two quick steps to every one of James' long strides.
"Al, was following him around school not enough?"
"I didn't... oh, sod off. I'm going home."
~~~~~♥~~~~~
After finally brushing all the candyfloss out of his teeth, Al pulled on his pyjamas and slipped out of the bathroom. Bloody James had put a dampener on the whole evening, and Al's yearly fair experience was distinctly soured. He knew he wouldn't sleep, but with no schoolwork to do and no desire to read, his options were severely limited. Deciding on a glass of milk and a raid on his Dad's "special" desk drawer, Al almost tripped over James on the way down the stairs.
"Can't sleep?"
Shaking his head Al pressed back against the wall, leaving enough room for James to walk by comfortably. It was one of those things that he'd sworn never to tell anyone about, but if even his dense brother had noticed, Al felt that he had no choice. "James... why do we end up with crushes on people that are just wrong for us? Like you with Auntie Daphne, or you with Melissa Sands, or you with Amy Johnson, or you with..."
Al shut up when James dead-armed him, feeling that his list of James' past crushes had earned him back a few of the sibling points he'd lost in the fair.
"That's the way we are wired."
"That's your answer?" Al asked incredulously, expecting slightly more wisdom from his big brother. Or at least some practical advice on shaking an unwanted crush.
James shrugged. "Yeah; that's the way we are wired. It's the way we're wired. It sucks but it's just a fact of nature. It's also tragic."
"Yeah, but, how do I fix it?"
James shrugged again, climbing a few steps. Turning around slowly, he pulled a face and winced, like he was recalling a particularly painful memory. "Try kissing them. You'll get grounded, or slapped, or both. That tends to clear things up pretty well."
Al scoffed and turned away from James, continuing down the stairs slowly. James was rubbish at advice. And tonight was just an anomaly; Al would likely never see Scorpius again, and it was hard to have a crush on someone you never saw. Besides, once he got his grades and had his offer from the Barnsley Bumble Bees confirmed, Al would have his pick of the Quidditch groupies, and Scorpius would be a spot on the arse end of Al's life story.
Chapter Two