Winter Shorts 2008 Round Two: Fic - No One's Business But My Own - PG
Mod Note: This is the second post of three today. Don't forget to comment!
Title: No One's Business But My Own
Name: sugaredarsenic
Prompt: #077 - "If I love you, what business is that of yours?"
Prompt Given by: Anonymous
Word Count: 1241
Rating: PG
Betas: She does not have an LJ
Author's/Artist’s Notes:
Summary: Scorpius does not appreciate Albus' family thinking that his feelings are any of their business.
Scorpius looked into his cauldron, and nodded approvingly to himself. The blue was just the right shade. Now he only needed to slowly add in the ground beetles correctly…
"Score!" The door burst open. Scorpius' hand jerked, adding in the beetles much too fast. Scorpius stared in dismay at the now putrid green concoction in front of him, before turning to glare at the perpetrator.
Albus' did not even seem to notice. "C'mon, Score, you've got to see this! James and Fred just…" Finally noticing the look his friend was giving him, he trailed off. "Um, bad time?"
"Besides the fact that my extra-credit potion was just ruined due to the untimely outburst from you? Not at all."
Al winced. "Well, you're the only person who does extra credit for potions. Old Slughorn already adores you, and you never get anything less than an O for every assignment. You don't actually need to do these!"
Taking off his glasses and pinching the bridge of his nose, Scorpius sighed. "There's a difference between thinking of extra credit assignments as chores and as interesting material, you realise."
"I know, I was just trying to make you feel better," Al muttered, hanging his head. Peeking from under his fringe and seeing Scorpius' look of disbelief, he admitted sheepishly, "That and trying to make you less angry at me."
Scorpius felt an unwilling smile tug at his face, and quickly wiped it off. Hardly quickly enough, he realised, when Al gave him a blinding, impish grin to tell him that he knew Scorpius' anger had passed, and tugged him towards the door.
"I'll help you brew it again. But you've got to see what James and Fred did to Hadley. The neon purple and pink stripes are genius."
Scorpius contemplated between telling Al off for siding with his brother and cousin against a fellow housemate, and for his comment on helping him with the extra credit assignment. He settled for the latter. Housemate or not, Hadley was an arse.
"I really wouldn't let you anywhere near my extra credit potions assignment, considering your skills in the subject."
Al gave him another of his grins. "I know. That's why I didn't mind offering."
Ignoring the acrobatics his stomach did at the grin, Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Typical Slytherin."
"And you know it. Let's go!"
--
Al had been right, Scorpius reflected. The pink and purple striped words flashing all manners of insults on Hadley's face had been pretty funny. Al had gone off to find his trouble-making relatives, to beg the particular spell off them.
Though, Scorpius absent-mindedly thought, 'begging' in Al's case probably meant blackmail.
"Hi."
Scorpius jumped slightly; he had not noticed anyone walking beside him. Judging from the look of amusement on Lily Potter's face, she had known that as well. "Sorry. I was wrapped up in my own thoughts."
Lily's grin looked exactly like Al when he managed to catch Scorpius not paying attention. "I realised, when you didn't say anything to me for five minutes."
Cursing his skin for its light tone and inability to hide blushes, Scorpius looked away from the girl beside him. "Sorry."
Lily laughed at his comment. "You're really cute when you do that. I'd be tempted to ask you out on a date, if you weren't so hung up about Al."
"Sorry," Scorpius replied automatically, "But I've told you before I think you're better off with someone - What?" He yelped, as his brain managed to catch up with the latter part of her sentence.
"You like Al, which is why you keep on refusing to date me or anyone else," Lily said in a matter-of-fact tone, before she grinned again. "I'm right, aren't I?"
Scorpius glared. "It's none of your business."
"Of course not. But I think you should tell my brother. He's as thick as a brick on matters like these, and you're pretty good at hiding it. I didn't figure it out until just now."
Scorpius ignored her disgruntled tone. "It's none of your business," he told her more forcefully, before quickening his step, not quite caring that he was being rude.
The fact that he'd liked Al for well over two years was really no one's business but his own.
--
Scorpius jumped slightly when, two weeks after the incident with Lily, James Potter sat down on the chair across from him in the library. Scorpius frowned; James Potter had never actually paid attention to any Slytherins besides his brother unless he had some prank up his sleeve and, as Scorpius had found out in third year, being his brother's friend was no guarantee of a prank-free life.
Even if the pranks had shrunk to house-encompassing on only after Al had 'talked' to his brother after that incident. Scorpius never found out what had transpired between the brothers, but he had been quite grateful when his notes had reappeared on the blank sheets of parchment the next day.
"May I help you?" He inquired politely anyway.
What James said was completely unexpected, however.
"So, Lily tells me you have a thing for Al."
Scorpius was too shocked to reply, but his expression must have told Albus' brother all he needed to know. "Oh Merlin, she was right. Look, I swear, if you hurt Al, I'll personally make sure the rest of your life in Hogwarts is hell. After I finish beating you to a pulp, of course."
Scorpius snapped out of his reverie. "Don't jump ahead of yourself, Potter. I'm not going to do anything to Al. Not that this is any of your business, as I told your sister before."
"None of my business? I'm his brother."
"It's no one's business but mine," Scorpius told him in his frostiest tone, as he gathered up his notes. "Excuse me."
--
That night, Al flopped onto Scorpius' bed, and offered him some food. Scorpius nodded his thanks and accepted it. He had decided to forgo dinner, in case James Potter took it into his head to continue the conversation in the library in front of Al.
As it turned out, it was worse.
"Um, James tells me that you have a crush on me."
Scorpius' hand froze mid-way to his mouth. Counting to ten, he carefully put his food down again, before replying. "Did he now? What a weird thing to say."
Al looked at him, with a rare, serious expression on his face. "Huh. He wasn't lying."
"Wha-"
"You don't ever say something like 'weird thing' unless you're flustered. You'd say something like 'I can't believe how much of an imbecile your brother is' or something like that."
Scorpius refused to meet Al's eyes. "It's none of your business."
"None of my - you're in love with me, and it's none of my business?"
Scorpius winced. It did sound silly when Al phrased it that way but… "It's none of your business, or your brother's or sister's. I dealing with it on my own, you wanker, and it won't get in the way of our friendship or something like th- mph!"
Scorpius' brain skittered to a halt, feeling Al's mouth against his.
After some time, Al pulled away. "You should be grateful James told me that, or I'd think your unresponsiveness was a disinterest, not shock."
Al, Scorpius decided, was talking far too much. He pulled the dark-haired boy against him, and proceeded to make up for the initial lack of reciprocation.
Disclaimer: This piece of fiction is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros. Inc. No money is being made, no copyright or trademark infringement, or offence is intended. All characters depicted in sexual situations are above the age of consent.