Mine

Albus Potter was, to put it simply, perfect. In more words, Albus Potter was charming, clever, brave, ambitious, brilliant...again, in short, perfect.

And he was hot. Albus Potter was unassumingly hot, casually hot, if you will; endearingly, adorably, clumsily and unbelievably hot.

And how couldn't he be?

That jet black hair; those forest green eyes; that pale, porcelain skin; that toned, fit body; that tight, firm arse.

And then that filthy rat attached to his hip.

Ah, yes, Aurelia Greengrass, the hitch in all my plans.

The human wart.

Otherwise known as the girlfriend. Much to my chagrin, as Albus Potter was mine. My best friend, my roommate, my Quidditch teammate and my future husband.

Mine, mine, mine, mine, mine.

It's not like I didn't want him to date other people. Until he came to his senses that we were meant to be, I had no problem with it at all.

Date away, Albus, date away! But I'd prefer if they were blond and patrician if you don't mind...rather than a dark haired and skanky, thank you very much.

Really, they could be more like myself.

Actually, if you really wanted to date me, I wouldn't mind at all.

But I was one up on her. I was the best friend. He was obligated to spend more time with me.

A catty female voice laced with disappointment cut through my thoughts. "Scorpius," Aurelia Greengrass whined, clinging to the object of my affections, Albus Potter, who looked oddly relieved. "How...lovely to see you. And here we thought we'd be alone. Just lovely."

Resisting the almost overwhelming urge to hex her, I smiled...okay, smirked at her as they walked across the common room, sinking into the loveseat across from me. Albus smiled brightly at me, green eyes twinkling, and my heart raced as I smiled casually.

Such a beautiful smile.

I turned my focus on the wart, my demeanor turning condescending. "Hello, Aurelia, dear, how are you this fine evening?" I asked, my voice light.

She narrowed her eyes and tightened her grip around Albus' hand. "Fine, thank you, Scorpius," she replied, regarding me cautiously.

On the surface one may think I like my cousin. However, whoever believed this - besides Albus, of course, because I needed him to believe I liked his nitwit girlfriend - was a half-wit and obviously blind because Aurelia Greengrass is a selfish minx and a silly bint to boot.

And unfortunately the girlfriend of my best mate which meant, to stay in his good books, I had to be nice.

Oh, she knew I didn't like her. In fact, most of the time, she played on the fact, flaunting her conquest -

Wait, what is he - oh, Merlin save me. I think I'm going to be sick.

He put his arm around her shoulders.

ABLUS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING??

GET YOUR HANDS OFF HER RIGHT NOW!

Rather than voicing that thought at the risk of sounding desperate, I slid up to them and inserted myself in between them on the sofa, becoming the ultimate third wheel. Albus smiled brightly at me and Aurelia narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Okay, so the girl was a bit brighter than I gave her credit for.

His arm was gone from around her shoulders, though.

Mission accomplished.

I slipped on the trademark Malfoy smirk and looked down at her in a way only Malfoy's knew how. "Am I interrupting anything?" I drawled, my voice silky smooth.

Aurelia huffed angrily, her annoying voice high pitched and squeaky. "Well, yes, actually -"

"Oh, don't bother, 'Lia," Albus cut in. I grimaced at the use godawful nickname - why did he call her that? 'Lia. Ew. "He's just trying to get a rise out of you." Albus grinned at me and winked.

Oh, silly boy. What I wouldn't give to get a 'rise' out of you. But I smiled back blandly.

"But Albie -" Aurelia pouted and reached over me to try and grab Albus' arm. I slapped her hand away and gave her a hard glare. She pouted some more.

Albie. I couldn't get my head around that stupid nickname. Just how dim was she?

"Albie," I experimented softly, rolling the word around on my tongue. I frowned in obvious distaste. Albus laughed and Aurelia blushed, her face thunderous. "Ablie."

Disgusting.

Seriously, where did he find these girls? He could do so much better.

Like myself, for that matter.

"Scorpius," Albus said, with a gorgeous smile that made my heart stop for a beat, "stop teasing Aurelia."

Heart now racing, I forced myself to smile back, casually throwing my arms around the two of them. It was all I could do to stop myself from wringing her pretty little neck. "But what are cousins for then?"

Aurelia gave me a sickly sweet smile, but otherwise ignored me. She pouted at Albus, who looked at her, confused. "Let's go for a walk, Albie," she simpered, batting her ridiculously long eyelashes.

I scowled. Stupid bint.

But Albus, instead of accepting what probably would have turned out to be a massive snogging session in a broomcloset, glanced at me briefly, before turning back to Aurelia, looking bashful.

"Nah," he said, trying to look nonchalant, but failing miserably. He looked tense and high-strung. It was odd, really. "I think I'll hang with Scorpius tonight."

What? I raised an eyebrow in surprise; Aurelia looked murderous and Albus looked uncomfortable.

Ah, trouble in paradise, I see. Brilliant.

Aurelia's eyes narrowed. "Albus," she said, her voice deadly, "are you seriously turning me down to sit here and do nothing with him?" She shot me a lethal glare and I pretended to look hurt, however I was finding it hard not to smile.

They were fighting! Over me!

If I hadn't been trying to appear wounded for Albus, I would have grinned happily. This was excellent.

Though being literally in the middle of it wasn't exactly my idea of a good time. I sighed, slumping slightly. "Don't worry, Al, I think I'll pack it in now anyway. You go."

"That's probably a good idea," Aurelia said tightly, not tearing her gaze away from Albus, who had a rather odd expression on his beautiful face.

I gave a dramatic sigh, but heaved myself off the lounge anyway. I was, however, stopped when Albus' hand closed around my wrist and yanked me back down. I stumbled back in surprise, falling awkwardly on Albus' lap.

Oh. My. Merlin. I'm in heaven.

"No, Scorpius, stay." Albus stared defiantly at Aurelia, who looked flabbergasted.

I had to exert a great deal of self control not to pin him down and kiss him. Instead, I contented myself with a mental taunt.

Ha, ha, ha. I win.

"Look, Aurelia," Albus was saying, getting quite worked up, "Scorpius is my best friend, and your cousin might I add, so if you have a problem with him -"

She looked as if she had swallowed a toad. "Albus, I didn't mean it like that, I -"

Albus cut her off with an oddly forceful glare. "Look, 'Lia, we'll finish this later. You should really be getting back to your dorm."

I could barely contain myself. Oh, the joy! He was choosing me over her and I had won!

Aurelia looked furious and she glared at me hatefully. I kept my face studiously blank, lest it betray me in these final, crucial moments. "Fine," she huffed angrily, lifting herself from the lounge. "I'll see you at breakfast."

And with that she stormed from the room.

I raised an eyebrow at Albus, trying to appear casual without self-combusting with joy. He wanted to stay with me. "You sure, mate?"

"Yeah," he said, looking unconcerned as he dumped me of uncermoniously of his lap. I tried hard not to pout. "I'd rather spend the night with you."

Brightening significantly, I grinned at him, thinking off all the times I'd dreamt of him saying that to me.

But usually he was wearing less clothes.

Suddenly Albus was looking uncomfortable. "Uh, mate? Your hand's on my thigh."

I smiled. Oh yes. A lot less clothes.