Fandom: Harry Potter

Pairing: Albus Potter/Scorpius Malfoy

Summary: Everyone was amazed when Albus Potter was sorted into Slytherin House, but no less amazing was the effect on Hogwarts and the House itself. No longer reviled, and now popular, times had certainly changed for Slytherin House. But not for Scorpius Malfoy...

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter world is not mine, but it's sure fun playing in it.

Warnings: NC17 rated so graphic descriptions of m/m sex. Bullying. Mild violence.

Author's Note: I've decided that I will complete all the wip's I have on ffnet so I will keep posting this story here until complete. But if you wish to read anything new by me (including what will probably be a James centric companion piece to this story) then you will have to do so at my livejournal. Links to my livejournal and tumblr are on my ffnet profile page.

Albus Potter and the Slytherin Fairy Princess - Chapter 18

By the time Saturday morning rolled around, Albus was in a state of considerable frustration.

He had to admit that the kiss with Scorpius in the empty classroom had taken him by surprise. He'd known that he desperately wanted to kiss Scorpius but the way he'd lost his head when he'd felt Scorpius' soft, pliant lips under his had been totally unexpected. It had been hard to pull himself back from it; hard not to push forward and do something that he had a feeling Scorpius wasn't ready for. He had some doubts about whether he was ready for it himself.

But, unfortunately, after that he'd hardly had a chance to be alone with Scorpius, and in some ways he only had himself to blame. With the Ravenclaw/Slytherin Quidditch match coming up in a few weeks, Albus had increased the team's practice times, because this year nothing was going to stop him from winning the Cup from Gryffindor. And on top of that, Albus had started the Apparition course for he would be turning seventeen in March.

All of this meant that he'd only been able to steal a few short kisses with Scorpius and one decent snog, and it was starting to really get to him.

So, all in all, he was really looking forward to their date on Saturday.

When Albus saw Scorpius waiting for him in the entrance courtyard early on Saturday morning he wondered if Scorpius was deliberately trying to make him explode with sexual frustration.

Scorpius looked amazing. He was wearing the coat and scarf that Albus had given him for Christmas but he was also wearing those skin-tight black jeans that he'd worn as part of his Halloween costume… and those tall combat boots that tended to have an arousing effect on certain parts of Albus' anatomy.

"Wow," Albus couldn't help saying and then he pulled Scorpius into his arms and pressed a kiss to his mouth. Scorpius' soft lips parted under his in the most deliciously eager way and Albus moaned before forcing himself to pull away.

"Let's get some breakfast," he said, taking Scorpius' hand and tugging him along the path to Hogsmeade.

Scorpius' laughed in that silvery way he had. "You must be hungry."

Oh, I am, Albus thought but at the same time he knew he should get himself under control. He was still a little taken aback over his extreme physical reaction to Scorpius ever since they had first kissed – it was like once the gate had opened, everything had just flowed out – and he really didn't want to push them too far too soon.

Hogsmeade was quiet, and as they took their seats in the Three Broomsticks and ordered the breakfast special, Albus was glad that they'd decided to get there before all of the other Hogwarts students.

After breakfast they went to Tomes and Scrolls to pick up a book that Scorpius' needed and then they wandered aimlessly around the village for a while, talking, and trying to ignore the building tension between them.

Finally, Albus couldn't take it anymore and he tugged Scorpius into a narrow, deserted alleyway and pushed him against the wall.

He tried to hold back, to be gentle, but the moment his lips touched Scorpius' he sort of lost his head yet again. He pressed forward, trapping Scorpius against the wall, and when Scorpius gasped against his mouth the sensation went straight through Albus' body. He moaned as his tongue slid against Scorpius' tongue, and savoured the answering moan from the boy in his arms.

His hands slid under Scorpius' coat and he dragged them over Scorpius' slim thighs, tracing his lean muscles with his fingers. Scorpius had flung his arms around Albus' shoulders, and Albus shivered as he felt one of Scorpius' hands caress the back of his neck, and pull him closer, deepening the kiss.

And then his hands found their way to Scorpius' arse, and Albus' cupped it tenderly, relishing its perfect curves, and the sharp intake of Scorpius' breath against his lips. He lifted Scorpius easily, and suddenly Scorpius' legs were around his hips and their groins pressed together in delicious friction.

Scorpius was as hard as Albus was, his erection straining against his as Albus thrust forward and groaned. He could feel Scorpius trembling and then Scorpius' hands tightened on his shoulders and he pulled away out of their deep, messy kiss.

"Al," he gasped. "Al… wait, wait."

Albus came back to himself with a shuddering gasp, and he quickly let Scorpius down.

"Merlin," he breathed. "Scorp, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean for that to happen. I'm sorry."

And he had to admit to feeling fairly relieved when Scorpius took his hand and smiled.

"No, it's all right, Al," he said. "It's just that… well… it's just a little fast. I mean, this time last week I was on a date with Fabian and you were still Simon's boyfriend."

Albus nodded. "I know. You're right." He pressed a quick kiss to Scorpius' lips. "And we have plenty of time. We should take this slow, but it's just that I really like you," he added with a rueful grin.

"I really like you too," Scorpius replied with a laugh that made Albus' grin widen. He lowered his head and pressed another soft kiss to Scorpius' lips but he wasn't surprised when Scorpius pulled away after a few moments. He was a little surprised, though, to see the sudden wariness in Scorpius' expression.

"What's wrong?" he asked, his heart sinking a bit.

"Nothing really," Scorpius said quickly. "I just… I just want us to be sure before we go too far, that's all. I mean, Simon comes back to Hogwarts tomorrow and you haven't really had a chance to talk to him properly. You were with him for a long time."

"I know," Albus said carefully, for he could hear the cautious note in Scorpius' voice. His first thought was to instantly reassure him, especially as he had a feeling that Scorpius hadn't realised that Albus had intended to break up with Simon before he'd found out that he'd been lied to about Creevey, but instinct told him that Scorpius would continue to be wary until Simon returned. And he couldn't really fault Scorpius for that, after all things had moved very fast and a lot had changed in the last week. Albus would just have to be patient… and Scorpius was well worth that, he decided.

"All right," Albus finally continued. "But I'm asking you right now to come out with me again next weekend." He winked when Scorpius blushed slightly and nodded.

"Right then. Well, it's almost teatime. I suppose we may as well go to Madam Puddifoot's."

Scorpius looked horrified.

"No, really Al, we don't have to do that," he said quickly. "We could just go back to the Three Broomsticks."

"Come now, Scorp," Albus said, with an evil grin. "You can't deny me the pleasure of taking you to Madam Puddifoot's. No one will ever believe that we're together if we don't show up there at some point."

He ignored Scorpius' vehement protests, took his hand, and all but dragged him into, as Scorpius' described it in a hissing whisper, 'that vile lair of overwhelmingly vulgar, romantic drivel'.

Albus laughed all through tea.

When Albus woke up the next morning with a knot of tension in his stomach he had to acknowledge that he was fairly nervous about the idea of Simon's return that day. It wasn't that he was unsure about the break up, or his growing feelings for Scorpius, but he knew there would have to be a confrontation of some sort. Simon would find out pretty quickly that Albus was now seeing Scorpius (if he didn't know already) and Albus was still fairly annoyed that Simon had said the things that he had to Nathan Trent.

At breakfast, Scorpius was quiet too, and Albus could tell that he'd sensed Albus' discomfort and was trying to give him space and he gave Scorpius' hand a grateful squeeze before Scorpius was dragged off somewhere with Rose and Peony.

After his Apparition class, Albus spent the afternoon in practice with his Quidditch team and he was grateful for the distraction, even if he couldn't really fully concentrate. Luckily, they were mainly doing practice drills so the afternoon drifted on fairly calmly. Once the practice was over, Albus stayed out on the pitch for a while, flying in lazy circles until he realised that all he was really doing was putting off the inevitable moment. So, he flew down to the pitch and headed for the Quidditch shed.

He'd just left and was walking along the path back to the castle when he noticed two figures standing near a tree and he paused. It was only James and his girlfriend, Jane, but there was something so awkward and tense about the way that they were standing that Albus felt like he couldn't intrude on them. He started to step backwards, but just as he began to do so, Jane's voice rose and he could hear the tears behind it.

"That bastard," she said, her voice rising even higher in volume. "He can't be trusted."

"No, Jane," James replied, almost as loudly, and Albus blinked. He'd never heard his brother sound so tense and upset before. "You can't blame him. It was my fault, I told you. I'm the one that did it."

Jane seemed to freeze as she stared at James, and Albus found he couldn't move either, he was even holding his breath, because he had a strong feeling for a moment, that she was contemplating either hexing James or punching him in the face.

"How could you?" she finally asked fiercely, and Albus saw his brother shrug.

"I don't know," he said, and he sounded completely confused. "I just did. And I'm sorry, Jane, but I just couldn't go on without telling you."

"Oh right," she snapped. "But you're not sorry that you did it, are you? You know what? You can fuck off, James."

She started to walk away. James reached for her arm and then dropped his hand when she wrenched herself away.

"Jane, please, we can talk about this. Please don't…"

"We don't have anything to talk about. And if you're worried that I'll tell anyone, don't be. I couldn't stand the added humiliation, you arse."

A moment later she was gone. James stood, very still, for a moment, and then he turned and saw Albus standing further up the path. He rolled his eyes as Albus walked down to him.

"Um… sorry," Albus said, and he meant it because now that he could see James up close, he could see how pale he was and the dark circles under his eyes. He'd obviously not been sleeping well for days and Albus was a little ashamed that he'd not only stumbled onto such a private moment, but that he'd not really notice anything amiss with his brother in the last few days. "I just kind of froze."

"Doesn't matter," James muttered.

"Are you all right?" Albus asked, and James rolled his eyes again.

"What do you think?" he replied. "You just witnessed my girlfriend breaking up with me."

"Yeah," Albus said softly. "It seems sort of sudden. The other day you were saying that you were happy. What happened? I mean, do you want to talk about it?" he added hastily as James glared at him.

"No," James snapped, and then the glare softened as he obviously fought to calm himself. "Sorry, Al. Not yet. I'm… confused at the moment. And guilty. The truth is thing's had sort of got… um… boring I suppose, with Jane, but I still shouldn't have… I mean, she had every right to break up with me. She has every right to be angry with me. I've completely fucked up everything."

Albus frowned at the distress in James' voice and he tentatively laid a hand on his brother's arm.

"Is there anything I can do?"

James shrugged. "No," his eyes were thoughtful as he looked at Albus. "Maybe… maybe we can talk later. But not yet. I'm not ready yet."

"Okay," Albus said slowly, and he couldn't keep the confusion out of his voice. James gave him a brief, tight smile and then walked quickly away.

Albus was lost in thought as he slowly followed James back to the castle. He'd seen his brother in various states of emotion over the years, including anger and sadness, but he'd never seen him so… distraught. And that was disturbing.

"Hello Al."

Albus took a deep breath and turned slowly, his heart beating hard.

"Hello Simon," he said carefully.

Simon stepped closer and Albus saw that he, too, looked pale, and a part of him twinged with guilt.

"I'm back," Simon said, and then he gave a wry smile. "Obviously."

"I'm… glad," Albus replied, and it was sort of true. Simon had been a huge part of his life and he really didn't want them to end up hating each other.

"Really?" Simon asked with a raised brow. "Because I already know that you didn't waste any time."

And here we go, Albus thought. "I could say the same about you," he said, calmly. "You were pretty quick to spill our break up to Nathan bloody Trent. And to blame Scorpius for it."

"Well, I wasn't exactly wrong, was I?" Simon said quickly, and then he held out a stalling hand as Albus opened his mouth to respond. "No, wait. I really don't want to end up fighting about this. I'm sorry about Nathan. He caught me at a really bad moment… and you've managed to play it out to your advantage anyway, so let's just forget it and move on, shall we?"

Albus nodded. "All right."

"I just wanted to ask you to… well, it's a favour I suppose," Simon continued, and he sounded a little breathless with tension, so Albus nodded again. "I'll go along with this story that Fabian concocted but just… don't rub my face in it, Al. It's still raw."

Something tightened in Albus' chest and he swallowed heavily. He could see the telltale shine in Simon's eyes, and he could hear the emotion in his voice.

"Simon," he said softly. "Please believe me, I've never wanted to hurt you. I never meant to. And Scorpius didn't mean-"

"Don't talk to me about Scorpius," Simon interrupted and now there was anger in his voice.

Albus frowned. "Simon-"

"No, Al, I mean it. It's really best if Scorpius and I just stay away from each other. I'd really just prefer to forget he exists. I know that's not exactly possible but, I can tell you, I'll bloody well do my best to accomplish it."

Albus didn't get a chance to reply to that because Simon brushed past him and walked up to the castle at a brisk pace, his head down, and Albus was left standing on the path wondering if his afternoon could have been any more awkward or awful.

He couldn't help feeling guilty, and it was as much over the fact that he'd caused Simon pain, as it was over the discovery when he'd seen Simon that he really didn't have any feelings for him anymore. He supposed that he actually should be relieved about that, considering the way he now felt about Scorpius, but at that moment all he could feel was a deep sense of sadness and loss.

He didn't go to dinner. Instead he wandered down to the kitchens and begged a sandwich. When the others came into the common room, he was curled up on a sofa in front of the fire, and he was thankful that they'd obviously decided not to question him. He suspected that it was Scorpius' doing so he gave him a grateful smile when Scorpius' sat down beside him, and pulled him close as he listened to his friend's quiet conversation.

there will be more