Winds Change [a Scorbus Fanfiction]

CHAPTER 1

----- ʙᴇɢɪɴɴɪɴɢ ᴏғ ᴏʀɪɢɪɴᴀʟ ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ's ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 𝟷

Almost a year had passed since the crazy experiences with the time-turner. Life was back to the same old stuff, school... studies... homework... Rose had started to warm up to Scorpius, she and Albus hung out with the boy even from time to time. They'd gotten along so well, that they've forgotten about the time when Scorpius tried to ask Rose out. Of course, that ended in a massive flop, but, it was worth a try. Regardless, everyone had moved on from that, and life was good again.

As they eased into the year, the teens found themselves piled up on homework. School was no joke, the time when they 'went easy' on you had passed and the bar was raised. Scorpius and Albus sat in the common room, busy at work writing a whole 3-page essay that they had to complete for potions class. Scorpius was rambling on about something while he tried to get on with his paper, but the whole story fell on deaf ears as Albus just blanked out and focused on his work. He just pretended to listen and nodded along a little, continuing to write. "So Albus, do you think she will say yes?"

Albus snapped back in when he was asked the question and looked up at Scorpius with an apologetic look, seeming a little lost. "O-Oh... uh... huh? Sorry I wasn't really listening..." Scorpius leaned in closer to him, distracted from his essay "I said, what do you think Rose's response will be? Do you think she will say yes if I ask her out again?" Something about that question made Albus a little uneasy. But he couldn't exactly put his finger on it..."Huh- Uhh.. oh, yeah. I think so... yeah I think she will" Scorpius looked hyped up and excited. He looked confident in himself. "Awesome! Then I'm gonna do it. Yes. That's it. I'll ask her out tomorrow."

----- ʙᴇɢɪɴɴɪɴɢ ᴏғ ᴏʀɪɢɪɴᴀʟ ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ's ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 𝟸

The next day, Albus was just hanging around, minding his business when he saw Scorpius running towards him. "Albus!" A smile came across Albus's face and he turned to face the boy. "Oh, hey Scorp! What's up?"

"You remember how I was going to ask Rose out today? Well, I did, and guess what? She said yes!" There was that weird feeling again. That strange, nauseating feeling of unease. Distaste almost. "Oh."

"I haven't decided where to take her yet. Maybe somewhere in Hogsmeade. I could......" Scorpius went on and on, describing his dream date with Rose to his pal, who... wasn't even listening anymore. Again, Albus had half voluntarily spaced out and all of Scorpius' rambling went in one ear and out the other. His mind was elsewhere...

Being completely honest with himself, Albus admitted that he wasn't very comfortable with Scorpius going out with Rose. But again, he didn't know why. And it was bothering him. He tried to pin it on the fact that Scorpius was his best friend and Rose was his cousin, so things could really get weird. But no matter how he poked and prodded at the idea, it didn't feel right. Maybe... he was just over-protective with Rose? No, that wasn't it. Maybe he liked Rose? No, never mind, to hell with that that was disgusting. Ew. Never in a million years. The day went by as usual, but upon going to bed, Albus found himself troubled with the thoughts from before circling his mind. He was still trying to find an explanation, a reasoning. Needless to say, Albus Potter didn't get much sleep that night.

As time passed, the frowned upon date approached. Albus was sitting in the common room, pretending to do his homework while he loyally waited for Scorpius to come back so he could ask him about how his date went. He didn't know why he was showing such interest, but he really wanted to know. Suddenly, Scorpius came rushing in. "Oh- Hey! Scorpius! You're back! Sooo, how'd the date go?" He asked. "Surprisingly very well. We had a whole lot of fun! We're gonna go out again soon!" Scorpius said with a satisfied look. He seemed a bit energetic. Somehow, even though Albus was the one to ask the question, he felt his heart sink. No, it wasn't just his heart. It was all of him. He felt like he was fully sinking....But he put on a soft, forced smile and looked back down at his work "Oh... well... yeah, that's nice."