Albus Potter and the Tri-Wizard Tournament (Next-Gen HP Fan-Fic)

Piers 1 thru 15

"Cuddling was not apart of the deal," Albus sat straight up on the couch, his hands clenching around the sofa's arms.

"Please," Scorpius rolled his eyes back towards Albus, "They are barely touching. If you plan to wait this out, you really need to keep yourself in line."

"Don't tell me-" But his demand was waved away. Albus grumbled before saying, "I don't understand why you're here, Scorpius. No one asked you to stick around." He realized, the moment he said it, that sounded a bit more selfish that he had anticipated. He watched Scorpius face morph from easy going smile to confused grimace.

"Why-?" Scorpius couldn't make sense of it himself, "I.. told you before. I have no where else to go."

"That can't be true." Albus had rotated his shoulders back to fix his posture, looking anywhere but Piers across the room, "You've got looks, you've got an annoyingly large personality, you've even got your family's fortune leading you anywhere you want to go. You could have any girl you want and-"

"Even Isa?" Albus glared threatening. He just laughed, "Is this suppose to be some kind of compliment? Can you imagine, a compliment from my stiff of a friend, Albus Potter!"

"Stop calling me that," Albus hissed, "We aren't friends."

"Why not?" Scorpius asked, narrowly avoiding the original question.

"Because," Albus simply stated.

"Because? Isa thinks we are friends. Otherwise, she wouldn't go through all that trouble," he said, shaking his head, "And you care what Isa thinks, so don't dare to try to deny it."

"I don't know why she likes you," he shook his head, "I never asked. If I had it my way, you'd be back where you started and sporting a unibrow drawn on by black marker -- you can thank me that it wasn't a hex. Then things would go back to normal and-"

Scorpius remembered, rubbing his forehead, and finished, "You'd get your girl back."

"She isn't my girl," Albus said exasperated. It was quiet for a moment. His eyes flickered to Isabella again, his gut twisted. She was looking at the homework they got from Professor Longbottom, but Piers was following her gaze. His eyes were firmly fixed to Isabella's face. Jealously bloomed in his stomach, "But I swear, if he so much as thinks about kissing her..."

"I don't know why she did it either," Scorpius said, "But until I figure it out, you're stuck with me." He looked over his shoulder, "How long am I supposed to deal with you being a lovesick puppy? This deal is suppose to last... 2 weeks?"

"Until the Yule Ball," Albus said, "He's taking her to the Yule Ball in Durmstrang."

"Perfect," Scorpius smirked.

"How is that suppose to be perfect! The Yule Ball is over 3 months away!"

"Because, my friend, we're going to make sure he doesn't get on the list."

***

Friday rolled around faster than anyone had thought -- but everyone was anticipating who exactly made it on the list to go to Durmstrang Institute. Albus and Isabella went to the Great Hall for the great announcement, Scorpius had told them (with a malicious grin) that he was going to catch up later. Since the deal was struck, Isabella hadn't been sharing meals with Albus at the Slytherin table. But, today, she had told him that she wanted to sit with them until the announcement -- that way she could celebrate who got on the list with him before being dragged away by her boyfriend.

Albus couldn't stand the word, but it was all Piers could talk about after curfew set them to their dorms. He bitterly listened to all the dates they went on, or all the homework they finished, or all the food they ate. He had no real reason, he thought, to be bitter. But, regardless, every word Piers spoke was like a punch to the gut. Thankfully, they hadn't kissed yet.

Just before the headmistress walked to the podium, Scorpius sat beside them at the table. His grin nearly split his face in half. But before anyone could ask him why he was so damn cheerful, the headmistress spoke and silenced the entirety of the school body -- minus a certain, scrawny little nerd.

"Greetings students," said McGonagall.

"Where's Piers?" Isabella asked, leaning forward so her whisper could meet Scorpius's ears. He shrugged.

"Thank you all for eagerly applying to represent Hogwarts school at this year's Tri-Wizard Tournament. We have selected students with not only academic integrity, but social sincerity as well. The list consists of no more than 15 students from each house. Firstly: Hufflepuff representatives are..."

Isabella nudged his elbow. He met her gaze -- her lovely lovely golden eyes that sparkled when the morning sun hit them just right. She asked again, "Where's Piers?"

Albus looked to Scorpius, his grin almost contagious. He too shrugged.

"And the Ravenclaw representatives are..." McGonagall's listed continued. Happiness and disappointment traveled across the room like bees -- stinging the ears with mumbles.

"You two are up to something," Isabella said, "What did you do? Is he alright?"

They both shrugged, Albus was at least trying to hold back his glee.

"Gryffindor's representatives..."

"I'm going to go find him," Isabella stood.

Albus grabbed her arm and pulled her back on the bench beside him, "Slytherin is next, we can't just leave! If he isn't here to claim his seat then he can't go and that's on him."

"I can't believe you two!" she huffed, but didn't object further.She crossed her arms in her lap and stiffly waited for Slytherin to be called. It was obvious, by her face, that she was conflicted between doing the right thing... and being selfish.

"And, finally, Slytherin representatives are... Isabella Jean McGonagall..."

"Here!" Isabella didn't hesitate, raising her hand so her great aunt to pick her out of the crowd. A check mark beside her name. The listed continued. Albus counted them in his head. 3, 4, 5, 6 representatives. A breath. 7, 8, 9, 10. Albus knew the occasional name from his class, but most the representatives were 8th years -- them being old enough to actually participated in the games. 12, Piers Kingsley. No answer. Nothing. His name was crossed off the list. 13, 14. Albus looked to Scorpius. They knew what that meant. One of them, or neither of them made the list.

"15," McGonagall squinted at the paper, "Scorpius Malfoy."

"Here!" He said, but didn't look away from Albus.

Their plan had failed.

Albus Severus Potter wasn't going to Durmstrang.