The Inevitable Fate

Chapter One: Fears, Friends and Foes

Albus checked his watch worriedly, beads of sweat dripped down his flushed forehead, his wrinkles noticeably deepening. His skin was a deep and magnificent shade of toffee brown, smooth as the soothing strokes of sand.

12:00 A.M. He kept his sharp, green eyes knitted determinately on the ceiling of the Slytherin Boys Dormitory; his arms folded underneath his head. He'll be here in a minute; he kept telling himself as his exhausted eyes drifted shut, yearning deeply for rest.

The silk moonlight from the window yawned angelically into the room; directly at Albus who pulled his shaggy eyebrows together with evident annoyance. He sighed loudly, and squirmed over to the side, trying his very best to regulate his breathing, trying to not think about his best friend and all the possible things he could be doing with her right now.

Slumber was no easy task—especially without Scorpius. A thousand thoughts swarmed through Albus' heavy head. This wasn't the way it was supposed to be. This was not what he wanted. What was taking Scorpius so long? The burning question was: what was so great about Rose Granger-Weasley anyway?

She was just a silly girl. She was never a particularly nice cousin, either. The second the Sorting Hat hollered out Slytherin, Rose had treated him like a pariah, just like the rest of the school had. Sure, during family gatherings, she would play the heroine but the moment everyone would leave them alone, both Albus and Rose dropped the charade and treated each other nothing more like a speck of dust; invisible, irrelevant, and unworthy. He could not understand what Scorpius could possibly see in her as Scorpius was fully aware of Rose's hostility and prejudice against the Slytherin House.

There wasn't anything interesting about that annoying redhead, no offense. She was bossy, rude and smelled like chocolate all the time, although Scorpius passionately argued that she smelled like bread. But that wasn't the point. The point was, she was hardly interesting. Hardly worth wasting precious time on.

Scorpius and Albus could have been doing many things instead; studying for that big Potions final which was in a few days, conjuring up vast plans and ideas to scare off their tormentors, practicing spellcasting and potion-making. Polyjuice Potion was Albus' personal favourite. Nothing could beat Polyjuice. Polyjuice Potions take months to make, which is why he and Scorpius tend to make at least five brews each month, always on the dead of each month. That was their tradition. Polyjuice Potions were extraordinarily helpful when it came to eavesdropping, spying and hiding from bullies. Not to mention transforming into different people; that was almost Albus' favourite part of the potion. It was quite nice, being someone else for a while. Anything was better than being Albus Severus Potter. The very best part of making Polyjuice was having Scorpius right by his side. He loved teaching Scorpius about it and felt himself melt the way Scorpius' grey eyes would shine whenever the colours of the potion would simmer together harmoniously and bubble into a striking colour of bright purple.

Albus rolled out of his bed and began pacing around the room, checking the time once again for good measure. 12:08AM. Tick tock. Minutes were flying by. Valuable minutes. Valuable time. Scorpius was late—and he was never late. He was always prim, proper and punctual; obsessively and annoyingly so. Albus scratched his crisp coloured pajamas dimly; it was the one Grandma Molly made for him. They were etched with love and care, dressed in an engaging green and magnificent silver, Slytherin's finest colours—and when Albus sent her an Owl, joking how fond Scorpius was of them, when in reality, Scorpius poked fun at them, she couldn't help but send one for Scorpius. Scorpius laughed so hard at his own misfortune when he discovered that Albus had one made for him. They always made it a mission to make sure they never wore those silly pajamas on the same day for that would be utterly mortifying. Humiliation was always present in Hogwarts. Humiliation and torment were Scorpius and Albus' only friends for they followed them everywhere they went. Sometimes, however, humiliation and torment were their worst enemies for they could feel themselves drowning by their menacing presence.