Put Your Curse In Reverse [Part 2]

Chapter 4 - Curse

Albus stared. After a long moment and a quick look at their otherwise occupied dorm mates, he leaned in close.

"This isn't going to work, is it?" he hissed, his green eyes studying Scorpius's.

Scorpius shook his head, a fake, nearly manic smile still plastered on his face. He was afraid to let it fall.

"No," he grinned painfully. "Not at all. Not even a little bit. I am suffering, actually, and it's only been a couple of hours, which probably says something not-so-great about me."

Albus relaxed. "Me too. This is awful."

"Yeah," Scorpius agreed fervently. He lifted his hands up and stared hard at them. "I don't know what to do with these anymore. They feel like dead weight." His thoughts drifted to dinner. For once, their dorm mates had actually made an effort to sit near them and talk with them (no doubt in response to the series of articles Rita had run over that summer making them seem cooler than they actually were). Scorpius had spent the entire meal trying his hardest not to touch Albus anymore than strictly necessary, but he couldn't help the fact that both their faces reddened anytime they did touch. He'd never been so hyper aware of the exact space between himself and something else as he'd been of the space between his skin and Albus's. After over a month of slowly learning to comfortably act on his urges to touch Albus, it was a bit jarring to suddenly find himself in a situation where they were trying not to touch at all. And, to be fair, they could've gotten away with a few casual touches...but Scorpius wasn't sure he trusted either of them to be able to leave it at that.

"So what should we do?" Albus hissed. Their dorm mates had lost interest in the book and we're drifting back to their respective beds. Scorpius jumped about six inches back from Albus when Omri glanced their way (which, in retrospect, probably looked more suspicious than them lounging closely). Omri furrowed his brow but didn't say anything. He turned back to his trunk and resumed sorting through his items.

Scorpius cleared his throat and looked back at Albus.

"I don't know. I mean, you know, what we said on the train still stands...people are going to be mean."

"They're always mean."

"But..." Scorpius trailed off, picturing the furious look that'd washed over Albus's face right before he hexed Karl. "I thought you were worried about how mean everybody's being already..."

"I was. But, honestly, Scorpius? I think staying away from you would be far worse."

Scorpius didn't know what was more pleasing: Albus's words or the intense, serious aura about him as he delivered them. His cheeks only barely pinked. Scorpius felt a familiar thrill jolt low in his belly. He loved blushing Albus, cute Albus—but he was enamored with this Albus. Confident, certain, intense. It made Scorpius's heart swell in an entirely different way than it usually did, in a way that was almost uncomfortable. In a way that made everything in his chest feel too tight—like there wasn't enough room. In a way that made him feel a new desperation to touch Albus, one that was demanding and almost frantic, because he had this strange notion that touching him would make the pressure better. He had yet to try it, and he'd yet to come across a book that described what he was feeling, so as far as he knew, he was mad. And he didn't know what to do with any of it. So he fidgeted with his fingers, nervously tapped his heels against the floor, and avoided Albus's eyes. At least until his heart stopped that. At least until the mere thought of pressing his lips to Albus's no longer made him nearly shiver.

"It would. Being away from you," he blurted, realizing that he'd been quiet for far too long. He glanced at Albus. He promptly looked away. Intense eyes again. Scorpius couldn't handle the intense eyes. Why did Albus keep doing that? Did he know he was doing it? Scorpius's fidgeting got worse as his frustration turned into frenetic energy. He shot another sideways glance at Albus. "Stop, please, with the—with the—you know."