I look around. My head is touching the ceiling of a house. It's dark, and I keep tripping over overturned furniture that lies clustered on the creaky floor. I don't know what had happened but I'm panting. I'm shivering and sobbing as I crawl out of the house desperately. Everything hurts. My stomach, my neck, my face, my eyes, my legs, my hands, my ribs. My feet squelch over what seems like blood, and I can feel my fists clenching. When I reach the doors, I turn back to see a man in a cloak. He whips out his wand.
"CRUCIO!"
I gasp.
It's a dream,
--------
The triwizard tournament was boring. It was just a simple race to three different objects, but with a twist: the champions saw each other as a monster. The Durumstrang bloke and the Beauxbaton girl got into a huge fight that ended up with both of them getting five points deducted for "near-death-duel." The rest of the people were cheering mad and almost clawing themselves towards the champions and the battlefield.
And now we are this close to the Yule Ball.
Honestly it's killing me. I keep getting butterflies whenever Albus opens his mouth to talk to me. I want him to ask me out. I want me to say "Yes!" And kiss the place between his eyebrows and we're going to get matching dress-robes from hogsmeade. I got it all planned. I literally do. And I know that I'm going to kiss him on the lips. I'm going to have my first there. I want him to be my first and probably my last. I love him so.
I fidget nervously in my seat as Albus walks over to me with a small smile. I giggle just by looking at him. He plops next to me, and because we're so tightly sqeezed together int he Great Hall, his shoulders keep brushing against mine and I shiver. Albus leans his head on my shoulder. I almost play with his hair again. Instead I hold his hand and squeeze it three times while watching Opelia Clearwater and Oliver Print continues snagging from the start of class.
"Please, Mr. Print and Ms. Clearwater, refrain from your romance during class time." McGonagall snaps at them and the entire class bursts out in laughter as the two pull away in embarrassment. Albus's shoulders shake when he laughs and I feel its simple vibration that makes me warm in the heart.
"Now the Yule Ball is a great honor and a great festival in tribute to the Triwizard Tournament. It has been a passed down tradition and we shall embrace it. The champions will have to enter first with their partners and slow-dance. Now, it is mandatory that the performance is at a level of proficiency and I shall teach all of you the simple steps." McGonagall speaks with a twitchy tone. "Will you all find yourselves a partner."
Albus' hands dart over to mine and I automatically grab it. We're the only "boy and boy" partners. They rest look at us, half approval, half uncertainty. I don't give a bloody fuck about them. I love Albus and Albus loves me.
"The partner on the left," That's Albus to me. "Please place your right hand to your partner's waist."
"Where?" Hugo Granger Weasley exclaims.
"The WAIST for goodness sake, Mr. Granger Weasley." Headmaster McGonagall snaps at him. Albus shakes his head, chuckling. He places his right hand on my waist, and I almost jump up and fly into space. His hand is huge, and they wrap around my waist nicely. His fingers fit around my ribcage and graze my hip most slightly. I'm blushing. Albus is flustered too. He looks down at the ground and I do too.
"Now the other partner will put their hand on their partner's shoulder." I do. Albus' shoulders are built with muscles from Quidditch. The smallest twitch in them makes my fingers bounce. I know what McGonagall's going to say so I do it anyway. I step one step closer to Albus and bring up his hand. I lace my fingers through his and step along to the music as soon as it plays. It is a simple waltz. We dance, our forehead almost touching. We dance through the stumbling Hugo Weasley, and the open mouthed Rose. We dance past McGonagall, whose expression is a cross between pride and approval. Albus giggles and I put my head on his shoulder.
"Go to the ball with me, will you? God Scorpius I need you to be my date and dance with me." Albus whispers in my ear. I kiss the spot between his eyebrows and nod with a huge smile. I can already feel the rose blooming in my face.
"Yes!" I tell him. "A million times yes."
——
Study hall at the great hall is a sneaky little game with me and Albus playing footsies and scribbling little notes on parchment paper. We're sitting with Rose and Season and James.
"I really need to find a date to the ball." Rose sighs and buries her face in her book. She's done with her homework. I think Season is too because she's writing furiously in her notebook again.
"Go ask someone out or something Rose." Albus tells her, chewing on his quill.
"I absolutely CAN'T." Rose exclaims. "I don't have the nerve to ask someone out."
"It's easy." Season raises her eyebrows and closes her notebook. "Look." She turns over to James. "You're going to the Yule ball, huh, James?"
"Damn right I am." James tells her.
"Okay then go with me James."
"Mkay."
"See? Easy." Season returns back to her writing. Me and Albus share a look. I bet they're dating. I widen my eyes. Ew, that's gross. Albus squints his eyes and shakes his head slightly.
"Now even this girl has a date and I don't!" Rose throws herself over the table and groans. Season pats her head with a condescending smile.
"You'll find the one. Eventually..."
——
Albus and I walk to Hogsmeade hand in hand, our fingers wrapped against each other. The snow is melting into disgusting little puddles of grey. We jump over them together.
"Honestly, we're definitely going to be the cutest couple there, I swear." I say.
"It's so obvious I bet there's a prophecy about it." Albus smiles. I want to run my fingers along his smile. It's probably not even worth it with my gloved fingers. Maybe next time, when he smiles again. I smile back instead.
I feel a large thump on my shoulder. I stumble forward and Albus catches me firmly, his hands wrapped tightly around my neck and arms. My breath is cut short.
"Hey, watch it mate." The durumstrang bloke who talked to us yesterday morning stands with his goofy looking friends. Probably his minions or something. Albus brushes the hair out of my face as I muster a simple apology.
"Oh wait, I know them! They're the gay wizards of Hogwarts." He guffaws in his sickly Russian accent. His mates jeer at us in unintelligible Russian and I inch back and hold Scorpius's hands.
"Look! They're holding hands! Little freaks." One of them steps forward and kicks muddy water on our boots. I wince.
"Hey stop." Albus says. His voice is shaking a bit. Its a mix of fear, apprehension and sheer anger.
"Hey stop." The tallest one mocks us. "Why should we, you're all just a little-ass fag."
"Stop using that goddamn mouth before I can bloody knock it off your face you little idiot!"
Season is marching towards her with her eyes and face lit up with anger. Her hands are clenched into little fists. It's the first time she'd ever felt so big. So tall and so mighty.
"Aren't you a little first year? What are you now, fag, a lesbian?" The tall bloke shoves Season. She almost falls but she catches herself.
"That's fifth year and a middle finger to you!" Season screams. Her face is bright red, and she's trembling head to toe. She outstretches her hand until her fingertips are pointed at the Durumstrangs. They laugh as if everything's a joke, and all I want to do is punch them in the nose. Before I can move Season uses her voice once more. "Stupefy."
At once, the boys fly up in the air and land on the ground in a flash of red light. Season's hand is glowing with a faint glimmer of red. It dies out when the Durumstrangs run away in fear and terror.
"That was sick, Season!" Albus shakes his head, laughing. I stare at her.
"How'd you bloody do that, Season?" I whisper. Season shakes her head and shrugs. What the hell is that supposed to mean?
"I-um-I'm not sure."
"Wow." Albus gapes and I punch him playfully in the stomach.
"Thanks a lot though, what you did there was pretty great in my opinion."
"I know." Season laughs and puts her arm around us and pulls us towards Zonkos. "You guys owe me a hella lot of coins."