Scorpius and Aries snuck back into the castle before dark. At this time most students were probably chatting, studying, or getting ready for bed. It was a few hours after classes, but before curfew. They walked down the hallways, passing a few students here and there. "You can sit with us at lunch if you want." Scorpius invites Aries. She gave him a strange look, gauging if he was serious or not.
"Thanks, but I'll pass. I'm not really the kind of person to make friends, as we established. And- no offense- but definitely not with Raven."
"You don't like Raven?" Scorpius was only somewhat surprised. With Raven, you either loved her or hated her. There was no in between. And most people were the latter.
"She's preppy, gossipy. She has her hands in everyone's business and their secrets and dirt. She decides if she likes you based on first impressions, and if she doesn't like you, she'll spread lies about you."
"But that's everything you've heard from other people, right?" He points out as they walk. Aries opens her mouth and then closes it, giving a half-nod shrug. "Well, just think about it." He suggests as they enter the Slytherin common room. She looks off in the direction of the girls dorms, heading that way.
"I'll let you know. Maybe I'll surprise you." She says over her shoulder.
"You already have." Scorpius replies, watching her go and then heading to the boy's dorms. When he enters he sees Daniel propped up on his pillows, in sweats and a hoodie, scrolling through his phone. Scorpius looks towards Albus's bed, but it was empty. That's weird; the boy usually studied in the dorms? He sets his bag down and pulls his coat off, wondering if Albus left cause he didn't want to be in the same room as Daniel. Considering his distaste for Scorpius's brother, that would make sense.
"Good evening." Daniel greets, not looking up from his phone. Scorpius's eyes flicked in his direction. Daniel's hair looked a little shorter, like he had trimmed it. It was dark, and drew out his dark eyes. Cypress's eyes, Cypress's hair. Scorpius's dark roots were growing in, he'd have to retouch them with magic before it was noticeable. "It's rude not to respond, brother."
"It's rude to call me 'brother' as though we are familiar." Scorpius retorts, leaning over his bed and opening different books looking for his homework due tomorrow. Where'd he misplace it?
"Oh, so now it bothers you?" Daniel places his phone face down on his bed, directing full attention to the blonde.
"Nope." Scorpius popped the word between his lips.
"So you just said that to be annoying?"
"Would it annoy you if I said yes?" Scorpius retorts, looking up with a slight smirk. Daniel's face relaxed a little at the expression.
"You're an ass." Daniel rolled his eyes, going back to his phone.
"Yes I am." Scorpius agrees, grabbing the page he was looking for. He sat on the edge of the bed, finding his phone to text Albus.
Where are you?
Potter responded immediately, leading the blonde to believe that he must've been on his phone instead of studying.
Albus: Gryffindor common room. My brother required a chaperone. He's having a breakdown
Scorpius: And Rose can't take care of that? You're in enemy territory, love
Albus: I require a knight in shining armor.
Scorpius: I'll let you know when I see one
Albus: Does that mean you'll be my Prince Charming instead?
Scorpius: What would that make you?
Albus: The ogre you kiss and turn into a boy.
Scorpius: Please don't make Shrek references at me
Albus: You've seen Shrek?
Scorpius: Of course, I don't live under a rock
Albus: You live at the manor, it's basically the same thing.
Scorpius: Did you seriously just compare the Malfoy Manor, Europe's most wealthiest Estate, to a rock?
Albus: Don't get cocky. The Manor is NOT the wealthiest estate.
Scorpius: I'm very cocky when it comes to you.
Albus: Oh you'll be cumming to me for sure.
Scorpius: You filthy minded child
Albus: You love it.
Scorpius: Fuck you
Albus: Is what you'll be doing.
Scorpius: I fell into that one. When are you doing to be done with James?
Albus: Someone's eager
Scorpius: *Eagerly ending this conversation
Albus: I don't know, maybe an hour or so
Scorpius: See you then
—-
Scorpius slipped into his sweatshirt and sweats to sleep in, even pulling on socks. He was chilled to the bone after the shower. Something about the cold weather and then the beach wind blasting ice air into his face had him chilled. The boy ended up doing his work and taking a long nap after texting Albus. When he woke, the boy was still not in the dorms. The others were asleep, even Daniel was snoring.
After showering and returning to the dorms Scorpius figured that Albus had to be about done, right? He sat on his small bed, looking around in the dark as his eyes readjusted. Scorpius wished he had brought Missy back with him, the loss of her soft fur and purr was more prominent now more than ever. When at night her eyes would almost seem to glow in the dimness. She'd follow the boy anywhere through the castle at night, when everyone else was asleep. Missy preferred to hang in the boys dorms during most of the time because she was skittish around a lot of people. But now she was back at the manor, probably hunting mice under the snow and stalking birds. That is, if Draco has let her outside at all.
Scorpius looked up as Albus finally entered, looking like he had showered a bit ago too because his hair had dried in a messy way. "Have you been up waiting?" Potter whispers, walking over to Scorpius.
"No, I took a nap so now I probably won't sleep for another couple hours." He replies, not as quietly as Albus. "How's James?"
"I think he really started to realize that Dad wasn't going to come back. That our family... wasn't going to be okay ever again." Albus explains, keeping his voice hushed. He wore black sweats and a tee shirt. The blonde reached up to him from his position on the bed, grabbing his arm lightly and feeling goosebumps.
"He couldn't let you borrow a jacket?" Scorpius reaches behind him to grab his hoodie, offering it to the brunette, who takes it without any qualms.
"It's hot in the Gryffindor tower. They keep it warm enough that it's basically summer."
"That's gross."
"That's what I said." Albus situates the hoodie. "How'd it go with Aries today?"
"She's a paradox. One minute she's saying she had no friends growing up and the next she's mentioning an adopted sister, so to speak." Scorpius replies.
"I love my siblings but they are far from being my friends. Compared to Aries, I imagine the other girl is very different. Perhaps they just don't get along."
"It's hard for me to imagine having siblings that you aren't friends with." Scorpius admits. "Raven has always been my friend. Wait- are you defending Aries Carrow?"
"I'm just saying that because she was lonely growing up, had no one to relate too, doesn't mean that she didn't have a sibling, adopted or otherwise." Albus explains and pauses. "Yes I guess I'm defending her, but I'm also just putting it into different words so that your one-track mind can understand."
"Well then, tell me how you really feel." Scorpius rolled his eyes, but he was grinning even at the insult. He looked at the other sleeping boys, one of them stirred. He stood off the bed, pulling the sheets back. Both of them smashed onto the small mattress, getting comfortable. Albus laid on Scorpius's chest, arm around his torso. Scorpius held the boy close, running fingers through his soft hair.
"I still don't like Aries. She's too pretty to be around you." Albus mumbled softly.
"I like someone else." Scorpius replies, able to feel Albus's heart rate increase against him. "I've said it before, but I pity whoever is romantically interested in that girl. She seems like a chill friend, but would be a psychotic girlfriend. I see her using polyjuice potion and flirting with her partner just to see if they'd cheat. That's that kind of psycho I think she'd be." Albus covers his mouth with his hand to keep from laughing. "You laugh but I'm serious."
"I'm laughing cause I can imagine her doing that, and I don't even know her." Potter replies. "So you guys are friends now then?"
"I don't know, but I think we could easily be friends. It's easy to talk to her. She gets the whole... well everything. She was raised by deatheaters, her father was one. She has that look which has other witches and wizards regarding her warily." He explains. The look where everyone was interested, it was a sort of attraction to the darkness that most people just have. But it's also one of terror, one that makes parents steer children in the opposite direction. Scorpius was use to it. Even as kids when he and Raven would go to get sweets in Diagon Alley, they'd get curious stares and people's paces would quicken or slow down to avoid them. The white-blonde hair made them stand out, made it obvious who they were.
The Second Wizarding war happened over twenty years ago and still, the Malfoy's and other pure-bloods were scrutinized with suspicion. Spat upon by some, even. The Muggle-Born whom use to work at the Sweet Shop actually had told the twins they don't sell to deatheaters. Children, the age of eleven, being turned away because of the indiscretions of their grandparents? No wonder they grew up to become defensive of their family name. They were consistently berated for it. The alternative would be to hate your family name, but that's not what they were. They were proud to be Malfoy's.
And Scorpius couldn't blame Aries Carrow for hiding her lineage. She was rumored to be the result of incest, what kind of shit would she get for that? Not even to mention the role Amycus Carrow played in the war. Of anyone deserving to be in Azkaban, it was him. Would McGonagall even allow someone like her into Hogwarts? And the answer was no, of course not. It was still hard to believe that she got in on the basis of being from France and under the name Camus. She didn't even have a French Accent.
"Well she looks like she can murder someone and do her nails at the same time, of course people look at her warily." Albus joked, and Scorpius smiles a little. Even though he was taken with Potter, there would always be things that Albus didn't understand. Which was fine, he was incredibly open-minded and considerate. But he'd also be defensive because he came up on the other side of things; where deatheaters are all guilty. Where they deserve the strange looks and concern. He grew up with parents who probably steered him away from others on the streets, unbeknownst to how that made innocent children feel.
"I mean people look at us because we don't belong with everyone else." He tells the brunette, looking down at the top of his head. Scorpius plays with his soft hair, which looked a bit curlier than usual due to getting out of the shower.
"You belong with everyone else. And me."
"I'll never belong with everyone else, Al." He sighs softly. "And neither will Aries. But that's okay." Scorpius felt a weird sense of calm about it. "We don't need everyone, just a few important people." Albus, for one. Christine for another. Raven needs Ashton, and sometimes Rose.
"Well... I need you." Albus says softly, readjusting a bit so that he moved up, head laying beside Scorpius. His arm propping himself up a little. "What do you want for your birthday on Friday?" He whispers in the dark. Scorpius looks back at him where he thinks his eyes are; but can't really see clearly due to the dimness.
"I told you, I don't want to celebrate." Scorpius answers. He didn't have to see the boy to know that he frowned. "We'll celebrate yours in March, how's that?"
"That's two months away. How do you know my birthday anyways?" Albus replies.
"I looked through your things beginning of first year. Had your transfer stuff, and your birthday." His bluntness had Potter smiling. "How did you know mine?"
"Christine sent you a howler last year. I'll never forget because after the first sentence wishing you a cheesy happy birthday from your girlfriend, you lit the thing on fire. It was quite a spectacle." Albus explains. Scorpius remembers that clearly, he was upset with her for most of the day actually but they made up after classes.
"Ah, yeah she amended her birthday gift later." Scorpius joked, but didn't get any laugh from Albus. Probably due to the thoughts of what the gift was. "I didn't mean to-"
"Don't worry about it. I know you and her have history." Albus didn't let Scorpius finish. "I just don't like thinking about her shoving her tongue down your throat."
"When you put it that way it sounds disgusting."
"That's the point. She's more of a snake than most Slytherins are-"
"She's nice."
"I know. She's actually pretty cool." Albus agrees, it was strained like he hated that he liked Christine. It would be easier to hate her; hate any of the people that came before him. But he's liked all of Scorpius's close friends, and his ex. Which is why when he's jealous he feels guilty for it. He leans closer to the blonde, taking his head in his hands. Scorpius didn't pull away, feeling his heartbeat increase in anticipation. His hands pulled Albus closer against him on the bed, bunching up clothing with the action. The smaller boy touches their foreheads together, their noses brushing. "Is this okay?" Albus's warm breath fanned across Scorpius's lips.
"You don't have to ask. Just kiss me." Scorpius whispered back, and Potter didn't have to be told twice. His lips met Scorpius's, eyes fluttering closed. The blonde kissed him back, fingers gripping onto his hoodie to keep him in place. It felt like before, energy in the form of electricity traveling from their lips to the back of their heads, then down their bodies. Excitement and pleasure creating a sweet mixture, like a drug they both were hooked on. Albus guides Scorpius more into his back than his side, laying on the boy. Scorpius pulls away for a moment. "We aren't starting a storm, are we?" He whispers, his voice a little uneven.
Albus sits up, straddling Scorpius's waist and leaning to the side to look out the window. "It's hard to tell." He replies, leaning back down to kiss him again. Scorpius stops him.
"Seriously, I don't want to wake any of them-"
"Because you don't want them to know you're bi?"
"Because it's after midnight, and I don't need an angry Slytherin boy coming at me." Scorpius corrects.
"Yeah, I'm sure that's it." Albus's voice was hushed and still sarcastic.
"You are literally in my twin bed, straddling me in such a way that I'm sure you can feel my hard-on, and you think that I'm worried about someone finding out? If that was the case we'd be doing this in the Forest, not the dorms." Scorpius pointed out. Albus looks down, moving his hips in a circular motion, his bum rubbing against Scorpius's hard-on in his pants. Scorpius grabbed Potters hips, stopping the action. "Why the fuck would you do-"
"Shhh, the boys are sleeping Scorpius." Albus hushed him, silently laughing. "I'm sorry. I was just making sure you weren't exaggerating-"
"About having a boner? You're cruel, Albus. Cruel." Scorpius only felt harder from the friction, aching to leave to the bathrooms and relieve himself. This boy.
"I won't do it again." The brunette says, laying down beside Scorpius and pulling the blankets over them. The blonde gave a disbelieving snort, readjusting his pants once Albus was off of them. "I will do it again, but not in the dorms."
"I have nothing to say to you." Scorpius turns his head away from Potter. Like he was annoyed. He wasn't, he was now just sexually frustrated.
"Then don't say anything." Albus murmurs, placing a soft kiss on Scorpius's neck, right under his jawline. He gets more comfortable, rearranging so that he laid against Scorpius, but not on him or in any immediate restricting way. The blonde listened as Albus's breathing begun to deepen, and he fell asleep.
—-
Scorpius sat down beside Ashton in their class together a couple days later. He looked at the desk where curly had already set down a pencil for him. At this point Scorpius didn't even ask anymore, Ashton just gave him the pencils. As soon as Malfoy walked into the class, Ashton would grab a pencil from his bag for him. Honestly, where was he getting all the pencils from anyways? It's not like Scorpius ever gave them back. The professor pulls up a PowerPoint, and Scorpius opens his notebook to take notes.
"Hey did you hear that the Dementors are leaving Hogwarts?" Ashton asks. Scorpius looks over at him, do they do conversation now? Outside of the Great Hall, and without everyone else- Raven, Albus, Rose, Christine? Weird, but okay.
"Who told you that?" Scorpius replies, only looking up at him briefly before looking back down to continue jotting his notes.
"Rose. She has the insight cause her Mum Hermione." Ashton explains. Scorpius just gave a small nod of his head, not really knowing what to say. "Raven and I missed you and Albus at breakfast this morning."
"We woke up late." Scorpius replies absently. "Went straight to classes." That's not entirely true. The boys ended up making out in the janitors closet on the third floor for a good twenty minutes. This took up all their breakfast time so they had no choice but to go straight to class. But they did technically wake up a few minutes after their early alarms. Ashton couldn't catch the lie though, so he just nodded and continuing to talk. The boy had his complete uniform on. Blonde curls poking out under a yellow and black striped beanie, his cloak hiding the sweater, where the white collared shirt and tie poked out at the top. In contrast, Scorpius simply threw on a Slytherin Quidditch hoodie- the one he normally grabbed. Some black jeans and typical combat boots.
"Raven seemed eager to tell you about the dementors. Something about you really needing to know. That's why I figured I'd tell you."
"Why would I need to know?" Scorpius looks up now, confused. Ashton found his gaze, blue eyes meeting grey.
"Beats me. She said something about safety. Like, the students being more safe. Or less safe. Depending how you look at it I guess." Ashton explains. "Luckily there were no dementor attacks. I think one got too close to Professor Longbottom for his comfort, so he used the patronus. But otherwise there was no issues. I imagine if there were that they would've been taken away a lot earlier." He kept going. Scorpius listened because he didn't want to be rude, especially since this was his sister's boyfriend. Ashton was animated too, with a broad range in pitch, using hand gestures as he talked. Definitely wasn't boring to listen too. "I guess it makes sense that the dementors were here when Daniel disappeared. But then they stayed afterwards. My Dad thinks it was because the ministry couldn't find Selwyn. You know, the deatheater that they released? Apparently he was only in prison for a bit anyways."
"What do you mean?" Scorpius frowned.
"Well, Argulus Selwyn was first in prison after the war ended, but after a few years he was exonerated or something. Then about six months ago he was put back in for a minor crime. When he got out this last time, the press misconstrued the entire thing to make it look like he'd been in Azkaban for years and years." Ashton explains. "That's what my dad says at least." That made more sense, considering that Aries and Delphi were passed into his care a year ago when Rodolphus Lestrange was captured. Scorpius hadn't even thought about it until now. With everything going on at Hogwarts, between homework and Albus, he hadn't really thought much about anything else.
"So did they catch Selwyn? Is that why the dementors are leaving?" Scorpius wondered aloud, his mind reeling with new information.
"No, I don't think so. The Aurors probably just told the minister of magic that there's unlikely to be an attack on Hogwarts. After all, what reason would Selwyn have to attack students?" Ashton gave a chuckle. I can think of a few. Scorpius felt anxiety rise in his chest. The dementors were gone; they were open for any attack now.
Specifically Scorpius was. Daniel and Aries wouldn't be at risk considering they were with Selwyn. But this would pose an opportunity for the former deatheater to come and talk directly to Scorpius; try to manipulate him. And if he succeeded? When Scorpius tells the guy to piss off? How does he expect that to go down? Fighting off not only a skilled and lethal wizard but also possibly Daniel- and Aries? When push came to shove, would Aries be someone he could trust? Not in that situation.
"I've got to go." Scorpius realized, fear making his hands tremble. This could happen today. What was he doing? Playing high school with his friends? He could be dead tomorrow- what was he thinking? The boy gathered his books into his bag and left the classroom without a word to any teacher or student.
His legs carried him down the halls and in the direction of Headmistress McGonagall's office. Scorpius hovered outside. What was he supposed to say? His heart thumped against his chest. He wasn't honestly considering telling her the truth? That Selwyn could come for him- right? How would she react? Fuck. Scorpius racked his brain for another solution to keep the dementors on the grounds. He'd go to Hagrid but what could he possibly say to the groundskeeper to convince him dementors were best to keep around? Hagrid was probably the most inconvenienced by the shadowy ghost figures than anyone else.
What about Slughorn? Slughorn had the letters in his desk to begin with- what if he was somehow in on it? Could Scorpius trust him? Would Slughorn be able to convince McGonagall about the dementors? He believed he could have some sort of sway, after all, he's the head of Slytherin house. Not just that; he was the teacher Tom Riddle was closest to here at Hogwarts. Maybe that meant he knew about Cypress. And everything else. Scorpius thought about it a moment, what class was Slughorn teaching right now? Beginning Potions, probably.
He turns around, briskly walking to the moving staircases and weaving around the castle until finding the potions classrooms. Scorpius stops outside the door, knowing the class was probably going to be filled with first year students. Eleven year olds, as it were. He taps his foot against the stone floor, working up to going inside. And then he does.
The noise of the wooden door had all eyes looking to the back of the class, looking at him. Professor Slughorn stood over a cauldron at the front, clearly having been demonstrating the creation of some potion. Scorpius stood there awkwardly. "Ah Scorpius. Please, come here." The Professor gestures with a soft smile. Scorpius walked through the desks, ignoring the curious looks of younger students. "Okay class, please refer to your books, and I want you all to have memorized the ingredients for the Aging Potion by the end of class." He sets the lid on top of the cauldron, turning to Scorpius and asking him in a much softer voice. "What is the matter, Scorpius?"
"Can we talk somewhere..." Scorpius looked back at the students, starting to wonder if this was a bad idea. How was he supposed to start? Look I know you were close with my grandfather, so let's cut the small talk. Yeah, probably not. If you didn't already know, I'm Tom Riddle's grandson. That's not exactly a conversation starter. "I'm interrupting. I can come back later." He says instead, already beginning to leave.
"Scorpius?" Slughorn calls him back. Scorpius faces the Professor. "I have time now. Come." He leads the way into his conjoining office, figuring that the students can't get into too much trouble with only their textbooks available to them. Scorpius nervously steps into the classroom office, a bit less busy than the one that he and Albus had broken into. Slughorn sits down at his desk, seeming tired in his older age. "Now, what is it that ails you?"
"Okay." Scorpius nervously fidgets with his hands, and he takes a seat in the other available chair in the room. "I don't think it's a good idea for the dementors to leave the grounds." He says simply, hoping to take a different approach. Slughorn's eyes glance down at the ring on Scorpius's finger, but only for a second and then looks back up at the boy.
"And why is that, Scorpius?" Unlike many others Professors, Slughorn approaches students as equals, as familiars. With their first names, conversationally. Even though the head of Slytherin and Scorpius never really got on well, he was still taking the time to hear him out.
"I was hoping that you could convince Headmistress to keep them around." Scorpius ignored his question.
"Even if I could do such a thing, McGonagall would need a substantial reason. And even then, it's not just her you'd have to convince. It's also the Ministry, they control the dementors." Slughorn explains calmly.
"Because there might be an attack on Hogwarts if they are gone." Scorpius's words were a bit soft, expecting the Professor to tell him he was being ridiculous.
"What makes you think that, Scorpius?"
"You mean other than the fact throughout the last forty years there's been an abundance of attacks on the students and-" Scorpius stops himself halfway through, realizing he was being a smart ass. "I can't say." He looks down at his hands, spinning the ring on his finger absently. Slughorn follows the action with his eyes.
"Do you know who's ring that is?" The Professor asks. Scorpius looks back up, startled. He hadn't really put thought into hiding the ring; after all, no one else seemed to ask about it. But it only makes sense that he would notice.
"It's mine. It's on my finger, isn't it?" Scorpius retorts, trying to deflect the question.
"I first saw that ring on the finger of a student named Cypress Gaunt." Slughorn begins. Scorpius felt his blood run cold. Oh he does know? It was hard to tell. "He only went to Hogwarts for a short time before he left. I believe that was his father's ring."
"Oh." Scorpius's voice cracked. "There's two."
"I know there's two." Slughorn nods, waiting for Scorpius to say more. But the boy didn't, so he continued. "They were created to pass down to the children in the family." He leans forward in his chair a little. "Scorpius, I'm going to ask you something that I want you to answer truthfully." Slughorn says. Scorpius prepares himself for the worst. "Did you break into my office?"
"What?" Scorpius was caught off guard. "Of course not."
"You're a very good liar, Mr. Malfoy."
"I'm not lying, sir."
"You broke into my office, took the letters, and now show up here wearing one of Tom's rings. I may be old, but I've not lost my wit yet." Slughorn didn't seem mad, just calmly wanting the truth. Scorpius felt his heart race, feeling terrified. What was he going to do? "You do not need to be frightened, Scorpius. I've known about you and Daniel for quite some time now."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Scorpius forced his voice to be smooth. And the Professor gave an amused smile.
"You remind of a bright young boy. His name was Regulus Black. Do you know who I'm talking about?"
"Yes. Sirius's brother." Scorpius nods, feeling a little calmer.
"Yes. He was very clever, that one. I think with more guidance I could've helped him choose the right path. But the past is the past. All we can do now is move forward, yes?" Scorpius nods in response. Slughorn goes on. "Now, tell me why the dementors shouldn't leave Hogwarts, and I'll see what I can do to help." He prompts. Scorpius felt a strange bit relieved as well as nervous.
"Selwyn. The deatheater." Scorpius begins, and Slughorn nods, signaling he knew who he was talking about. "He's... trying to use me. And I'm worried he might get tired of waiting and break into Hogwarts to take me." And kill me possibly. Scorpius thought a moment and then lied. "Daniel is probably at risk too." No Daniel actually might be the one to attack me first. Scorpius would like to think he's on okay terms with the boy; but the truth is that they've always been competitive. And if Daniel knew Scorpius had zero intention of joining, he probably would've already taken a bite out of Scorpius, so to speak.
"Why don't you explain the situation to McGonagall?"
"She may not take it seriously. And I can't have anyone knowing who I am. I don't know who to trust." Scorpius was honest.
"But you came to me."
"I figure..." Scorpius formulates his words, trying for it not to come off so harshly. "If Tom Riddle can share with you, then maybe so can I."
"You shouldn't view yourself with such hardness, my boy. You are a long way from being Tom." Slughorn tells him. "That's a compliment." He adds to clarify. Scorpius gave a short chuckle, nodding. The bell rang to signal the ending of this hour, and Scorpius gets up.
"I have to go, thank you Professor." He gives a courteous incline of his head, and then Scorpius leaves, unable to ask what Slughorn's plans were to tell McGonagall. He'd find out sooner or later. Hopefully before Selwyn decided to try something.
—-
5.1k words