Scorbus Oneshots

Boggart

Albus lay in bed awake listening to his friend in the bed next to his sobbing quietly. He hadn’t had the heart to tell him that the silencing charms broke an hour ago. In truth, he wanted desperately to climb into bed with Scorpius, to cast the charms himself, to hold him and kiss his forehead over and over again as he murmured comforting words.

But he was a coward.

Scorpius had been trying to hide from Albus that he got nightmares but Albus would have taken it as horrible friendship on his part if he didn’t notice. He knew Scorpius would be most likely to get the terrible dreams out of the pair of them and it wasn’t as if Albus didn’t get the odd one too. After the events with Delphi, it would have been impossible not to. Her face haunted his every nightmare as she cackled and cast the spell.

Avada Kedavra.

He heard Scorpius whimper and mutter something under his breath as he turned over once again. There was a sob that yanked at Al’s heart and physically hurt him. He was overcome with an urge to start crying too. He stayed where he was even though it tore him apart, even though he was screaming inside his mind for his body to move but it just wouldn’t. It couldn’t. It couldn’t because of his own selfishness, his own terror.
He didn’t sleep that night.

-

The following morning, Albus awoke with bloodshot eyes and the most impressive bed hair that he’d had for a while. Pretending to still be asleep, he eyed Scorpius guiltily as the boy combed his hair and dabbed concealer under his eyes to hide the dark bags that had become so painfully obvious that makeup was the only solution. The tug at Albus’ heart was back.

He waited a few minutes before sitting up. He yawned and stretched, glancing over at Scorpius, who smiled warmly. It was good but there was none of the usual spark in his grey eyes. They were dull. Albus hated that so he did the only thing he could think of. He stood up whilst his best friend was standing with his back to him reading the timetable and hugged him from behind. Scorpius jumped but calmed down instantly when he realised who it was. He turned around and returned to favour. Albus could feel him smiling into his hair.

“What’s this for?” Scorpius asked half teasingly and half curiously. Albus pulled back, his face turning red, and shrugged as he stuffed his hands in his pockets.

“Dunno. Needed a hug.”

The silent exchange that came after told Albus that Scorpius realised what he was doing. He was grateful. He wasn’t going to talk about it. At least, not now and here.

“Easy DADA lesson today,” Scorpius put on his air of cheeriness. His mask had slipped back in so seamlessly it startled Albus but he knew the truth. He grinned at his friend and sank into the bed beside him.

“Oh?”

“Recapping boggarts.”

Albus froze. A boggart showed your worst fears. With third years, who also hadn’t yet been exposed to the worst of the world, a boggart was relatively simple. You’d get a particularly scary clown or a horrid pet you’d had as a little kid. However, he and Scorpius had gone through a lot since then and he really wasn’t sure what his boggart would turn into.

He had a feeling that this was going to go very wrong.

-

“Alright class,” the professor began, clapping his hands together and eyeing the pupils distrustfully. Albus didn’t like the professor. With his lanky body, sticking out eyes, narrowed eyes and a face that looked like it was permanently sucking a lemon, he reminded Albus of a weasel. And not the good kind like his pet ferret, Wenceslas.