A hufflepuff friendship

Chapter 7

FOUR YEARS LATER

Professor Mcgonagall stepped up to her podium and Hagrid bashed a huge fork against a tiny crystal glass which unsurprisingly smashed and fell to the floor. He blushed a violent shade of red as the school burst into mutual laughter. "Thank you, Hagrid" She smiled apologetically at the giant and cleared her throat.

"Welcome, students to a new term at Hogwarts Witchcraft and Wizardry!" The room burst into applause and Mcgonagall silenced them instantly. "Thank you. And now I would like to make some announcements. As some of you are aware, every four years we host a Yule Ball, although The Triwizard Tournament is still an illegal competition." Mcgonagall paused and looked gravely at James and Lily Potter. "The other two wizarding schools, Beaux Batons and Durmstrang will be joining us here shortly, but first, you will be expected to dance during the ball, which is one week before the Christmas Holidays. Therefore, it would be advisable to take advantage of the dancing classes which Professor Longbottom, our herbology teacher will be providing. These begin on Monday at 7-30 pm. Now, please welcome the lovely girls of Beaux Batons academy of magic and their headmistress Olympe Maxime!"

Hagrid beamed as the girls danced into the Great Hall, his attention focused on the headmistress who had been the subject of his affection for years. Each girl's wand sparked blue as she walked past, and James was enthralled as were most of the Hogwarts students. The Beauxbatons students found places at a separate table at the front of the room, just before the Durmstrang boys burst in. Their display with fire was mesmerising, and Lily Potter looked in awe at the handsome Russian boys.

Scorpius noticed Albus staring and tugged his sleeve. "Hey, Al. Look at that girl over there, from Beauxbatons" Albus looked and agreed that yes, of course she was very pretty, and yes, she was lovely, and yeah, maybe Scorpius had a chance with her.

Albus, seeing the way he looked at her felt jealous, something he had never properly experienced before. Why should he be jealous of a girl. After all, Scorpius was sure to go on dates and kiss girls just like he supposed that he would. But he couldn't really imagine himself doing that. All he thought about was how Scorpius was his best friend and that they were never going to leave each other. And maybe this girl was going to mess it all up, and drive them apart. Scorpius, seeing Albus' unhappy face looked concerned at his raven haired friend. "I was only joking, Al" he continued "Come here" Albus shuffled back along the bench and was wrapped in Scorpius' skinny arms in a warm hug for several minutes. "It's okay, Al" tears dripped down Albus' tanned skin. "Don't cry, why are you upset?" Scorpius calmed his friend who looked up at him sadly. "I'm fine, it's just..." He paused.

"It's just what, Al? You can tell me. I'll never judge you" Scorpius wiped away Albus' tears with the tip of his finger. "It's going to be fine, tell me later, when we can be alone, okay. Or tell me now, I don't mind. But I can only help you if I know what's wrong.

SCORPIUS' POV

Albus nodded and I smiled warmly. "Thank you, Scorpius" He mumbled quietly. "You'll never know how much you mean to me." His words hit me like a steam roller. I was very quiet for a moment. "You know, Albus..." I stopped. "There's something I really want to tell you, and I know that you don't feel-"

We were interrupted by Albus' brother who swaggered past our table and kicked Him with force. "You alright there, faggots? You're dead to us Albus, I always knew you were gay. I always knew there was something wrong with your head, and that's just it. You'll probably get expelled for being such a homo freak if anyone accidentally finds out..." anger swelled in my chest, I had to do something about that boy, I had to protect my best friend. I had noticed that he was getting worse, I had noticed deep regular scars along his bronzed wrists. It killed me that he was hurting. I could have killed James in that moment, Albus' eyes swelled again with tears, which dripped onto his lap. "James, I swear I'm not gay, I promise you. We're friends-"

Albus' beautiful blue eyes filled with fear as he flinched away from James' punch. He didn't move fast enough. "Don't. you. Lie. To. Me. You. Disgusting. Disgrace."

He aimed another blow at Albus' head. I shielded my friend from the punch and wrapped my arms around him, trying to keep him safe from his brother.

"You. Asshole." I roared. "Don't you dare touch my best friend" I bellowed at Him. He slapped me hard across the face and kicked me in the groin. I buckled but didn't let go of my friend. A girls voice sounded across the room. "You deserve it, you traitor, you faggot. You've ruined everything, you jerk!"

It was Lily. "Stop! Just stop! Can't you see you're hurting Him, he's so broken and you're his family and you don't even care. How can you treat your own brother like that? What happened? Was it all my fault? Maybe he's so affectionate towards me not because he's gay, which he isn't, but because I'm the only one here that can be like family to Him. And you said all those horrible homophobic things, and you think that that way of thinking is acceptable. It's not. And I think that you're not going to be the most popular kid in the school anymore after this. What's wrong with you? Your little brother is in serious pain, not just from the punches you've thrown, but from his emotions. You've really hurt your brother, and I'm the only person he has, to make sure he's taking his potions at breakfast and lunch and dinner. You've done this to Him, and every day I see him hurting, but no one ever cares, because you've turned everyone away from Him. Well done. I hope you're happy." I took a breath at last as tears dripped down my own cheeks.

James stared at me for a moment and then started to laugh. "Yeah right, fag" He coughed "Nice sob story, I hope for your sake that people believe you!" he turned away and sat down quietly.

I noticed suddenly that everyone was very quiet. And the teachers were all watching. And had seen the whole scene. And had heard the whole thing. Everything. The students of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang had been watching with embarrassment. But why hadn't the teachers stopped James. Professor Mcgonagalls voice rang out across the hall. "Thank you, James and Lily Potter. I will see in my office immediately. You are dismissed. Go to your dormitories."