The Right Spell for Albus

The Boy who Lived in my Dorm

It had never crossed my mind before that I saw Albus as anything more than my best friend. There had been a strong connection between us from the first day we had met on the Hogwarts Express. Before now, I had put the friendliness of our first encounter down to our shared interest in the confectionary my mother had given my for my first day. Over the years we had certainly become closer though; sharing our worries over the troubled relationships we had with our fathers. It was only today that I realised that there may be something more to my relationship with Al. It all started this morning in charms class. Professor Flitwick introduced us to the "focus tarda momentum" charm. Flitwick explained that this charm could be used to slow your perception of a single moment in time so that it appeared to last for roughly fifteen seconds. He mentioned that the subject of the spell would also become the focus of your vision and everything else would appear non existent. I knew from my thorough research off 'The Standard Book it Spells Grade 6' that in the following week we would work to produce a complete time slowing spell ("Tarda Maximus"). This was just the sort of advanced magic which caused my nerdy brain to become overwhelmed with excitement. We were asked to practice casting our spell, using our class partner as our subject. Al and I had been partners in every lesson from day one at Hogwarts. This had resulted in many injuries. In our first ever charms lesson Albus had misaimed his 'Wingardium Leviosa' charm. Instead of levitating one of the feathers we had been given, he accidentally levitated the minuscule Professor Flitwick on top of his bookcase. I hoped that this lesson would be considerably more successful. I really wanted to master this spell as I had anticipated using it al summer. Other people around us had begun casting the charm. The subjects were all posing with comical expressions knowing that they would be seen in slow motion.
"Come on then" said Al, nudging me with his wand. I muttered the incantation "focus tarda momentum" and was surprised as the classroom surrounding Al went pitch black. It was if there was a single spotlight shining on his face. Time slowed to a tantalising halt. I became mesmerised as the September breeze sent a slow ripple of light across his dark curly hair. It was in this moment that I realised just how unusual Als' eyes were. In the six years I had known him I had never quite appreciated the mystery which lay within them. I knew every one of his secrets and could see them resting behind his glistening pupils. There was sadness there, buried deep beneath the surface. Often people had commented on the similarity between Harry Potter and his youngest son - much to Albus' resentment. How wrong people were. Albus' hazel eyes were so intriguing compared to his fathers infamous green ones. As the spell ran its course, I fell deeper into those mossy pools. Every hair on my neck stood on end as I became entranced by the mischievous half smile resting on Al's freckled face. Far too quickly the spell ended and I was thrown back into the stark reality of the charms classroom. I expected Albus to give me one of his quizzical expressions. Hadn't he noticed how I had stared awestruck at him for a full fifteen seconds? But of course I was being irrational; the spell only had an effect on the caster, not the subject. To Al a mere second had passed. I breathed a sigh of relief that he had not noticed my bewilderment.
"Are you okay Scorpius? You look a little shaken."
"What? Me? Yeah, I'm fine," I mumbled, flustered. "That spell is weird, it really caught me off guard. You try it."
"Okay..." Albus replied, raising his wand and muttering the incantation. A moment later he lowered his wand. His eyebrows were slightly raised but apart from this I couldn't read him at all.
"Woah, that is a bit weird! It reminds me of when that that James put a shot of extra-strength fire whisky in my morning pumpkin juice that time you stayed at mine"
"Oh yeah, I remember that," I laughed nervously, blushing at thought I had stayed the summer in Al's room. Professor Flitwick announced that we would each need to practice the spell twenty more times before the end of the lesson. I felt a sudden rush of giddiness at the thought of a whole three-hundred-ish seconds of having full focus of Albus' face. I had never quite seen it in this way before. Having time slowed down like this provided a completely different perspective on my best friend. After the second time I cast the spell I instantly wanted to cast it again. After the fifth time there was no denying that I found Albus extremely attractive. By the twentieth spell I was still obsessed with those eyes. I had always known he was good looking. Plenty of the girls were well into the devil-may-care bad boy vibe he exuded. Before today however, I had never really seen him in that way - or any guy for that matter. After several attempts at flirting with girls (most of embarrassing of all Al's cousin Rose), I had come to realise that maybe dating wasn't for me. It had never even occurred to me that the person that was perfect for me had been sharing a dorm with me all these years. All I had needed was the right spell to make me realise what I truly felt towards my friend. One question was burning in my head right now: had this also been the right spell for Albus?