The Right Spell for Albus

Fire at the Slug Club

"You know you mentioned that fire whisky in charms this morning? I just remembered that I have about three bottles with me in my trunk."
"How did you get hold of that?" questioned Albus. I had his attention and was enjoying it more than I usually did.
"I found it at the back of the cellar," I replied.
"Damn, if you risked going down into the Malfoy Mansion cellar you could have at least got us something a bit more high brow ... maybe some unicorn blood?" Al joked, pushing his foot into my leg. This physical contact was something I would regarded as nothing more than brotherly before today. Now a hot flush crept up the back of my neck as his leg lingered near mine. I lay back on the green silk sheet of my bed.
"How do you feel about using it in our first seventh-year prank? We could spike the drinks at the first slug club party this week." I watched as that oh-so familiar mischievous smile crept over Al's face. I longed to cast another 'focus tarda momentum' charm right now in order to fully savour this moment.
"I'm in," he replied determinedly. I knew he was itching to get back to trouble in castle. He didn't get a lot of attention from his parents at home. Whether it gained the respect of a single first-year or the harsh scolding of Professor McGonagall it was always worth causing a little chaos.
"Are you planning on going with anyone to the party?" I asked him, trying to sound as casual as possible. I wasn't ready to confess my feeling yet. After all it had only been an few hours since my true feeling towards Albus had hit me like a stunning jinx.
"I'm going with you of course, you plonker," he replied. For a few seconds my heart skipped a beat before common sense set in. Of course he only meant we would be going together as friends. I decided to leave the conversation there before I made a fool of myself. It was so strange having to think before speaking with Al. Usually I said whatever was in my head without a second thought. I needed to be careful though. If there was any chance that Albus felt a shred of affection for me I needed to take things slow. He had never discussed his sexuality with me but going on his dating history he was straight as an Olivander's wand. Why was I thinking about this so seriously? I had merely discovered my own feelings a few hours ago for Merlin's sake! The thing was, in those 15 seconds where I first cast the 'focus tarda momentum' spell it was like everything fell into place. I suddenly realised that the things I feel towards Albus have been there for a very long time. Why else had I given up trying to flirt with Rose? According to Al she had actually been interested in me. Why had I resorted to spending all of my time with Al. The main problem was that I needed some time to decide what to do. And let's be honest; I didn't need another reason for my father to resent me. No, I would bide my time and come up with a proper plan. In the meantime I would act like everything was normal with Al, hence the proposed Slug Club prank.

                                  💚🐍🐍🐍💚

We arrived rather early to the party. Slughorn preferred his members to be on time. We needed to stay under the radar if the prank was to succeed and being on good terms with Slughorn seemed like a good place to start. He was still rather peeved at us for exploding a vial of acromantula in potions class last year. Despite this he seemed rather cheery when we greeted him. "Scorpius my boy! Good summer eh?"
"Yes thank you professor. I managed to finish the book you lent me on healing serums. It proved to be very interesting." The easiest way to put Slughorn in a good mood was to get nerdy about potions.
"Ah yes, I'm glad you enjoyed it my boy. Albus, good to see you again too. How was your summer?"
"Excellent thank you sir," Al replied smoothly. "Is there anything we can do to help? We could set up the drinks table if you want?"
"Why, that's very kind of you my boy. You see over on the side there is a keg of pumpkin juice. If you could fill a few jugs up with that and get some glasses that would help massively. I asked Minerva if  we could have something a bit stronger this year but you know how she feels about the school's alcohol policy."
"Don't worry, we'll sort that out in a jiffy," Al said a little too cunningly. We made our way over to the table and begun filling up glasses. With Slughorn distracted with the other caterers we quickly decanted all three bottles of fire whisky into four jugs, topping them up with pumpkin juice. Both liquids were orange so you couldn't tel the difference by sight. Al muttered "amarum erazum" to remove the bitter taste of the fire whisky. Then we quickly blended in with the arriving crowd. Half an hour later the party was in full swing. Well actually it was more a full 360° thanks to our adjustments to the pumpkin juice. Slughorn had hired a band and was getting pretty wild on the dance floor. The room was buzzing with activity and slurred conversation. No one seemed to realise the effects of what they were drinking. "Maybe we should have drunk some of that fire whisky before we used it all up," remarked Albus.
"It's a good thing I saved another bottle then!" I declared, thrusting it into his hand. He cracked the top and swigged heavily. He handed the bottle to me and I did the same. Around ten minutes later I blacked out. When I woke up I was next to Albus in his bed.