undeniable | scorbus

thirteen - albus

albus (like harry) has virtually no idea how to deal with actual f e e l i n g s.

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I want you.

What the fuck was that supposed to mean?

Albus couldn't get the phrase out of his mind. He knew Scorpius was referring to him staying, of course, but he couldn't help but let curiosity get the best of him, despite knowing it would do him no good. It sounded too intimate, and he wasn't sure exactly how he felt about it.

Nothing anyone ever said to him before had ever affected him quite as much as that sentence had. He was grateful he'd promised Scorpius not to speak, because he was utterly lost in thought the whole walk to the hospital wing. So much so that Scorpius actually had to point out that he'd nearly walked right past the door.

Three words, eight letters. They could have meant nothing at all, or everything in the world. The perplexing thing was that Albus didn't even know which he'd have preferred. What the hell was getting into him?

"Class starts in a few minutes," Scorpius said tentatively, speaking for the first time since they'd returned from the hospital wing. Albus was almost surprised to hear his voice, and he snapped up at the sound.

They were sitting in the a shared armchair by the fireplace in the common room. The walk back had been silent, and Albus could have sliced through the obvious tension in the air.

"Oh, right." He glanced at the clock. He had ten minutes to get to the Potions room. "I can stay with you, if you want?"

"Absolutely not! I won't allow you to skip class for me, Albus," Scorpius replied immediately. "You just got offered a spot in advanced Potions!"

"If I'm good enough to be in advanced Potions, skipping one class shouldn't hurt."

"Albus, no. You are not sacrificing your education for me. I mean it."

Albus almost wanted to laugh at how serious Scorpius was, but somehow, the situation didn't seem right.

"How exactly are you going to stop me?" He asked curiously, looking at Scorpius with intrigue.

"I- I'll- uh..."

Albus raised an eyebrow, and Scorpius sighed in defeat.

"I don't know," he said, running a frustrated hand through his hair. "I guess I can't stop you. But please, Al. I'm not sure why you're doing all of this in the first place, anyway. You hardly know me. I mean, we only met a few weeks ago. That's a good enough timespan to get to know someone, I guess, but we haven't even hung out besides in classes."

"What?"

"I said we haven't even hung out besides-"

"No, before that," he interrupted.

"We only met a few weeks ago?"

"Not that. You just-" Albus furrowed his brows, looking slightly awestruck. "You called me Al. That's the first time you've done that."

Scorpius froze, and immediately looked away. The tension that had disappeared for one joyful minute had returned, and Albus regretted pointing out the familiar nickname.

All of his friends and family called him Al, it wasn't something he minded the slightest. In fact, he couldn't remember the last time James or Lily had called him Albus. It was almost at the point where the full word sounded too formal.

But oddly enough, hearing Scorpius say it made his heart lurch. It sounded different, coming from him. Softer, more delicate. Almost as if the word wasn't just the shortened version of his name, but somehow it meant something.

Scorpius opened his mouth, presumably to apologize again, but Albus spoke before he could.

"It's okay, I like being called Al. It's one less syllable to pronounce. You can save an entire half second of time, calling me Al." He gave Scorpius what he hoped was an encouraging smile. It seemed to work, and Scorpius's tense shoulders visibly relaxed.

"Okay, Al. You should probably get to Potions. Advanced Potions." The corners of Scorpius's mouth turned up slightly, but Albus wouldn't have called it a smile. Perhaps an attempt at one.

"I'm not advanced yet," Albus pointed out. "Can't switch classes in the middle of the term."

"You know what I mean, genius."

"I'll stay with you," he protested.

"No."

"Yes."

"Albus." Scorpius's voice was almost a whine.

"You mean Al?"

"Al, go to class," Scorpius blushed slightly, looking as if he was prepared to all but shove Albus out of the common room. He probably would have, too, if Albus hadn't gotten up right then.

"Alright," Albus reluctantly gave in with a sigh, noting how persistent Scorpius looked. "If you insist..."

The relief on Scorpius's face was evident, and Albus couldn't quite make out why that bothered him so much. Being unwanted definitely wasn't something he was accustomed to.

He shook the thought out of his head as he walked down the hall towards the Potions classroom. It wasn't that. It couldn't be, not after what Scorpius had blurted out.

I want you. Seriously. What the fuck did that mean?

Albus couldn't shake off the memory of the events of the past few days, no matter how hard he tried. He was so distracted that when Jordan put three spoons of leech juice into their shrinking solution instead of two, he didn't even spare him a glance.

"Oh, damn, that doesn't look right," Jordan muttered, rubbing his chin in obvious bewilderment.

"What? Oh." Albus took one look at their potion, an almost bubbly greyish blue in colour, and then at the image in their textbook, which was acid green. "Jordan, what the hell did you do?"

"Nothing!" Jordan spluttered defensively. "I just added the leech juice!"

"How much?"

"Three spoons."

Albus groaned, picking up their cauldron, which was now giving off a putrid smell, and walked over to the waste disposal. Trying to fix it would take so much time that it was easier to just start over.

Jordan followed him, having the decency to look sheepish.

"The word three doesn't even remotely resemble the word two, Jordan," Albus said, lowering his voice to a whisper as Slughorn gave him a taken aback look.

It was the first time he'd messed up a Potion all year, and it just had to be after he got offered an advanced placement. He furrowed his brows in frustration.

"I know, I screwed up, I'm sorry." Jordan was looking anywhere but at Albus. "But in my defence, you usually notice when I'm about to fuck up."

It was true. Potions had never been Jordan's strong suit, but Albus had (with great difficulty) managed to help him get his grade from an A to an E over the last few months.

"What are you thinking about?" Jordan asked curiously as they gathered another set of ingredients. They were the only ones in the Potions cupboard, but Jordan's voice was quiet.

"The shrinking solution that we have to remake,"Albus joked, but his heart really wasn't in it.

Jordan laughed, and didn't comment any further, for which Albus was grateful.

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albus was so emo in cursed child i can't skxksmsnnd. a whole mood.

- gxldensnitched <3