i love you more | scorbus

~ Chapter Four ~

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"He had beautiful eyes, the kind you could get lost in...—I guess I did."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"Can anybody tell me what Amortentia does?" Professor Horace Slughorn asked his sixth-year potions class, watching as a few hands were hesitantly lifted into the air. As usual, the shy blonde boy sitting beside Albus had his arm up, hopefulness flooding his eyes. He knew the answer and he wanted to be chosen — now more than ever.

Slughorn knew he couldn't ignore the teen forever, he usually did. Therefore, he plastered a smile on his face and turned in the boy's direction.

"Mr Malfoy, what about you?"

"Amortentia is another name for the Love Potion, sir." Scorpius explained proudly, "It smells different to everyone, meaning no two people will have a potion that smells the same. It creates the illusion of love between the brewer and drinker, but it is unable to create love itself."

Albus felt pride swelling in his chest as his friend spoke, watching the astonishment grow on their professor's face. He noticed — and hated — how biased Slughorn seemed to be when it came to his friend, carrying on the dislike from father to son. Scorpius was the most talented Potions student in the sixth year but his knowledge and enthusiasm was continually squashed. It was a seemingly oblivious attempt at punishing the boy for his father's mistakes. Despite Scorpius being a proud student of his own house, Slughorn couldn't seem to give the student a second of his time.

"Twenty points to Slytherin for that textbook answer. Well done, Mr Malfoy!" Their professor continued to address the class, smiling at Scorpius. Albus shot the boy a crooked grin, which was returned instantly. The Potter mouthed a 'well done' to his friend, who immediately blushed. He was proud, the look of shock that had passed over their teacher's face had been all the revenge Scorpius had ever needed.

"Thanks," Scorpius whispered back, smiling to himself for a moment. He turned his attention towards Slughorn once more and fell silent.

The brunet doodled on his parchment, bored once again because Scorpius wasn't the centre of attention — how he liked it. He usually zoned out in Potions, but was always filled in by the boy beside him. Scorpius was always excited to help, Albus found it incredibly adorable.

"Albus Potter and Polly Chapman." His name alerted him from his ignorance and he quickly glanced up at the professor. Slughorn was reading names off of a piece of parchment, not stopping for a moment to watch reactions.

Desperate for an answer, his eyes darted to Scorpius. The blond had been watching Albus since his name had been called, his chin propped on his hand. He'd been expecting a different reaction, but wasn't surprised Albus wasn't listening.

"She's your partner today, have fun." The Malfoy taunted lightly, "Follow the textbook and you'll be fine."

"Who're you with?" Albus asked bitterly, hoping that Scorpius had gotten a much better end of the deal.

"Nicholas Miller, that Hufflepuff that always opens the doors for us?" Albus didn't miss the hopefulness in his friend's eyes and couldn't help but let his stomach bubble in anger.