Chapter 19: Is It Legal To Do This? I Surely Don't Know or, Let Your Body Get A Tolerance
Rating: M mainly for language, and I can't discount any funny business later on
Disclaimer: I work with only what J.K. Rowling has given me.
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Spring had finally arrived at Hogwarts, and just outside of the Entrance Hall, a line of carriages pulled to a stop, and from the third, a boy with dishwater blonde hair leapt out, his feet barely hitting the ground before he took off into the castle.
"See you in a bit!" Toby yelled over his shoulder, disappearing inside in seconds.
Scorpius followed much more collectedly, holding the jacket that Toby had left behind as he exited, and he joined the second wave of students all making their way into the castle.
As tempted as he was to look around him, he didn't; his gaze remained forward as he began to ascend the staircase, keeping pace with the rest of the students. He didn't want to see her like this anyway. Not with all of these people around.
It was only when he had passed the sixth floor, when the people and the noise had left him alone, that he realised how tight his chest had grown, that with it was the urge to go faster, to get there sooner, which was...not entirely new. But he kept his pace steady, watching his shoes as they passed each slab of stone, and suddenly, he could hear the familiar twang of an old guitar, a soft, humming melody drifting over and under it.
He wasn't nervous. Scorpius didn't get nervous.
"Good afternoon, John," he greeted, coming to a stop at the portrait.
"Afternoon to you too," John Wyatt replied pleasantly, bracing his guitar against his knee and tipping his hat. "Glad to be back?"
"Always am," Scorpius said.
As John plucked at a conversation about his holiday, Scorpius felt his mind begin to turn, his eyes straying past the portrait and towards the door behind it, and he felt his ears strain as they tried to pick up any sounds from within.
"You'll be wantin' to go in, then, huh?"
Scorpius blinked, bringing his attention back to John. "Sorry?"
John grinned, and there was a knowing look in his eyes that made Scorpius feel slightly unnerved. "The password, tenderfoot. Then you can get on in." He cleared his throat, his smile still wide. "She's already in there, by the way."
The reason behind John's look suddenly became crystal clear, and Scorpius' mind flared, instinct pushing the words I wasn't going to ask to the tip of his tongue before something else pulled them back, and he paused.
After a moment of consideration, he nodded. "Thanks," he said quietly, and then gave the password.
The portrait hole swung open, and, with only the briefest flicker in his stomach, Scorpius entered.
She was shrugging off her coat as he walked in, her back to him, and — whatever Scorpius had attributed the tightness in his chest to, however diminutive he'd told himself that the quiver in his stomach had been — just the sight of her there was...
God, it was something.
Her head had raised at the sound of his footsteps as they had entered and then abruptly stopped, and now she had stopped too, her coat still halfway down her back. The sofa was between them, obstructing her from him, and he stared at it as he stood there with Toby's jacket in his hand, suddenly unsure of what to do, suddenly completely unprepared for any of this, and, fuck, what was wrong with him—
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