Must Have Done Something Right / Scorbus

Chapter 13 / To Open One Door, You Gotta Close Another

Breakfast was the first test of the day. Albus was determined to sit next to Scorpius and ignore his usual seat next to Matt that he had occupied since their first year. As they meandered their way up to the Great Hall, a million different scenarios played out in Albus' mind, of what would happen when Matt saw him sitting with Scorp. Perhaps he would remain quiet, silently simmering in anger; or maybe he would yell out loud and punch him in the face? Either way, Albus had his wand ready in his pocket.
Next to him, now smelling good and with his face carefully pampered with stuff the names of which Albus would never know, Scorp walked solemnly, as if to his death.
"It'll be fine," Albus said. Who he was trying to assure, he didn't know.
"Really, I don't mind if you sit with them," Scorp offered for the fifteenth time that morning.
Albus sighed. "How many times am I going to tell you? I am not sitting with them, I'm sitting with you. End of story." He thought that it came out a little angrily, but he blamed it on his nerves.
Scorpius sensed his frustration and said nothing else.
Eventually, they rounded the final corner and the impending doors of the Great Hall towered over them. Swallowing their fear, they bravely entered.
Thankfully, the Hall was still fairly empty as early as it was, and at the far left on the Slytherin table, Albus saw that there were only a handful of students, none of which were in their grade. Sending up silent thanks, the pair made their way over and sat down, side by side.
Albus released a breath he didn't know he had been holding. "See? This isn't so bad," he nodded, and reached to load some bacon onto his plate. Scorpius smiled weakly at him.
Twenty minutes later, Albus tried to remind himself to say the same when Matt finally walked in. At first, he didn't notice Albus at all, and sat down a few metres away with Bryce and Paul. But then he began to look around, muttering something, until his gaze landed on him.
"Oi, what are you doing there?" Matt asked over the heads of ten or so students. But then, his eyes turned to see Scorpius sitting right next to him, and they narrowed. "What the hell?" Albus heard him say.
Albus looked at him directly, forgetting the dread he was feeling seconds ago. "I'm sitting with Scorpius," he answered back in a voice far braver than expected.
Miraculously, nothing else was said on the matter. Matt, highly confused, turned to his breakfast, while Albus and Scorpius snickered at the dumb-founded expression on his face.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Albus decided to spend his free period in the Common Room, while Scorpius hurried off to his Ancient Runes class. He settled back on his favourite two-seater couch in front of the fireplace and pulled out his Transfigurations textbook.
The sixth-year Slytherins had Transfigurations next. Albus filed in to find Scorp had already sat down at a table adjacent to the far left wall, with his friends Claire and Andrea next to him whispering to each other. Taking a deep breath, he ignored Matt and the boys from the team and walked studiously over and sat down on Scorpius' other side.
Scorpius jumped when he did.
"Albus!"
"Hey," Albus said nonchalantly, as if sitting next to Scorpius Malfoy was commonplace for him. Claire and Andrea were looking at him as if he had just Transfigured himself into a matchbox.
"What are you doing here?" Scorpius asked with wide eyes. "They'll murder you!"
Albus gave him a lopsided smile. "No one is going to be murdered," he told his worried friend.
"But Albus—"
"Do you want me to move?"
"Of course not!" Scorpius said quickly, affronted. "But if you're doing this for me ... you don't have to."
"I'm doing this for us, Scorp. We're friends now, and this is what friends do," Albus said gently. The girls on Scorpius' other side, still with faces caught at wand-point, blinked in unison at Albus.
Suddenly, Matt came up to them from behind and snarled in Albus' ear. "Albus," he spat, "I don't know what's going on with you today, but would you kindly come back to your table at the back?"
Scorpius was looking at Matt fearfully, as if convinced that he really would kill Albus.
"No. I've chosen to sit here today, so deal with it," Albus said, still facing forward.
"What are you looking at, dirty faggot?" Matt hissed at Scorpius.
Albus suddenly stood up and turned, his face set in determination. Matt straightened his spine as well, and the two stood face-to-face, faces set to kill. Half the class was now looking over their way.
"His name is Scorpius," Albus said clearly and quietly. "Not fag, not queer, not shirt-lifter, or whatever else you call him."
"What the hell, Albus?" Matt asked. But then he stopped, and as if a light bulb lit up in his head, he turned to Scorpius and stared down at him. "You've hexed him haven't you?"
Scorpius shook his head rapidly, his eyes the size of plates.
"He hasn't hexed me," Albus said with a roll of his eyes.
But Matt ignored Albus and kept his intimidating stare locked on Scorpius. "I swear if you've touched him, I'll make what happened last week look like a walk in the park," he snarled.
Scorpius made a small indiscriminate sound in his throat, but did nothing else, frozen on the spot.
"Stay the hell away from him," Albus said in a tone that dripped with poison.
"Looks like you've crossed over to the other side, Potter."
"Yeah ... yeah, maybe I have. From the looks of it, best decision I ever made." Albus stared defiantly at him.
"We'll see about that," Matt hissed. "We are done, Potter. This friendship is over."
"Fine by me," Albus responded sharply.
"Boys!" a Professor said, coming between them and holding them apart, while the rest of the class looked on with stunned faces.
"Students! Students!" Professor McGonagall called as she hurried into the classroom. "Take your seats!"
Albus and Matt ignored the Professor and continued their staring contest, their gazes smoldering and filled with fury. Albus tried to convey his disgust as best he could through his unblinking gaze.
The mad rush of students around them taking their places caused Matt to look away, and Albus felt a small victory that he wasn't the first to cave. With a final push on Scorpius' chair, Matt sulked back to his desk.
Professor McGonagall began to teach her lesson, encouraging the students to have parchment and a quill ready to take notes, but Albus paid no mind.
He gently turned to the silent boy next to him, who hadn't moved since Matt threatened him. "You okay?"
Scorpius nodded briefly.
"Forget what he said, okay? He's a bastard. I won't let him hurt you," Albus said softly, carefully laying a hand on his arm. Scorp's breath hitched. "Okay?"
It took him a few seconds to nod, and Albus smiled at him.