Lovely (a Scorbus story)

Part 21

"You're back!"

Scorpius's face lit up as Albus walked stonily into the common room.

"Is it true?"

"What?"

"You're going to break up with me, and I had to hear this from goddamn Lily," Albus spat. "How many other people know, other than my entire family?"

Scorpius closed his eyes briefly. "Albus..."

"You fought for this relationship, almost ruined everything we had built for it, and now you're going to carelessly throw it away like rubbish!"

The few people in the common room were all listening. Albus didn't care.

"Albus—"

"No, Scorpius, just leave me alone. I'm so tired of this bullshit."

Scorpius squeezed his eyes shut. Albus turned and strode out of the common room and up the stairs.

"Hey, man, how's it g—" Emmett Finch started, but Albus flung himself onto his bed and sealed the curtains shut.

Once there, he couldn't help bursting into tears.

It was only after he'd quietly changed into the green pajamas that were actually a birthday gift from Scorpius last year that he heard yelling from downstairs.

"HOW DARE YOU!"

"How did you—OW! How did you get in here?"

Albus ran out of the room and down the stairs. Rose and Scorpius were staring at each other, Rose looking furious with blood on her knuckles, Scorpius with blood coming out of his nose. Albus was oddly reminded of his dream.

"I have my ways," Rose said. "And I have a lot to say to you, Scorpius Malfoy."

"Look..." Scorpius raised a hand in pleading. "I-I can't do long-distance relationships...I'm moving...a long way away, and—"

"When were you going to tell me?" Albus said coldly. Scorpius whirled.

"Albus, trust me, please," he said quietly. "I'm doing this for you. I love you."

"SECTUMSEMP—"

"Rose, NO!" Albus bellowed, performing a silent disarming charm. Rose's wand flew across the room.

"Don't. You. Ever. Say that," Rose barked at Scorpius.

"How'd you do that?" Emma, who was standing at Albus's shoulder, asked.

"Dad taught me," Albus muttered.

"Why not?" Rose now snapped at Albus. "He deserves it."

"I know, Rosie, but I don't need you getting in trouble," Albus pleaded. "I can't handle that right now."

Scorpius made to walk away, but Rose flicked her wand and he was suddenly hoisted into the air by his ankle.

"That's for my cousin," she spat. "And that—" She flicked it again, and he went crashing to the ground, slamming his shoulder into the stone fireplace. "That's also for my cousin."

"Albus..."

Albus gave Rose an appreciative nod, then headed towards the stairs.

"Albus, talk to me," Scorpius said.

Albus gave him the iciest look he could muster.

"Stay away from me, Malfoy."

The next morning, thankfully, Rose hadn't put it in her stupid paper that Albus and Scorpius had broken up. However, the few Slytherins that bore witness had spread it to the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, and they had passed it to the Gryffindors, so it seemed like the entire school thought that Scorpius was a jerk and Albus had been fooled into liking him.

Max seemed unusually angry with Scorpius.

"He's a jerk," she kept muttering. "A complete—he shouldn't have been that rude to you, he should have—"

"Max, I appreciate it," Albus said. "But you don't need to get that mad on my behalf. I'm fine. I'll be fine."

And truly, Albus was too angry and resentful to miss Scorpius. He wrote letters to Sirius daily, worked with Rose on the paper, and before he knew it, Christmas holidays were approaching.

On the first weekend of December, when Hogsmeade was canceled because of heavy snowfall, Albus was shuffling a deck of Exploding Snap cards on the sofa in the common room when Emma threw herself dramatically down next to him.

"What's up?" Albus asked.

"It's Ian," Emma moaned.

"Ian Thomas?"

"He asked me out, and I said yes, I don't even know why I said yes," she sighed. "I mean, he's cute and all, but he's just not my type."

"Don't ask me for guy advice," Albus warned.

"I'm not, I'm just complaining," Emma said. "Ugh, why me?"

"Well, you're pretty, and smart," Albus said logically. Emma gave him a curious look. "And funny...what?"

Emma shook her head. "I don't know, nobody usually says that stuff about me."

"Well, they're true," Albus shrugged, feeling slightly uncomfortable.

Emma shook her head, pulling the elastic out of her hair so that it cascaded down her shoulders in blonde waves. "I'm not gonna lie, there was a time a few months ago I would have been over the moon to hear you say that," she grinned. "Too bad I don't like you that way anymore."

"I can live with that," Albus said dryly, ignoring a small twinge of irritation.

"Oh well." Emma launched off the couch. "Thanks for listening to my relationship dramas," she called, bouncing up the stairs to the girls dormitories.

Albus gave a small smile and returned to his Exploding Snap cards.

"Want to play?" 

Startled, he looked up. Scorpius's pale face was hovering over him.

"God, no. Haven't you moved already?" Albus said snidely.

"We're moving in March," Scorpius said heavily. "But I guess it doesn't matter to you—it looks like you're flirting with Emma again. So does that mean you're bi, or you just didn't like me at all?"

Albus dropped the cards, rocketing to his feet. "How dare you say that," he snapped. "How dare you accuse me of not liking you, coming from the person who didn't care at all."

"Albus—" Scorpius looked on the verge of apologizing, but Albus quickly gathered his cards and stormed out of the common room.

He was done with Scorpius Malfoy.