Title: The Potion Project Author: LiviieMarie Type: Fandom one shot- Harry Potter next gen Reason: none Note: This is based off a Tumblr post I saw once upon a time (which is posted below), but the original post featured James and Lily, I decided to use Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy
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"Alright class!" called Slughorn jovially. Even though he was getting on in years, he still had bounce to his step. "I will divide you into pairs and you and your partner will have until the next double potions class next week to brew the potion I have assigned you! Any questions?"
The class of sixth years shook their heads. Some faces looked excited and others nervous. Albus Potter was sitting at the Slytherin table next to his best friend, Scorpius Malfoy. As Slughorn walked around, pairing his classmates up, he caught Rose Weasley's eye at the table full of Ravenclaws and winked. She smiled and waved back at her cousin.
"Potter and Malfoy," boomed Slughorn as he reached their table. "The perfect pair. With your brilliant minds, I have no doubt you will brew a perfect potion! Both your fathers did very well in this subject."
Albus and Scorpius grinned at each other. "What potion will we be making sir?" Scorpius asked.
"Ahhh yes!" Slughorn smiled and wiggled his finger at him with dramatic effect. "You two will be making Amortentia!"
Albus heard Rose giggle across the room with her Ravenclaw friends. Scorpius and Albus exchanged horrified looks. The love potion? This would be a disaster. Slughorn didn't seem to notice their lack of enthusiasm, he simply shuffled across the room dividing the rest of the class into pairs.
"A love potion?" Scorpius hissed. "Why couldn't we have gotten something more macho?"
"Shut it," Albus groaned. When the bell rang, everyone grabbed their things and rushed for the door. Slughorn called the warning that they only had one week to complete the potion after them.
"Hey Al," Scorpius nudged Albus, "ask Rose if she'll trade with us."
"I don't think that's how this assignment works, Scorp," Albus sighed.
"Come on! She's your cousin! She'll do it."
"I'm not asking!"
Scorpius huffed and threw himself down at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall, just in time for lunch. There was a great commotion as James ran into the hall, waving what looked like a pair of trousers over his head. A group of his friends ran after him, laughing.
"What is he up to now?" Scorpius said as he watched James streak across the hall and fling himself down at the Gryffindor table.
"Don't even asked," sighed Albus, trying to suppress his grin as he too watched his brother. "The less we know, the safer we'll be."
Scorpius nodded in agreement. As the two boys watched, they saw Rose and her brother Hugo, barely reaching his sister's shoulder in his Hufflepuff robes, approach James. Lily Luna was standing beside him, her new prefect badge gleaming in her chest, the red of her robes clashed with her hair. Rose, with her prefect badge gleaming too, got into a heated argument with James, no doubt about the trousers he had stollen. James's cheeky smile finally slid from his smug face and he stood up, dragging the trousers on the floor behind him. Rose looked pleased.
Shaking his head, Albus stood up. He hadn't eaten much. "Come on, Scorp, we have Charms next."
The rest of the day passed without much other excitement. Albus caught snatches of an elderly McGonagall shouting at James for the trousers he stole. James looked completely unabashed unlike when Rose had yelled at him.
When Saturday rolled around, Albus walked into the common room to find Scorpius already there. "Should we start on this potion?" he asked. "I'm not sure how long it will take to brew."
"Albus The Scholar Potter," Scorpius joked. Albus just rolled his eyes. It was true that Albus took his schoolwork more seriously than Scorpius, but he wouldn't call himself a scholar. Grabbing their books and a cauldron, they made their way down to one of the spare dungeons and set everything up.
Once a fire was lit under the cauldron, Scorpius turned his potions book to the chapter on love portions, flipping to Amortentia. "Bloody hell, Al, this looks complicated."
Albus looked over his shoulder, peering down at the page. "We can do it."
Scorpius shrugged and they got to work. The potion only took a few hours to brew, though everything had to be exact.
"According to the book," Scorpius said. "At this stage, we should be starting to smell what attracts us the most." The potion was a light magenta. Both of them had taken off their robes and draped them over chairs. Their ties were lose around their neck in the heat. Scorpius was leaning over the cauldron, apparently trying to catch a whiff of something. The fumes from the potion was curling his sleek blond hair.
"I don't smell anything," Albus confessed.
"I don't either," Scorpius frowned. He ran his hand over his head in an attempt to smooth his hair back down.
"Fellas!" James called, waltzing into his room. Lily, Rose and Hugo were behind him. "Bloody hell, the smoke coming from this room is so strong we can smell it up in the Great Hall!" He looked bemused as his eyes flicked between his bother and Scorpius.
"That's impossible!" Albus cried, joining Scorpius to look into the cauldron. "I don't smell a damn thing!"
"Maybe we could if you didn't polish your broomstick so much!" huffed Scorpius. "It's all I can smell."
"Yeah!" said Albus, turning red in frustration. "Well maybe if you didn't put so much of that peppermint oil to slick back you hair, we could smell something too!"
They frowned and looked away from each other. The room got quite, with only the bubbling of the potion for sound. Albus swore he could hear the crickets chirping outside the castle walls. Only then did Albus realize that he didn't polish his broom last night and Scorpius realized he had run out of his peppermint hair oil two days ago. They slowly turned back to look at each other.
"Blimey," James said quietly, looking between them. "Come on guys, we should go." Winking at Albus, he ushered the other out of the room.
"Well!" cried Scorpius loudly, scooping up some of the potion into a little vial. "We should probably get going." His pale cheeks were flushed. He wasn't looking at Albus as he hurriedly shoved ingredients back into his bag.
"Wait, Scorp.." Scorpius stopped. Albus thought he saw a shudder run through his best friend as he said his name. "Is it true?" He couldn't help but ask.
"Is what true?"
"Do you smell my broomstick polish?"
His shoulders slumped. "Yeah. Do you smell my peppermint hair oil?"
"Yeah, it's my favorite."
There was a moment of silence. Albus was afraid Scorpius was going to say something hateful and turn away, but instead, Scorpius turned around so suddenly that Albus stumbled back. Scorpius grabbed him by the tie, keeping him balanced and kissed him hard.
Albus felt the feeling stir in his chest. He wrapped his arms around Scorpius's neck, burying his fingers into his hair. Green and brown smoke rose from the cauldron and curled in the air around them, smelling of broomstick polish and peppermint oil. The ferocity of Scorpius's kiss knocked them both backwards onto the floor. The potion shimmered, causing the entire room to get hazy as Albus pushed Scorpius's shirt up. The door swung shut on its own and locked, like the potion itself was tying to protect the two lovers.
