Falling for You: A New Generation Harry Potter Fanfic

4: The Dare

FOUR YEARS EARLIER
"I dare ya." Said Albus, an elvish gleam alight in his emerald eyes. Scorpius and him were twelve now, cocky in the fact that they weren't first years anymore, and currently sitting (trying to study) in the common room of the Gryffindor house. Scorpius sat properly, his feet two inches from the ground and a book sprawled on his lap. Albus, on the other hand, had his back pressed on the seat cushion, his legs where his back should be, and his feet barely hanging over the top edge. In short, Al was completely upside down, his black fringe hanging wildly and his face slowly turning tomato red, but he didn't seem to notice nor mind. His book was discarded on the floor and, for the last five minutes, Albus had been trying to persuade Scorp to drop Dave's discarded newt outside the tower window.
Scorpius just rolled his eyes in response, replying in a sing-song voice, "You're going to fail the exaaaam."
Al huffed and swung his legs over the side of the chair, finally returning to a correct seating position. Albus leaned his scrawny elbows onto his knobby knees for a second before grabbing Scorp's legs with his hands, shaking them, and exclaiming, "But we're not first years anymore! We deserve to live a little!"
A couple of fourth years in their vicinity scoffed, probably in regard to the fact that Al thought being a second year was worth celebrating. But Albus ignored them, instead staring straight in Scorpius's blue eyes. They stayed like that for a while, each of them subconsciously soaking in how the other looked in this moment, as if they would need it later. They didn't know now, but this would become one of their best memories from this year. Well, this and the Restricted Section incident (another dare from Al to Scorp), but that was still too fresh to be funny those few years after.
Anyways, the two boys sat staring at each other, Albus smirking jokingly and Scorpius looking highly unamused. Finally giving in, Scorpius slammed the dusty book loudly and got up from his seat. He ignored the delighted "Yes" from Albus and walked over to the pet cage on a nearby table, scrunching his nose as he glanced in on Dave's newt.
"Isn't it sort of wrong to mess with other people's pets?" Scorpius asked, peering closely at the purple-with-orange-speckles newt inside the metal bars. Albus appeared quickly to his side and responded, "If Dave didn't want people to mess with it then he shouldn't have left it out."
Apparently taking this as a sufficient answer, Scorpius unlatched the top of the cage and reached his arm into it, grasping for the pet. He bit his bright pink bottom lip in concentration as he pulled out the newt and crinkled his nose as it wiggled in his hand.
Albus' mouth fell open in shock, sure Scorp had agreed to some of Al's dares, but never anything to do with "wiggly monsters of the deep". After that one time he was pulled into the lake, Scorpius despised anything that was remotely like a squid. This even included pasta night (he claimed they were like the tentacles) in the Great Hall; Scorpius would refuse to eat it, instead wolfing down twice his helping of dessert.
Nevertheless, Scorpius was now determined in his mission and was walking, arm extended as far as it would reach, to the arch-shaped window on the right side of the common room. Al squeaked in excitement and happily trailed after his friend, circling him like a satellite. Scorp took no notice, his baby blue eyes edged with white screwed up in concentration. As they moved closer towards the window, James Potter, now a fourth year, smirked and said, "Now THAT'S my brother."
Scorp, again, rolled his eyes as the two brothers shared a moment and continued on to the window. By the time he had reached it, a whole hoard of Gryffindors had joined the two friends to watch the dare go down. The group huddled around the tiny corner, whispering and placing bets on if the shy second year afraid of squirmy things would drop the newt out the window. Scorp scrutinized the creature in his hands and shivered slightly as it moved, stalling every instinct to drop it. But then, just as he was about to cop out (probably resulting in lots of people losing a couple Galleons) he felt a reassuring hand on his shoulder and a worried question whispered in his ear, "Are you nervous? You're doing the thing with your feet that you do when you're nervous." It was Albus.
After finally realizing what he said, Scorpius snuck a glance to his feet and saw them turned outward, the sides resting nearly flat on the floor. It was the first time he noticed that.
"I guess I am."
"Okay, if you're nervous I guess I'll take over." And before anyone could react (just the way Al like to do things) Albus yanked the newt out of Scorp's hand, pushed the window up, and threw it out. It was a few seconds before anyone moved, Scorpius being the first one to and incredulously yelling to his friend, "ALBUS!" Instead of responding, Al muttered, "I wonder where it went." and pushed his way to the windowsill, curiously peering over. His face visibly paled before he belted out a curse word, grabbed Scorp's hand, and ran out of the common room screaming like a mad man, "IT LANDED ON MCGONAGALL! HEADMISTRESS FREAKING MCGONAGALL!"
Scorpius stumbled after his crazed friend, not fully registering Al's words before they were running down the side stairwell, where he finally stopped.
"Wait," he mumbled, stalling their run and detaching his hand from Al's. "Dave's newt landed on Headmistress McGonagall?"
Now it was Albus' turn to roll his eyes, as he grabbed onto Scorp's limp hand again and exclaimed, "Whad'ya think I was shouting about?"
Al yanked himself and Scorpius out from the stairs, through a side door, and onto the green grass of the courtyard, where the newt had fallen. Just like Al's prediction, McGonagall was in the exact same spot as before and Dave's newt was still curled up on the dramatic brim of her witch hat. Albus couldn't recall perfectly, but he figured that she had neither picked up her cane or changed her direction since then.
Scorpius stopped at the frozen sight of her (which, in his defense, did look quite menacing) and pulled on Al's hand to stop him moving further.
"Boys." She drawled and every eye in the courtyard immediately swung to her. Maybe that's why she had been alive so long, every time Death came to claim her, McGonagall just ridiculed him.
"I understand," she continued, never moving a centimeter, "that it is the weekend and that we all deserve a frivolous day for nothing to happen, but that hardly includes flying newts."
Scorpius and Albus nodded enthusiastically and her studying grey eyes flashed over both of them.
"Collect the newt from my hat and all will be forgotten."
Al visibly relaxed and scurried forward, standing on his tiptoes to barely reach the brim of her hat and scoop the newt into his palm. The two boys got out of there quick, running out of the courtyard like it was on fire and the school was immune to flame.
Finally finding a time to rest against the cool gray stone of Hogwarts, Scorp took a minute to think through what just happened, before bursting into angry yells.
"You imbecile! Who doesn't check the ground before throwing a newt out of the window?"
Al scoffed and pet the newt with one of his always-sticky fingers, "What's the fun in that?"
Scorp groaned loudly and thumped his head of blond hair against the wall. "What if one day you're falling and you don't look, so then you smash like a pancake into the dirt?"
"Well then I hope you'll catch me."
A few minutes of thoughtful silence passed before Al bumped Scorp with his hip and joked, staring at Scorpius endearingly, "C'mon, you know you would."
Scorpius held his angry frown for a little bit, before smiling under pressure and replying, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I would."
Okay Okay Okay
Number one: Sorry for the late update. It was going to be earlier but then Wattpad lost my stuff and I got discouraged etc etc etc
Number Two: I had to write an essay which took longer than I was planning so that is another bad excuse
OH BUT THANK TO REDVINES42 and MALECISMYOTP for commenting and things and being in general cool
Y'all rad
Also this chapter is like not edited or anything so no judging
I wrote this in like two hours in a crazy haze so we'll see how that goes
Probs gonna regret this
#noragrets
uuuuummmmm
IDEK that's about it
My updating sched is all over the place so have fun with that
Okey dokey
See yah later
C.L.