CHAPTER 2
~♡~
POTIONS
~♡~
Albus liked Potions. He found it was the only subject at Hogwarts in which he always did well and got his best grades.
He and Scorpius sat in their usual place in the Potions classroom - at the back. There they were undisturbed most of the time and somewhat protected from mean looks.
Slughorn was still the professor of Potions. Unfortunately, because of his old age, he was no longer the fastest in terms of thinking - but he could still teach very well.
Rose sat by one of the front cauldrons - together with one of her friends named Alicia.
The classroom door slammed shut and Slughorn marched to his desk. He turned to his students and looked around once to make sure everyone was there. Then he put his hands on his hips and opened his mouth. "So, today we're going to tackle one of the most dangerous potions: Amortentia. What does this potion do?"
When Albus heard these words from Slughorn's mouth, he wanted to sink into the ground and curse everything.
Somehow it was so predictable and yet it was pure torture for Albus.
He quickly looked at Scorpius, who continued to stare ahead. Albus sighed quietly and turned his gaze back to Slughorn.
"Mrs. Granger Weasley?"
"This potion causes the victim to become obsessed with a certain person, which looks like being in love, but is not real love and was only forced. That's why this potion is so dangerous."
Half of the class started whispering.
"Perfect, Mrs. Weasley! Now, please start brewing the potion." Slughorn clapped his hands once and then sat down on his chair. Scorpius nudged Albus lightly. "I'll get the ingredients." He stood up and started walking.
In the meantime, Albus opened the right page of the book and read the instructions carefully.
Scorpius put the ingredients on the table and Albus began to explain what the instructions said and began to cut some of the ingredients.
After they had thrown everything into the cauldron, Scorpius began to stir everything.
Albus watched him closely. He didn't even know he was doing it. It was subconscious.
And it wasn't the first time. It had happened many times before.
"Albus, you're staring. Again." A slight smile formed on Scorpius' face.
Albus turned his head away with red cheeks and cleared his throat.
"Sorry."
Scorpius shook his head and gave Albus a smile. "It's fine."
"Really?"
"Really."
♡
Albus was currently wandering around the halls of Hogwarts alone because Scorpius was in Divination class - which Albus had not taken.
"Albus!" Rose ran after Albus and stopped abruptly when Albus stopped moving forward.
He sighed quietly and then turned around. "Yes?"
Rose looked at him, slightly annoyed. "It's really hard to find you without Malfoy."
"That's all you wanted?" Albus' voice had taken on a provocative undertone.
Rose crossed her arms. "Of course not. But..." She exhaled loudly. "Don't you think it's about time we told our other relatives the truth?" Suddenly James and Lily appeared next to Rose.
Lily had a pitying look on her face.
"Stop it. That's my business, not yours." Albus was about to walk away when James spoke up.
"I hate to say this now..." James sighed once. "Either you say it during the Christmas holidays or one of us does."
Albus stopped immediately and heard Lily gasp in shock. "James, that's not possible."
Albus clenched his hands into fists and then looked James coldly in the eyes. "Stop interfering and leave me alone."
James' eyes turned to pain.
He wanted to say something, but Lily pulled him away angrily. Albus turned around and disappeared as quickly as possible.
Albus just wanted the old James back, with whom he had gotten on so well. Where had he gone?
Albus just kept walking without looking ahead. Until he accidentally bumped into a person who immediately put their arms around him.
"Hey...You should pay attention to your surroundings when you walk." Scorpius' voice was warm and gentle, which calmed Albus down immediately.
"I'm sorry." Albus whispered, trying to ignore his racing heart - which he had because of the boy standing in front of him.
Just falling into Scorpius' arms without knowing it beforehand was something very different for Albus and his feelings.
"What's wrong?" asked Scorpius and Albus pulled away from him so he could look into his eyes from a good distance - he preferred to keep a little distance, so that he didn't do anything else he would regret later.
"James...James threatened me that one of our relatives would tell the truth during the Christmas holidays if I didn't do it by then." Albus' voice was slightly shaky. He knew full well that this would not go down well in his family. Scorpius was a Malfoy - even if his personality almost didn't fit in with that.
Scorpius' eyes briefly showed a hint of anger.
"Al, I'm so sorry." Scorpius looked at Albus with concern.
Albus shook his head slightly. "It was clear that it would come to this at some point. I still hope none of them do it."
"I don't think they would really do that. Your family doesn't want to lose you. They'll know that it would be wrong if they really did that. In the end, they're probably just worried about you because they're afraid that you might turn evil." Scorpius spoke calmly to Albus. He didn't want Albus to feel bad and worry.
"Scorp, I-"
"Albus!"
"JAMES SIRIUS POTTER! Leave him alone now!" Lily's voice was loud and echoed in the corridor.
Albus and Scorpius turned around and saw James stop quickly when he heard Lily's voice.
Unconsciously, Albus moved a little closer to Scorpius. Scorpius noticed this and got the feeling that he would protect Albus at any time. Even if it meant protecting him from his own family.
Albus folded his arms and looked at James, who was about to say something with a sad expression when Lily intervened.
It had looked as if James wanted to apologize.
"James, we're going. Now!" Lily took his arm and tugged lightly. Finally, James sighed and gave in.