Sunday night the twins returned to Hogwarts, immediately showering and retiring to their dorms for sleep. They'd be back to school the next morning. Scorpius was fidgeting in his bed, tossing and turning. The other students were asleep in their own bunks, but he was having trouble with insomnia. It shouldn't be that surprising, considering everything. When he finally did fall asleep, in the early hours of morning, he was swept into a memory he'd rather forget.

The Hogwarts hallway was empty as Scorpius left the Slytherin dungeons. His wand stuck out of his pocket, and his iPod and earbuds were in the other. He was looking for Raven, but the girls dormitories and the common room were empty. Everyone was in class. But his twin wasn't; so he knew something was up. Scorpius walked through the halls but paused when he heard a few different voices. He probably would've kept going had he not recognized Raven's distressed tone. "... your hands off me!"

Scorpius jogged around the corner, where voices snapped more into clarity. "Just want what you're giving everyone else." Daniel's sly and mischievous tone had Scorpius immediately angered. Rage soured through him, and he found the scene. Daniel and two of his friends had Raven cornered, and had clearly grabbed her. Her lipstick was smeared, her shirt unbuttoned. She was trying to push a guy away from touching and removing her bra. Raven's wand was on the floor, her books as well. Clearly they planned this.

"Get away from her!" Scorpius demanded, and watched as the three boys immediately looked up, having not seen or heard him approach. They seemed shocked, almost guilty that they were caught. But they weren't about to drop the act now.

"Mind your business, Deatheater." One of the friends snapped in his direction. Raven was crying, covering herself with her arms. Scorpius walked up to him without hesitation, kneeing him in the groin. The boy howled in pain, bending over. As Scorpius turned, he raised his wand. Daniel had mirrored his actions. Wands pointed at one another.

"What are you going to do?" Daniel taunted. His other uninjured friend grabbed Raven from behind, trapping her in his grasp. Scorpius didn't know what he was going to do. He was so fueled with anger he couldn't think, he could hardly see clearly. He was becoming blind with rage, literally. Raven cried for him to stop, not wanting her twin to get into trouble. Scorpius felt that he was mad enough to kill him, all of them.

"Crucio!" The Cruciatus curse came tumbling out of Scorpius's mouth, and a surge of power came with it. It was an icy cool feeling that went through him, making him feel on top of the world. But he wasn't. Using an unforgivable curse wasn't just forbidden, but it was straight up dark magic. And it took effect immediately. Daniel's wand fell out of his hand and clattered to the floor, he fell to his knees. The veins popping out across his forehead and neck in pain. The boy holding Raven immediately dropped her in shock, running over to Daniel. Scorpius didn't stop, though. The torture curse is what he deserved.

Tears streamed down Daniel's cheeks, and he gasped like he was being set on fire from the inside. Then he began to scream when he couldn't stay silent any longer. The pain was clearly so excruciating that it was breaking him. Scorpius could hear his friend shouting, and Raven was sobbing. But it was like the noises were muffled by a cloud, and only Scorpius existed in that moment; bringing payback to the person who touched his sister. "Scorpius!" Raven grabbed his arm, breaking his concentration. Scorpius snapped back into a reality, lowering his hand. Daniel gasped out, in relief and fear.

He was crying on the floor, curled up into himself. His friend knelt beside him, looking at Scorpius with wide and scared eyes. Clearly he thought that he was next. Scorpius turned to Raven, who hugged him and quietly composed herself.

"Hey. Wake up. You've missed breakfast." Raven yanks the blanket off of Scorpius's body. Immediately cold air hit him and he woke from the dream. His mind was spinning from the memory that he couldn't even register he slept through his alarm. Albus didn't even bother to wake him? Strange. All the other boys were gone by this time, waiting for classes. Scorpius blinked, rubbing his head. He was waking up with a headache. Wonder why. "Scorpius?"

"I know." He replies, feeling like her voice was jabbing into his ears painfully. "Migraine." He sat up slowly.

"Here, let me help." Raven offers, coming over to him. She pulls out her wand. Scorpius is about to reject her help but she already casts the spell. "Lenio." It was a rather simple pain relief spell, and it started to slowly work on Scorpius's head. Enough where he wasn't squinting to keep out the light from the window. "How's that?"

"You've been practicing." He muses, slowly getting up and looking for something to change into.

"Christine has been tutoring me and Ashton is good at magic so sometimes he shows me things. I pick up on them." Raven answers, waiting while her brother changes into his uniform. She busies herself looking out of the window between Scorpius's and Potter's bunks, watching as owls fly too and from the Great Hall. Scorpius didn't put his tie on, just pulling on his Slytherin sweater over the white collared button down and called it a day. He grabs his scarf, knowing it was bound to be cold in the castle. The boy leaves his sister waiting while he fixes his hair, brushes his teeth, etc.

"Okay. Ready." He comes back to the dorms, and Raven smiles, leading the way happily out to the Great Hall. Scorpius knew breakfast was well over, but he was going to at least grab a coffee before class. He was exhausted. Eyes droopy, legs dragging. Other students were already waiting outside classrooms for their professors. Raven falls into step beside him. She wasn't wearing the Slytherin skirt today, but had traded it out for black jeans. It was too cold for even Raven to dress fashionably. Her hair was done in braids, and then pinned up on her head. A few strands were pulled forward to frame her face. Makeup was on. No one had an inkling of knowledge that only a couple days ago she looked like a druggie.

"Why are you so quiet?" She asked as they walked. Scorpius shrugs. "Tell me."

"Had a dream about when Daniel and... when they cornered you." Scorpius let's out a shaky breath. They never mentioned the Cruciatus curse. Even Daniel never told anyone, and Scorpius often wondered if Daniel had obliterated that memory from his friend's mind. Scorpius wished he could obliterate it from his own mind. Raven clearly didn't want to have this deep of a conversation this early in the morning because she answered only with a short 'mmhmm.' "He's my brother. Isn't it weird that I tortured him?"

"Siblings torture eachother. It's not weird." Raven teases, clearly not referring to the same kind of torture that Scorpius was. "He deserved it."

"Yes, yes he did." Scorpius agreed, and that was the end of it. He still felt a twinge of guilt. Perhaps not over the actual pain it caused, but the power and rush he got from it. What kind of monster would like that? The one descended from the darkest wizard to ever exist, perhaps? Scorpius hated that he had to think that way, but he couldn't stop. Everything he did that people looked down on, thought was evil, was that because of his lineage? Was that more sinister than he thought?

Scorpius grabbed his coffee and headed towards class, trying to ignore the thoughts swirling through his mind.
—-

Scorpius yawned at the lunch table, finishing everything on his plate as Raven and Ashton shamelessly flirted with eachother across from him. Luckily, they kept the snogging to a minimum. It was halfway through lunch hour when Albus finally joined them. "Where have you been?" Scorpius inquires, but his eyes caught the disheveled appearance of Lysander Scamander hurrying to the Hufflepuff table, and his question was answered. He clenched his jaw. Albus didn't tutor him until after classes- why were they now meeting at lunch? Jealousy burned in him like a flame.

"Helping Lysander with flash cards for his next class. There's a quiz." Albus explains. Raven greets the boy with a smile but quickly returns to her conversation with her boyfriend. Albus sits beside Scorpius, starting to fill his plate with food. Scorpius looked at him, but the boy looked perfectly groomed like always. Uniform was straight and smooth, tie on. Hair combed neatly. Still, it did nothing to appease his jealousy. Was Albus running his fingers through Lysander's messy white-tipped blonde curls? Scamander definitely had the appearance that he had been in a compromising position right before entering the Great Hall. "Oh, you're pissed." Albus finally looks up from his food to see Scorpius's face.

"Yeah, no shit I'm pissed. You could've told me you wouldn't be here until the end of lunch." Scorpius's tone was harsh, but he kept his voice low. Across the table Raven was smiling at Ashton, who was smiling wide enough for dimples to show back at her. They were talking about Valentine's Day, even though it was a month away. Something cheesy and romantic was being shared between them, while Scorpius seethed.

"It took longer than I expected." Albus replies between bites.

"Oh I got it. He lasted longer than you expected." Scorpius snapped, grabbing his notebook and getting up. Albus's eyes widened. Raven looked over as her brother stood. "I'll see you later." Scorpius tells her with a simple nod, not even giving Albus a look before he stomped- literally stomped- out of the room.

Scorpius walked down the hallways, pulling out his phone and dialing Oliver. His friend answered. "Hello?"

"Hi." Scorpius greeted lamely, swinging his notebook by his side. He walked towards the courtyard, where the tree was that he caught on fire. "Are you busy?"

"No. Just going through and packing some things." Oliver answers. "What's up? You sound upset."

"I'm not, I'm just being dumb." There's a pause. "My emotions are being dumb." Scorpius clarifies, still feeling angry. He sat on the bench under the tree, looking around at some stray students here and there. None were close to him. Snow crunches under his feet as he sits. There's some shuffling on the other end of the line.

"Emotions tend to do that. That's why they are emotions." Oliver answers. Scorpius is quiet, holding the phone up to his ear. "Are you at school?"

"Yes. It's lunch." Scorpius deadpans. "Albus was with Lysander for most of lunch." His voice was dry.

"Is that when he tutors?" Oliver asks, clearly have no idea how Hogwarts worked or how tutoring was factored into the day.

"No." Scorpius paused. "Not usually. Maybe their sleeping together." Oliver was silent, and then there was laughing.

"What? No. I don't think so. I already told you Albus is obsessed with you."

"I'm not daft. Usually I'm right about these things." Scorpius wasn't amused at all.

"Did you ask him?" Oliver wondered, trying to stifle his giggling.

"No. I don't want to sound..."

"Jealous?" Oliver guessed. Scorpius rolled his eyes. "You guys are best friends. It's not going to sound that way unless you ask in an attacking manner. Which is what you do, most of the time."

"Why should I care? He's going to think I'm being dramatic."

"You like him babe. You really like him. That's why you're upset. Do you think he'd lie to you?" Oliver's endearing pet name just made Scorpius grimace. Why does he call people things like that? Love, babe, hunny. That was new, Oliver never use to do that as a kid.

"He doesn't lie." Scorpius sighs. "Ugh." Scorpius spots Albus heading towards him across the lawn. Clearly he got up from the lunch table and nearly immediately followed after. "He's coming over."

"Don't overthink."

"That's easy for you to say." Scorpius ends the call right as Albus walked up. Potter crosses his arms over his chest, leaning most of his weight on one leg. His facial expression was unreadable. "What?" Scorpius asked, setting his phone down.

"Don't get defensive. I came to see what's wrong."

"Nothing." Scorpius dismisses it, looking up at the standing boy. "I just want to be alone."

"You think there's something going on between me and Lysander?" Albus pokes. Scorpius huffed. "There's not. I was seriously just helping him with flash cards."

"He looked... flustered." Scorpius knew how pathetic he sounded and immediately hated it. Regretted it all.

"So did you." Albus observes. Scorpius said nothing. "Why do you think I'd like him?"

"He's got no problems." Scorpius felt like someone was crushing him. He felt like crying, and he hated emotions. He was just having an off day. An emotional, tired, rough day. From the dream to the headache and now this.

"Maybe I like the ones with problems, and daddy issues. With dyed hair and a sensitive personality."

"Literally piss off." Scorpius looked away from him with attitude. Albus was amused. He sat down by Scorpius, close enough that their legs touched.

"Scorpius, the boy is straight." Albus murmured. "He has a muggle girlfriend." Scorpius felt his skin light on fire. Ah fuck. He was embarrassed, and raised a hand to cover his eyes. It didn't hide the blush up his neck and face. Albus bites his bottom lip, trying not to misinterpret this as jealousy. Maybe it was jealousy, but Albus wasn't the kind of person to poke the bear. "I gave him one of my Uncle George's new candies. They give you a fever to get out of class. He was having anxiety about the quiz so I figured I'd give it to him so that he can retake it another day." Albus explains.

"Fuck me." Scorpius muttered to himself, feeling foolish. Shame made his ears hot. He wanted to hide in a turtle shell and just live the rest of his life there.

"If you insist." Albus jokes, hearing his words. Scorpius blushed harder and used his sleeves to cover his face. "Now you're definitely flustered. Are you trying to get out of the quiz too?"

"Fuck off Albus." Scorpius replies but he laughs a little.

"Well, you hanging out with Aries makes me feel like this so. Consider it payback." Albus retorts. Scorpius pulls his sleeves away from his face, looking at him in surprise. "Don't look at me like that. I'm capable of being possessive." Potter got a little pink now. "It just manifests in different ways."

"And how do you feel better about it?" Scorpius asked curiously.

"Oh. Well I've never been like that with a bestfriend so I don't know how- how it works." Albus begins. "If we're being honest..." He trails off, rearranging his scarf for something to do. "Hickeys."

"What- What?" Scorpius clarifies.

"Like I said, I never had the problem with a best friend. Only Luke." Albus bit his lip. "And hickeys kind of claimed Luke. So I felt better about him hanging out with people."

"I imagined having this kind of conversation under very different circumstances." Scorpius gave a laugh, looking around at the courtyard.

"Do tell."

"I'll leave it to your imagination."

"You don't want to know what kind of circumstances my imagination comes up with, Scorpius."

"Don't leave me in suspense, Al."

"Al?"

"Don't like it?" Scorpius rose an eyebrow, meeting his gaze. The pink on his cheeks was now from the cold instead of the blush.

"I think I can get use to it." Albus decides. "Lunch is over." He stood up, and Scorpius did as well.

"What circumstances or situations are we talking about, here?" Scorpius asks.

"Maybe I'll show you sometime." Albus walks off towards the hallways, not looking back. Scorpius's face was warm again.
—-

Scorpius slid under the blanket at the end of the day, watching as the other Slytherin boys did the same. When all the lights were off he pulled his phone out and sent Albus a text.

Come lay next to me.

A few feet away Albus's phone chirps, and he curses and silences it. When he reads the message he looks up and over at Scorpius, and then replies over text. Scorpius's phone buzzes in his hand.

Albus: No, boys are awake. What about Daniel?

Scorpius frowned at the message, looking around the room. Most of the boys were closing their eyes, already focused on sleep. And on the other side of Scorpius's bed, Daniel had his back facing them.

You act like we're going to be loud.

Scorpius sent the text, looking over at Albus as he reads it. There's a small smile on his face that's illuminated from the light on his screen.

Albus: I'm usually loud in bed.

When Scorpius reads the text he has to cover his mouth to keep from laughing. He wheezes, sucking in oxygen. Albus smirked from a few feet away. Scorpius sat up, and was silent for a moment. Looking to see if any of the boys stirred. They didn't. He threw the blankets off him and walked a few feet over to Albus's bunk. Potter gives him a you've got to be kidding me look, and then makes room. As much room as possible, at least. These beds were certainly not as comfortable as Scorpius's at the Malfoy Manor. Scorpius climbed under the blankets beside him, facing him when he laid down.

Albus readjusted so that they both fit well and were comfortable, a blanket covering most of their bodies. Scorpius leaned forward so that he could whisper ever so softly. "I didn't think you'd be the loud type." Albus grinned, and then leaned in to whisper in Scorpius's ear.

"So you've thought about how I'd be in bed?" Albus's witty remark had Scorpius blushing. He was thankful the lights were off and it was hard to see anything, much less a blush. Scorpius just shook his head in amusement, not replying. Albus raises his arms out of the blanket, moving his hands to touch Scorpius's face in the dark. His hand softly caresses his neck and then up to his face, thumb running across his skin. Scorpius didn't bother stopping him, just pulled Albus closer by the waist, gently pressing his fingers into Potter's skin. It was like Albus was trying to remember Scorpius's features by touch.

Scorpius didn't know why exactly he wanted to trace thumbs over closed eyes and cheekbones. But he didn't ask, knowing it would risk one of the boys waking up. Albus didn't seem to feel the need to explain. He just took the initiative and did it. Familiarizing himself with Scorpius by his sense of touch. Going over his lips, Albus expected chapped and dry. But it was the opposite. Soft and dewy. He wondered how long it had been since the boy smoked. Smoking made lips dry, so Albus was focused a little too much on remembering when he smelled cigarette smoke last.

Scorpius on the other hand, was rather flushed from the soft touches, his mind racing. His heart pounding in his ears. Albus's thumb on his lip created the desire to kiss the brunette. It was there before, but now it was only a few inches away. Scorpius couldn't though. He knew it would mess with Albus's feelings. He knew that they way he felt now, might change on a whim. Maybe he'd close up suddenly about this. Then where would Albus be? Hurt? No, Scorpius couldn't loose his resolve. He masked his feelings with a joke. "You're actually quite gentle in bed." The whisper was barely audible.

But Scorpius knew Albus heard it because immediately the brunette tugged his fingers in Scorpius's hair as though to say otherwise. He gasped a little at the feeling, a tingle shooting all the way down to his groin. His arms and