Chapter Twenty-One

            “God, I am so sick of that big fairy Albus Potter prancing around here like he’s so special just because he’s fucking Scorpius Malfoy,” Stephanie Mills complained. “Like everyone else didn’t get there first.”

“Yeah, but Albus gets to do it repeatedly. Have you ever even heard of someone else that Scorpius went back for seconds with?” asked Morgana Harper.

“You’ve heard of me, surely,” Mirabella Zabini snapped, sick of this line of conversation already.

Stephanie’s eyebrows raised in anticipation of gossip. “Yeah? How many times?”

It had been twice, and the second time, he’d been quite drunk, but she said, “At least six occasions that I can recall.”

“Big deal,” Butch McAllister said, rolling his eyes. “So you fucked the guy six times. He’s been fucking Potter for six months. I think you’re jealous.”

The rage began to build in Mirabella again, but she tamped it down and smiled sweetly. “Who said it was only six times? I said ‘six occasions.’ Scorpius may have a lot of flaws, including seriously bad taste in the recent months, but his turnaround time ain’t one of them.” All the girls tittered. “As for being jealous, why would I give a fuck? Besides being a remarkable shag, Scorpius Malfoy doesn’t have a single redeeming quality. Albus Potter is welcome to him.”

Stephanie snorted. “First of all, he’s hot as fuck.”

“Please, I am sooo much prettier than he is,” Mirabella scoffed.

“He’s rich.”

“So am I.”

“He’s obviously a closet romantic.”

Mirabella raised one eyebrow. “Stephanie, love, Scorpius isn’t a closet anything.” Everyone laughed at that one, but Mirabella’s interest was peaked. “And why would you say a disgusting thing like that? Romantic? Ugh. Deliver me from boys who think they’re romantic.”

“Well, my cousin is a Gryffindor and she happened to be in the common room when Albus told the whole little tale of their engagement. I guess his proposal was all meaningful and they said a bunch of stuff that they’d said on the night they got together, and blah, blah, blah. Apparently Albus even got Scorpius a bracelet for Christmas that says something like, ‘every day for the rest of our lives,’ that’s supposedly some special phrase to them.”

“He’s probably pledging a daily blowjob,” Butch quipped.

Stephanie ignored him. “Anyway, according to my cousin, Scorpius refuses to take it off ever, and it’s all this high drama with them all the time.”

“Who is this well-informed cousin? I don’t remember you having a cousin in Gryffindor.” Mirabella asked suspiciously.

“Like I’d spend time hanging out with a damn Gryffindor. Besides, Fiona’s only a third-year. And boring as hell. I usually only see her at Christmas, and the only reason that I even talked to her at all this year was that my mum was bitching at me to be nice to her.”

Mirabella sniffed. “She probably just has a crush on Scorpius.”

“Please! She’s a total dyke. I called it years ago, and it just keeps getting more obvious. My grandmother is going to die the first time she brings a girl home for the hols.”

Everyone laughed, except Mirabella.

******************

            Scorpius sighed. It was getting late and his eyes ached, but he wanted to finish the chapter that he was studying before going to bed. He smiled at Albus who was curled in a little ball in one of the squashy armchairs that filled the Hufflepuff common room. Just a second ago, he’d been reading his Charms textbook, but now he was dozing. His quill dropped from his fingers onto the carpet. Scorpius picked his own quill back up and scratched something off his notes. He’d just started reading again when Rose’s head drifted to his shoulder, sending his quill skittering across the parchment, leaving a crooked line.

            He glanced down at his arm and saw that Rose had fallen asleep as well. He smiled down at her and closed his book, setting it aside. “Rosie,” he said, shaking her a bit. “Wake up, love. It’s time for bed.”

“Mmmph? Scorpius?” She sat up, confused.

“You fell asleep, love.”

“How long ago?” she asked fuzzily.

“I think only just. But you’d better get back to Ravenclaw. It’s quite late. Let me send Albus up to bed and then I’ll walk you.”

“You don’t have to do that,” she protested, sticking textbooks in her schoolbag.

“I know. But I’m going to.” He walked over to Albus’s chair and tilted Albus’s face up, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips. Albus made a small noise, but didn’t wake up, so Scorpius kissed him again, this time with more enthusiasm.

Albus’s arms came up around his neck and Scorpius pulled back. “Hey, Baby.”

“Mmmmm. What a wonderful way to wake up. When did I fall asleep?”

“Just a couple of minutes ago. You’d better go up to bed. I’m going to walk Rosie back to her dormitory. I’ll be up to join you in a bit.”

“Good. I’ll wait up for you.”

“I doubt you can, but feel free to try,” Scorpius said with a grin. “I love you.”

“I love you, too. See you in a bit. ‘Night, Rosie.”

“Bye, Alby,” Rose said, smiling.

“Got all your things?”

“I think so.” They left the Hufflepuff dormitory and began the climb up to Ravenclaw tower.

“You should really make friends with a Hufflepuff girl who can find you a place to stay over if you needed to,” he complained, teasingly.

“You and Albus could’ve made room in your bed,” she teased back.

“Now you sound like Lily.”

“Perish the thought!”

He laughed. “Here, let me take those,” he said, grabbing her schoolbag. “You look exhausted.”

“Thanks. Just what every girl longs to hear.”

“Beautiful but exhausted,” he amended. “You’re not working yourself too hard with your studying, are you?”

“Don’t be a mother hen. You know that if I want to get into the advanced junior healers’ program, I need top scores.”

“You’ll fly through your healer training just like you’ll fly through exams. You’re going to be an amazing healer, Rosie.”

“Thank you. But I still worry about it.”

“I know. Which is why I’m being a mother hen.”

She laughed. “I promise that I’m not overdoing it. By the way, I’m very put out, you know.”

“Because I accused you of studying too hard?”

“No because you gave Albus a much better wake-up than mine. I get shaken like a rag doll and he gets kisses.”

He laughed. “Well than next time you fall asleep on me, do it at an angle that would make that humanly possible.”

“I knew I’d overlooked something,” she joked.

“You? Overlook something? I highly doubt it.”

“Oh, stuff it.” She stopped at the foot of the last staircase that led up to the tower room door. “I can take it from here. Besides, I’m quite mad at you now.”

“What if I make it up to you?”

“How?”

“By telling you that exhaustion agrees with you.”

She swatted his arm and took her schoolbag back. “Don’t be an arse.”

“What if I promise to come back in the morning and kiss you awake?”

“I think Albus might object to that.”

“Yes, he’s no fun at all.” Scorpius grinned and leaned over, pecking her quickly on the lips. “Better?”

“Much. Consider yourself forgiven.”

“I know my way around the ladies.”

She snorted. “This from the man who’s marrying my male cousin.”

“What can I say, love? He kisses much, much better than you do.”

She whacked his arm again. “Go kiss him then, you insensitive prick.”

“I think I will. I have girl germs now.”

“As a future healer, I can tell you that such a thing is impossible. And immature.”

“Watch it, Weasley.”

She stuck her tongue out and he laughed at her. “If that’s an invitation, I’m afraid you’ve violated me enough for one night.”

“You are such an arrogant bastard sometimes!” she complained indignantly.

“Yeah, and I’m also your best friend.”

“I know. And I’m yours. I guess we’re stuck with each other.”

“Not complaining,” he said seriously.

“Me either. Now go to bed before Albus thinks I kidnapped you.”

“Don’t say you never thought about it,” he joked, turning to walk away.

“Arrogant,” he heard her mutter. He smiled to himself and went to see if Albus had managed to wait up for him.

********************

            When Scorpius reached his bed, he stripped down to his shorts and climbed in next to Albus, who hadn’t managed to stay awake. Scorpius smiled down at him. Carefully, so as not to wake him up, Scorpius snuggled against him and settled down to go to sleep himself.

Albus’s hand was lying across his chest, and Scorpius could see his engagement ring. Smiling, he picked up Albus’s hand and laced their fingers together. He fell asleep like that, still holding his fiancé’s hand.

Chapter Twenty-Two

            When Scorpius woke up the next morning after the marathon study session, he found Albus already gone. He stretched and his hand brushed something on the pillow. It was a scrap of parchment that read:

Dear Scorpius,

I watched you sleep for a while, and you looked so perfect that I couldn’t wake you. I know you don’t have class until later today. I hope you’re not mad that I didn’t say goodbye. I’ll see you for lunch, and I’ll make it up to you later, I promise. I love you forever. More than anything else in the world.

            Your loving fiancé,

                                    Albus

            Scorpius smiled. Albus never failed to fill him with love, even when he wasn’t around. Checking the clock, he saw that he could still have a bit of a lie-in before Arithmancy. Tucking the sweet note into his trunk for safekeeping, he climbed back in bed, rolled over and went back to sleep.

*********************

            “God, Fiona! You’re amazing!” Mirabella gushed. Color flooded the younger girl’s face, but she smiled shyly. Mirabella pulled a package of Muggle cigarettes out of her nightstand and lit one, watching the smoke curl up towards the canopy.

She held out her hand, offering Fiona a drag, but the girl shook her head. They were both still nude, and Mirabella’s eyes flicked dispassionately over the skinny blonde girl before her. She knew that Fiona was too busy looking at Mirabella’s lush curves to notice.

Once Stephanie had inadvertently planted the idea in her head, it had been ridiculously easy to find and take advantage of the younger girl. Mirabella hadn’t watched Scorpius all those years without learning something.

She simply employed a few of Scorpius’s best tricks, and it only took a week before the girl was panting after her. Mirabella then graciously allowed the girl the pleasure of coming into her bed. Mirabella was decidedly not a lesbian, but she’d done her fair share of experimenting.

Fiona, who had never had another lover, was pathetically eager, and even more pathetically grateful. She was in complete awe of Mirabella’s age, sexual assurance, and of course her gorgeous face and body. The plan was simply too easy to believe.

“Well, I guess I should get dressed,” Fiona started.

“No, stay. I love being with you like this,” Mirabella said sweetly, tamping out her fag. Fiona smiled brightly with that always-present gratitude, and Mirabella’s skin crawled. “Entertain me, Darling.”

“How?”

“Hmmm…” Mirabella pretended to consider this. “Well, you know, I used to be an especial friend of Scorpius Malfoy’s. He’s been depressingly absent from the Slytherin dorms since he started seeing Albus Potter, and I’ve never even heard the full story of my old friend’s engagement. You’re friendly with that crowd; you must have heard the story. Regale me.”

“I’m not really friends with them,” Fiona said shyly.

“Pish! A sweet girl like you? They must just love you. I know I do.”

Fiona blushed again, but she smiled. “It is a pretty cute story. See, it starts in the library. Scorpius had to beg Albus’s forgiveness after humiliating him that day at breakfast…”

Mirabella lit another fag and smiled.

********************

            Mirabella lounged against the wall, waiting for a sign of Albus Potter. She was wearing Ravenclaw robes (which she’d intimidated out of a shy fifth-year) instead of her normal Slytherin ones. She figured that Albus was less likely to be suspicious if she weren’t a Slytherin. She’d cast several careful glamours to disguise her appearance. She’d made sure that she was pretty enough that it was believable that Scorpius would’ve wanted her, but unremarkable enough that Albus would believe he hadn’t noticed her before. She’d thought of everything.

Suddenly she saw him come around the corner, alone. She sighed with relief, even though she was nearly certain that she had remembered Scorpius’s schedule well enough to know a time that she could catch Albus alone. She started to walk and very carefully, so he’d never know that it was deliberate, she bumped into Albus and dropped her schoolbag, which spilled everywhere.

“Oh, Merlin! I’m so sorry. I wasn’t paying attention.”

“That’s all right,” he said in a friendly tone, stooping to help her pick up her books.

She looked up at him, and promptly burst into tears, something that she had been able to do convincingly and on cue since she was young. It was a handy skill to develop.

“What’s wrong?”

“I didn’t see that it was you. I’m sorry. I’d better leave you alone,” she said, brokenly, tears still pouring down her face.

“Hey, what do you mean?” he asked gently, steering her to a nearby bench and sitting next to her. “Do we know each other?”

“No. I’m… I shouldn’t be talking about it to you. It’s in the past, and it’s over and done now,” she wept.

“You can tell me. Did I do something wrong?” He seemed genuinely concerned, and Mirabella’s heart soared.

“No! It’s not your fault at all. It’s mine. I was stupid and young. And Scorpius is just so… Well, you know how he is. Irresistible.”

“Scorpius?” Albus asked, clearly puzzled.

“I know he’s with you now, but I really thought that he and I would last. I’m afraid I believed everything he said to me. I was such a fool.”

“What do you mean?” Albus’s voice was stiff this time.

“I dated Scorpius last year. He’s probably told you about me. The infamous ex.”

“I didn’t know he dated anyone seriously.”

“Well, it was only serious on my part, I’m afraid. He slept with everyone else he could while we were together, and I didn’t even realize. I should have, considering that’s how we got together. He’s just so gorgeous and I was in awe of him. I let him practically drag me off, and he told me the most lovely things. He said, ‘I never even saw you before today, and you’re doing this to me.’ I fell for it, and I slept with him, even though I didn’t know him at all.

He took me to a special room in the castle that was filled with candles and this gorgeous bed with pink silk sheets. It was overwhelming. When someone like Scorpius Malfoy says to an innocent girl, ‘I’m going to fuck you, you know that right?’ it makes her go weak in the knees every time. I acted like a total slut, but he was so sweet. He kept calling me ‘Baby,’ and he told me… Oh, god.”

“What did he tell you?” Albus’s voice was getting a dangerous edge now, and it gave Mirabella a little thrill that was nearly sexual.

“He said, ‘You belong to me now.’ Looking back on it, I can’t believe I actually fell for such a line. Especially since when I woke up in the morning, he was gone.”

“Was he?” Albus’s voice was definitely dangerous now.

“Yes, but I let him talk his way out of it later like a little idiot. He found me in the hall and he actually begged. He told me that he’d spend every day for the rest of our lives making it up to me if I just gave him another chance. I ate it up. After all, he’s bloody gorgeous. It’s hard to resist a beautiful man saying such lovely things.

I can’t believe that I’m talking to you about this! You must think I’m horribly insensitive, but after I broke off our engagement, I still had hope that we’d work things out. But when I heard he was engaged to you now, it broke my heart all over again. When I saw you today, it just overwhelmed me.”

“You were engaged?” Albus sounded like he was on the verge of strangling her, and Mirabella entertained a very brief sexual fantasy wherein Albus Potter choked her. This current version of Albus was quite tantalizing.

“It was beautiful. He gave me a ring that had belonged to Astoria’s mother. And he…” She let the tears come in fresh bursts. “He told me that it had taken him five years to see me, but only five seconds to fall in love with me. I believed him without restraint. We didn’t tell his family, because he said they wouldn’t approve since we were so young. I think he wanted to keep it a secret so that it didn’t interfere with his other activities.

That, of course, meant sleeping with everyone else, male or female, who crossed his path. I was too blinded by his sweet words and my shiny ring to even see it. Oh, Albus!” she cried, clutching his arm, “You have no idea how lucky you are! He’s really all yours like he never was for me. He’s told everyone about your engagement, he’s stopped sleeping around, and he hasn’t fed you a bunch of trite lines, either, I’d wager.

I always fancied myself to be smart. I know now that there’s book smart, and then there’s life smart. And I failed at the latter. The only thing I did right was have the sense to throw his ring back into his face when I caught him in bed with another girl. But so help me, I still miss him every day. Sometimes I almost think I could’ve lived with his lies, since I don’t know what I’ll do now. You’re so lucky, Albus. So lucky.”

She burst into fresh sobs. “I’m so sorry. I have no business even coming near you. I won’t do it again.” Before he could say anything further, she jumped up, clutching her bag, and ran down the hall towards Ravenclaw Tower. She ran for a while, and then ducked into a broom cupboard in case he had decided to come after her.

She sat down on an overturned bucket and she had to bite her knuckles to keep the laughter from escaping. She’d seen everything so clearly. The stricken look on his face. The burning hatred flashing in his eyes. The way his hands had been clenching and unclenching, almost as if he were unaware he was doing it.

Revenge tasted so sweet. Or maybe it was the blood seeping from the tiny teeth marks on her knuckles. Either way, Mirabella had never been quite so proud of herself before. Scorpius Malfoy was about to have his life ruined the same way he’d ruined hers, she was quite sure of it.

Her only regret was that she wouldn’t be there to see it happen. But when Scorpius moved back into Slytherin, it would be easy to console him. If she could put on an act this good, then she’d undoubtedly be able to convince Scorpius that she had nothing but his best interests at heart.

Removing the Ravenclaw robes, Mirabella stuffed them behind some mops and took the clip out that had been holding her long hair in a tidy bun. She waved her wand in front of her face and removed the spells to change her appearance. Clad in jeans and a blouse, she left the broom cupboard. Maybe she’d find Fiona. She could look at the blonde head working between her legs, and maybe if she squinted she could imagine someone else there.