Gift for the_flic
Mod Note: Thanks to khateh for running this show while my computer was away! Everyone give her a big round of applause (or the internet equivalent( hugs? macros? I have no idea?))!

Title: 25
Recipient: the_flic
Author: shadowclub
Disclaimer: All characters and locations are the intellectual property of JKRowling and her associates.
Warnings: Mild sex, poorly veiled plot devices to get pretty boys to make-out? Slightly irrational behavior. Apologies to those who hate the metric system.
Word Count: 8000
Rating: PG-13
Summary: A mysterious illness strikes the all the 5th-7th year boys. Albus and Scorpius are forced to investigate. Everything is mysterious, Albus hates corsets, and Scorpius is an expert in Muggle behavior. No really.
Author Notes: I am so sorry for the delay and the plot and the lack of smut, but I really love your writing so hopefully that counts for something.



*
Nobody said anything when it first struck: an illusion of mirrors, a trick of light they all said to themselves.

When the illusion didn’t disappear, each boy would aim to go at the less popular times to shower leading to strange conversations at four in the morning, each inquiring why the other was up so early.

Then, came the surreptitious glances over the shower wall to compare with the next boy.

Finally, there were books which were quietly consulted.

By the end of the week, it was clear that something was wrong.

*
-2.0 centimeters

The male Prefects conferred with the Head Boy in private. It was agreed that they couldn’t go to the teachers without further evidence, so two were nominated to investigate the matter further.

“Albus, Malfoy, remember to check the aura and magic levels of those who are being affected. If it’s dark magic—.”

“If it’s Dark Magic, then the teachers would already know about it. There are wards to detect these things nowadays. Haven’t you read the newest edition of Hogwarts, A History?” James waved his arms around making him look like a demented bat.

“Just do it! Report to me in a few days.”

“I’m not plebian busboy that you can just order around! I am a Prefect!” Scorpius said, puffing out his chest until it appeared as if it were distended from his body.

James looked him over. “Why on earth you two were chosen is beyond me, but I do know that
I’m Head Boy. And if you get one more mark against you, you can kiss your chances of being Head Boy goodbye.”

Scorpius deflated.

James’s wand vibrated. “And that, young sirs, is my queue to leave, “he said, sweeping out of the room.

Albus sighed. Of all the awful ways to spend the next week, this topped his list.

“Might as well get his over with,” Albus said, pulling down his trousers and pants in one smooth motion. The cool castle air whipped over his skin pulling goose bumps along his thighs.

“What on earth—nrggh!” Scorpius paused to gape at Albus’s exposed cock. “What are you doing? I’m not—.”

“Of course not! I think it would be best if we tracked the shrinkage on ourselves. That way we know if it’s accelerating or constant.”

“We can track it ourselves,” Scorpius said in a strangled whisper.

“We need real numbers, and God knows that sometimes our cocks make us do strange things.”

“Shh! Someone is going to hear!” Scorpius stage-whispered. Albus merely cocked his eyebrow.

“Dear Jesus Christ, I had a bad dream today. A shrimp of a boy wearing the most horrid pants I’ve ever seen: they are grey with yellow smiley faces, a stain—” Scorpius muttered. Albus felt himself flush.

“Shut up! This was my last pair of clean—wait a minute. Stop staring at my underwear and just get on with it!”

Scorpius slowly pulled off his trousers, his wiry frame moving sinuously as he picked them up and started to fold them. “So it doesn’t wrinkle,” he finished, giving Albus’s trousers a glare. They seemed to wrinkle under his stare. Albus couldn’t help but watch the descent of Scorpius’s midnight blue boxer shorts with fascination as they slid over muscled thighs (well, he did play Quidditch after all) until they pooled over his bright white socks and dress shoes.

“It’s been pretty bad for me. Just last week I was thirty centimeters—.”

“Thirty!” Albus repeated. “I didn’t want to tell you this, Malfoy, but I’m the King of England.”

“Fine, it was more like twenty-five, but it must be around twenty-three now.”
Albus gave a short laugh.

“That’s more like fourteen. I highly doubt you were twenty-five before though.”

“Lies!” Scorpius’s yelled.

Albus pulled out his wand and aimed it at Scorpius’s cock. “Measuro!”

16.4 cm floated in the air. Albus reached over and pulled a sheet of parchment out of his bag. He scratched down the date and the measurement. Scorpius had his revenge when Albus’s cock turned out to be a millimeter smaller than his own.

“Potter, I hate to point out the obvious flaw in your method, but I could change your numbers anytime I wanted,” Scorpius said, with a smirk.

“Oh, but you’re not going to. Else, I’ll change your numbers and tell James.”
Scorpius quickly assessed him. “That was devious for a Gryffindor.”

“My sister is a Slytherin,” Albus said, shrugging his shoulder before pulling his trousers back up and buckling his belt.

“And what about you?” Scorpius asked. “Don’t tell me you’re a Slytherin in Gryffindor clothing?”

“I have to go, same time tomorrow. I’ll owl you with a new location,” Albus said, as he
opened the door to leave. He brushed off Scorpius’s jab as though it were nothing.

Scorpius was still standing there, half-naked, as the door shut behind him.

*
-2.2 centimeters

The rumor was that Albus Severus Potter wasn’t quite right in the head.

Then again, when the Sorting Hat causes you to faint, you find your mother murdered, and are born to one of the most famous families in modern history, Scopius supposed it was hard to know what was normal.

At least that’s what the rumors said.

“What do you know about Potter?” he asked Brutus Parkinson.

A dream smile slid over his features. “She has the hottest tits—.”

“The middle one,” Scorpius interrupted.

“The crazy one? I mean it’s all in his name. From what I’ve heard Albus Dumbledore may have saved the world as we know it on multiple occasions, but he was by no means sane. Plus, he was erm, non-linear if you catch my drift. With a name like that it’s no wonder he was almost killed by the Sorting Hat and found his mother death.” Scorpius was amused by Brutus’s rationale. It was strange coming from someone whose name had the word “brute” in it but wouldn’t hurt a fly.

“Are you sure Potter finding his mother wasn’t just a rumor?”

Brutus shook his head. “No, it was hushed up because his father didn’t want his son under suspicion for murder. They won’t let you back into Hogwarts until the case is cleared.”

Scorpius made a noncommittal grunt.

“Why the sudden curiosity?”

The door leading to their dorm was thrown open, revealing the curvy form of Lily Potter.

“I’d like to speak with you.”

Brutus was staring daggers at him thinking it to be some sort of romantic entanglement.

Nobody was quite sure what to make of Lily Potter. Hell, she was the only Potter in ten generations to be sorted into Slytherin. She was most likely one of those diabolical evil sociopaths. Granted she hadn’t shown any signs of it yet. The only other option was that she was one of those whiny “I’ve-been- sorted- into- the- wrong- house- and- refuse- to- live- up- to- my- potential” types.

Oddly enough, she was neither. She was pretty, outgoing, well liked among other houses but with a streak of cunning that had made the other Slytherins grudgingly talk to her. She was also someone you didn’t want to cross.

“Well, I’d like you to be gone, but we can’t all get what we wa—,” Scorpius was suddenly attacked by a horde of miniature bats.

He felt her arm grab the back of his shirt as she pulled him back out the door leaving Brutus gawking at them.

The bats disappeared the moment they were alone.

“What was that for?” Scorpius asked.

She simply smiled. “What’s going on?”

“What on earth are you talking about?”

“Oh, don’t play dumb! I know you, Albus, and James were in a private meeting!”

Oh, and somehow she knew everything that was going on in all the houses.

“Nothing is going on and why are you asking me instead of them?” Scorpius said finally.

She glared at him suspiciously. “I hate to tell you this, Malfoy, but you’re a little easier to crack than they are.”

“Not everything is about you. What do you really want?”

“Are you going to the party on Saturday?”

He had a feeling this could only be going downhill.

“Perhaps.”

“I need you to ask Albus to come with you.”

“What? That’s absurd! Not only is it a Slytherin-only party, but he’s a guy! What would people think?”

“Nothing, they’ll be too wrapped up on judging the Codpiece competition that you could probably bring an elephant in and people wouldn’t notice.”

Fucking, fuck, fuck, he had to somehow stop that competition!

“Why?”

“I need to get him drunk! He needs to relax or he’ll—well, it doesn’t matter. But sometimes the alcohol helps him loosen up. For some reason he holds you in some esteem—.”

“Whoa, where did you get that idea?”

“Fine, I’m lying. But I know for a fact he fancies a Slytherin, and coming in with you would put him in a position to meet them.”

“I’m not sure what reason I have to help you,” Scorpius said. This day was getting progressively stranger and Scorpius wanted nothing more than to hole himself up in his room and contemplate his actions.

“Because I know why you and Albus were meeting with James and I’ll tell people.”

“Your brother is Head Boy. A lot of people meet with him.”

“Want to drop your trousers for me, Malfoy?” Scorpius paled. “I didn’t think so.”

“Psycho Potters and their crazy plans,” Scorpius muttered to himself as he climbed up the stairs. They would be the death of him.

*
-2.2 centimeters

“Something is going on,” Rose muttered to Albus as she sat down at their table to study.
“What do you mean?”

Rose gestured around. “There are far too many people in the library! Is that Hugo?” She asked suddenly. “He hasn’t been in the library... since, since that incident with the man-eating book.”

Albus shook his head. “Let me get this straight. You are convinced that there is a conspiracy because people are in the library.”

“Well, yes,” Rose said laying her wand out next to her book for easy access.

Albus smiled. Rose reached over and stroked the top of his hand lightly. “You’ve been quiet lately.”

He pulled away. “I’m fine.”

Rose let her head fall forward in exasperation. “Let’s study.”

There was a startled yelp from the stacks behind them. Rose jumped up and headed toward the noise almost running into Lydia Bones. She pushed Rose out of the way and marched passed their table. James soon followed struggling to tuck his shirt in as he walked.

“Lydia, it’s not you! I’m just stressed and not in the mood.”

“Since when are you not in the mood?” Lydia shot back. She was a short blonde who had a tendency to lie about her weight, talk about her weight, and worry about her weight. Most of the time Albus wanted to slap her with a fifty-ton weight.

Rose’s head whipped around. “See! The boys of Hogwarts have gone mad!”

“Erm, Rose, I’m sure everything is alright. It’s Friday the 13th isn’t it?”

“No! It’s Thursday!” She leaned closer. “Brutus Parkinson has managed to get some Ivy tablets. I think it might be that.” Albus pondered his for a bit. Could the Ivy tablets have anything to do with it? It was a performance enhancer. Perhaps it sucks the energy out of those around the taker so that they could perform better.

“I have needs, James! And if you can’t satisfy them then I’ll go to someone who can!” Lydia said, spinning around dramatically as she left. James dared Rose and him to say something, but left after a moment of complete silence.

Albus sighed. There were too many possibilities and not enough evidence. For all he knew right not the very walls that surrounded him could hold evil spirits that were sucking away his life.

*
-2.4 centimeters

“Sir, I need some help,” the boy said looking at Scorpius. Scorpius couldn’t recall his name (Apollo? Andrew?), but decided that he had to be the right sort of Slytherin, he did just address Scorpius as ‘Sir’.

“It’s about Muggles,” the boy said, miserably.

“Ahh,” Scorpius pulled out three books from his trunk. Together they made up his Muggle Manual* and were available to the general Slytherin population for a mere three Sickles.

“What kind of help are you looking for?” Scorpius asked, idly flicking through The Millionaire- Cowboy’s Virgin Bride.

“Err… there is this girl and I don’t like her or anything, but she’s told me that she missed microwaves and laughed when I asked what they were. Stupid bint,” he added, stumbling over the last part. It was obvious that he was unused to swearing.

“Here try The Ex-Convict’s Half-Virgin Bride. The bloke has a thing about her microweave or whatever it is. It’s a miracle they are able to live, Muggles.” Apollo sat down on the floor to read the necessary passages.

The door opened and a rush of air came into the room. Albus’s disembodied head appeared in front of Scorpius, who gave a very mouse-like squeak. “You guys have a smaller window,” he said, eventually. Scorpius was still gawking at him.

“How did you get in here?” Scorpius asked.

“The same way you got in here…the door.”

After a few moments, the Invisibility Cloak had been prodded, poked, and looked over by Scorpius who managed to pull himself together. He quickly put up a Silencing Shield around Albus and him.

“Now what? It’s been three days, and the only thing I’ve picked up on is a sudden increase in relationship breakups. I have never seen so many girls cry since I was in nursery school.

This plan seems a little too sophisticated for a student anyway. It wouldn’t make sense to take power away from your Housemates!” Albus said.

“You’re telling me that there is some outside force that is stealing my cock. This particular class of spells probably requires close proximity.”

“We don’t know the spell!”

“Well, everyone would be doing it if it was that easy and undetectable.”

Albus couldn’t deny that.

“Let’s take this measurement before going to talk to James. He may have heard something.”

Strippin in front of Potter was becoming routine rather than unusal now, the embarrassment was gone. Scorpius felt strange without outward burning of his full body blush.

Thinking back on it, he wondered why he had even blushed. It was just a cock after all. He had one too. Granted it was fascinating—Scorpius cut off his thought.

“Potter, there is this party tomorrow and the theme is ‘A little Leather Goes a Long Way”. It would be easy to see if anyone seems to be sporting a few extra meters.”

“Thanks for the invitation, but if there is anything I’d like to less than see people dressed in straps of leather, it’s seeing my sister in straps of leather.”
Apollo who had been observing the whole exchange silently (well, he had appeared engrossed in the book) suddenly gave a keening sound and doubled over. They stopped talking. What was going on? Apollo rolled over revealing his bloodied trousers.

Albus tensed, but didn’t say anything. He quickly rolled the body over and pulled down
Apollo’s trousers.

Scorpius felt ill. Nothing should look like that least of all his cock.

“Shit, fuck, damn, damn, don’t die! This isn’t my fault! I’m innocent!” Scorpius rambled. “I didn’t know Muggles had this sort of power!”

Albus sent out a help signal. The red flare burning his retinas as it traveled out of the room. Scorpius continued to babble.

Slughorn appeared a minute later followed by Professor Lockhart (“Goodness! The House Elves should use a carbon based cleaner to get the blood out or the carpet will lose its color.”) who fluttered around nervously not helping anyone. There was chaos. Professors whirled in from around the castle. Books were thrown, bedclothes overturned. Apollo was levitated out by Madame Promfrey.

“Did Anthony have any enemies?” Albus asked Scorpius when the chaos had died down. Ah, so that was his name.

“No one with this sort of capability. There was that one time where Brutus pushed him into the lake after stunning him, but it was all in good fun.” he replied. “So are you coming to the party?”

Albus opened his mouth to reject him, but stopped. “I don’t really have much of a choice, do I? One can hardly trust your judgment to be unbiased.”

Thus, it was settled.

*Scorpius has never actually met a Muggle and found these books in the bottom of his Grandfather’s desk when they were cleaning it out. He has since reviewed them many times.

*
-2.6 centimeters

Scorpius couldn’t look away. They were too bright, too expressive, too fucking perfect. They glinted, they glimmered, they dished out expression like the fast-food service line in Diagon Alley. He hated Albu—Potter’s, fine Albus’s eyes more than anything in the world at the moment.

He didn’t actually expect Albus to come to the party. Hell, he had never expected Albus to come to the party in Dragonhide boots and a pair of boxer-briefs. When he and Lily (sporting a very attracting leather miniskirt) had walked in heads had turned.

Albus’s dress was quickly explained when he plopped down next to Scorpius on the couch and alcoholic fumes radiated off of him like rays off the sun.

“You are completely and utterly toasted,” Scorpius said after a moment.

Albus chuckled. Merlin, it was a sexy sound. It seemed to glide under his skin and settle
there. “Lily brought me pumpkin juice!”

Pumpkin liquor was more like it. “I’m sure.”

“I’m ready to cock watch,” Albus finished. He stretched backwards.

It was an obscene view. Even a couple of centimeters off mark, Albus’s cock was molded beautifully in the tight pants. The very fact he couldn’t see everything was somehow worse than when Albus was naked. It was taunting him!

Scorpius picked up a cool bottle of ale from the table and put it up against his forehead. The temperature had risen and the room was packed. Although, Scorpius noted wryly, there were many more girls than boys.

Albus lazed about next to him drawing various Slytherins into conversations. Somehow the topic always slipped about until it finally landed on sex. It wasn’t the most subtle way to get updated on the rumors, but effective within reason.

“Scorpius!” Magenta Bulstrode said, collapsing on top of him in a heap of estrogen and giggles. “Want to come to the backroom and play a game?”

Scorpius carefully detangled himself from her grip. “I’d rather not. I’m in charge of making sure everyone gets back alright.”

The party was going well. There were quite a few Ravenclaws lying about and a few Hufflepuffs (who invited them? He was going to have a chat about standards with them later…) Luckily, most people had forgotten about the codpiece competition and the boys certainly weren’t going to bring it up. The girls were rather enjoying the special attention.

“What about Brutus? Could he do this sort of thing?” Albus whispered in Scorpius’s ear.

“What about him?”

Albus’s warm breath was tickling his neck and ears. He stiffened. Did Albus just kiss his neck? Unable to fight the compulsion he leaned into the kiss. Albus’s body was warm against his. He could feel his heart beat in his ears; he could feel Albus’s fingers trailing down leaving a trail of heated skin.

“What are you doing?” Scorpius asked.

Albus stopped. “I need to talk to my sister.” He left. Scorpius watched Albus’s back fascinated by the play of muscles.

Shit, he needed a drink.

*
A mere ten minutes later, Scorpius found himself in a rather precarious situation; making out in a private corner with Albus Severus Potter. He had the vague memory of downing an ale and leaving the main room. He went outside only to trip over a stray bottle and land on top of Albus.

“What are you doing on the floor?” Scorpius asked.

“Hiding, what are you doing on top of me?” Albus asked. His lips were red (from lipstick?) and his cheeks a soft pink.

“Falling,” Scorpius replied. Stupid, he was so stupid. Irrationally, he wondered how Albus tasted.

Scorpius bent his head and kissed Albus. It was gentle inquisitive sort of kiss. Albus answered… which was the problem. Scorpius could feel the heat between them spread into his body. His thoughts were clouded.

“Don’t stop,” Albus moaned, bucking his hips. Scorpius ran his hands down Albus’s sides marveling at the feel of his skin.

“I won’t,” Scorpius breathed out. Albus began to plant small kisses along the side of his jaw.

Scorpius let his head fall back his fingers seemed to have a mind of their own. They wanted to touch, to feel everything.

“Look at me, Scorpius.”

Scorpius did and found himself unable to look away. No matter where he turned, his eyes always were dragged back to Albus’s face.

It was at that point that Scorpius realized he was doomed.

Through the warm haze of green and kisses, Scorpius heard a voice.

“Is someone in here?” came the voice of Magenta.

Scorpius sprung off Albus. The click of her heels was getting louder. Doing the only thing that came to mind he punched Albus in the stomach.

“Ah!” Albus yelled.

“That’s what you get—you get for being a Potter!” Scorpius yelled just as Magenta came into view.

“Ow,” Albus said, slowly rising to his feet.

“Ooh! Pretty boy fight, I’ll get the others!” Magenta said, running out. The minute she was out of sight Albus ran out of the room.

Well, at least it would save him from awkward questions.

*

“ -2.88 centimeters

“I take it you haven’t found the culprit?” James said from behind his desk. He looked remarkable tired.

Albus shook his head. “No, but we think it has to be an adult. If it was a student then we would have heard something by now.”

James shook his head. “Not necessarily. Tom Riddle did all sorts of nefarious things in school and very few students knew.”

“Well, I’m sure someone suspected. He wasn’t friends with everyone.”

“Since the rumors aren’t forthcoming I think it would be good to do some research on your own. It’s possible that the charm may be in a reference book,” James said leaning back. “Report to me tomorrow.”

“The shrinkage has been pretty constant. I mean it’s bad, but I thought we didn’t want the Professors to know what was going on so they are still assigning up homework. Plus, all the Professors are adults which makes them suspects.”

“No! Do you have any idea how hard it is to keep Lydia off me? She’s convinced that I’m cheating on her and look—.” James pulled up his sleeves. “She’s put some sort of spell on me that will turn my skin green if I touch anyone!”

“Maybe you should see Pomfrey… or you know, break up with the Crazy. Last Christmas, when she visited, she asked Mom how good Dad was in bed during dinner. Seriously!”

James looked disturbed at the memory. “Fine, you have till the end of this week, but please find something!” he said in a strangled voice.

*

-3.1 centimeters

Albus learned about the war from his father’s face. All he had to do was watch other people speak about the past and look at his father’s face. It was easy to distinguish who was actually evil, who really killed who from the flickers that passed through his face.

It was easy to see who had hurt who in the marriage. He thought he loved his mother. It was hard to tell through the layers of bitterness and feeling of betrayal. He knew that his
father still loved his mother, but she was... something else.

Then the postcards had started. They were always the sort of general stuff. Nothing too personal, but each time one arrived it was like living through her leaving all over again.

It was almost as if she wanted them to suffer, to constantly remind them of their failure as a family.

Albus fingered the cheesy postcard.

As if that hadn’t been enough, Scorpius was driving him mad. The casual touches, the lingering stares, the way he never seemed to keep a straight face when he was trying to be bland and ironic, the way he was always baiting Albus about being a Gryffindor, the way he secretly mended cuts for First Years in Slytherin, but hexed a Hufflepuff the previous week (not that anyone could prove it, the Hufflepuff was convinced she had seen Mickey Mouse).

Albus wanted nothing more than to push him up against the wall and punch him and then kiss him and then take his cock and rub it against Scorpius’s co—.

“Ahh!” The scream was loud enough to pierce through his wards meaning there was a magical intention behind them. Albus was suddenly at the scene. He didn’t remember getting up, but remembered somehow outrunning the other boys.

Hugo lay on his side twitching and whimpering in pain. There were smears of blood on his thighs.

Albus carefully rolled Hugo on his back. Hugo lower regions were a mess. Albus felt the bile rise in the back of his throat and with sickening clarity realized that this was caused by the same spell that he was supposed to find out. He was only seventeen. He shouldn’t have to be investigating a matter like this. Now this was the second person who was more than a little hurt.

He backed away as James ran in and began to call out orders.

*

McGonagall pushed the frames of her glass down firmly onto her nose. “You expect me to believe that someone is—how is it that you put it—‘stealing cock’?”

“What else could it be?”

“Mr. Potter, have you heard of mass hysteria? It can be caused by hypochondriac’s ramblings. ”

“This isn’t mass hysteria! Look, I’ll prove it Albus said digging into his pocket. He finally found the piece of parchment with Scorpius’s measurements that he had taken.

She took the parchment carefully. After a few moments she set it down. “Albus, do you really expect me to believe this? A few numbers on a page. Do you think we are that ignorant? If someone was performing this sort of magic it would have triggered all sorts of Ministry and Hogwarts alarms.”

“Not if they were in the building. Rose said--.”

The Headmistress massaged her temples. “I will repeat that this one more time. This type of magic can be detected. Professor Lockhart would have reported to me if the magic levels were drastically increased.”

“It’s not only me who has noticed. It’s everyone!”

“Mr. Potter, I have seen this happen more than once. A student reads up on some dastardly curse. They begin to see the symptoms everywhere. They tell a friend. The friend starts to see the symptoms and suddenly you have an epidemic of a curse that was never there to begin with. It’s a product of stress and mob psychology.”

Albus saw the futility of the situation. They couldn’t very well prove it unless the teachers tracked it themselves. He could hardly prove that they weren’t doing it themselves unless they sat around in an isolated chamber without their wands. He clenched his fists trying to not become frustrated at the futility of the matter.

“How do you explain Hugo?”

“Mr. Weasley was on a blood replenishing potion and we believe he had a bad reaction to it,” she said. “See there is a perfectly rational explanation for everything. He will make a full recovery after they restore the damaged area. I know he is your cousin and St. Mungos may seem like a scary place, but it’s for the best.”

“Professor—.”

“I know it’s been hard for you since you mother left and I want you to know that if should ever want to talk—.”

“Thank you, but I’ll be fine,” Albus said.

He left.

*

-3.4 centimeters

Scorpius could only find one reason Albus could hold his gaze for so long in his Muggle Manual. That was what made Scorpius kiss him.
Magnets. The bastard had put them in his eyes to capture the gazes of anyone who passed.

“Flint, you have some Muggle blood don’t you? Tell me about magnets. I think the middle Potter has them in his eyes.”

Russel Flint went purple with rage. “That was ten generations ago you fucking bastard!” he yelled, hastily shoving things into his bag before leaving.

Scorpius sat by himself for a moment trying to figure out what he had said.

“You can’t have magnets in your eyes,” came the amused voice of Lily Potter. She moved over from the table behind him.

Scorpius eyed her suspiciously. “Well, Muggles have strange habits and Merlin only knows what kind of people you were exposed to growing up.”

“It wouldn’t matter because magnets are only attracted to metal.”



Lily gave a mysterious half-smile that was so like her brothers Scorpius was tempted to ask her if she had magnets in her eyes as well. He stared deeply into them. Her hazel eyes were pretty, but hardly up to the level of her brother’s green orbs.

“Perhaps I can help you. I’m an expert.”

“In what?”

She gestured for him to continue.

He eyed her suspiciously. If Potter was using Dark Magic and had somehow gained control of Scorpius then telling people was his only hope of getting released. Or perhaps it was merely the strange Muggle technology. Curses! It would be so much easier if the middle Potter had been a Slytherin.

“Fine. I was having a conversation with your brother about the—potions and I simply could not stop looking at his eyes. It was most distressing.”

Lily patted his hand reassuringly. “Yes, I’ve read about this.” Scorpius was rather surprised. It seemed rather plebian to have a disease someone else had already had.

She must have noticed his surprise because she said, “I want to be a Healer and I end up reading a lot of books.”

“Ah, well then, how do I get rid of it?”

She pursed her lips. “It’s not that easy to cure. I would recommend first taking off your clothes.”

Scorpius leaned forward. Perhaps he had an incurable strain! He could see the headlines proclaiming his illness. His mother would be crying in the picture. His father would donate a lot of money to the hospital so that they could cure him. Miracle Malfoy! The headlines would sparkle. He would be famous! “Yes, and then?”

“Albus has to be naked too.” Scorpius considered this. He could do it when they were having a measuring session…

“While I’m not overly clear on specifics I believe rubbing your lower regions together is good. As is placing your mouth on his—.” Scorpius had the sudden vision of holding Albus under him and pushing up against him. Skin on skin. Maybe it was blood magic and to counter it they had to exchange fluids. Yes, that seemed likely. It would explain why only Scorpius was feeling the effects of the spell.

“Hang on, I should probably write this down.Do you have the name of the spell or whatever? I need to look it up.”

“Yeah,it’s called Love. He may not be your one love or your true love, but you feel something for him.””

Scorpius put down his quill as she laughed and moved away from him.

“Bitch,” Scorpius muttered as she walked away.

“It’s amazing what you can hear and see when you’re actually paying attention,” she said, her laughter fading into silence.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Scorpius asked too late.

*

-3.5 centimeters

Getting into the Gryffindor dorm was slightly harder than expected. For one, none of the First Years were intimidated enough to hand over their password. Second, none of the middle years were stupid enough to accept his bribe. Third, everyone was abnormally aware of his casual presence trying to overhear the password or tailgate.

He probably should have worn a more neutral outfit than his Slytherin practice uniform.
Then again, he was quite well known throughout the school, so it wouldn’t have mattered much.
Finally, he managed to follow in after James had entered, distracted with a blonde trollop on his arm.

He made his way up to the Sixth Year dorms where he found one bed with the hangings drawn. He had barely spoken to Albus since the party. They had met a few times to discuss the case and off course strip… Scorpius had decided to take an Erectile Dysfunction potion every time before their sessions.

Not that he was worried about getting an erection during the thirty seconds it took for Albus to perform the spell or anything.

Scorpius cautiously pulled the curtains aside. There was a sudden gasp.

“Close it!” Albus rasped out, falling back weakly on his pillows. So this was where Albus had been all day. Not bunking class for the fun of it as he suspected.

With the curtains shut Albus’s small area was reminiscent of dark dry cave. Shit, Albus wasn’t crazy all this time he was hiding the fact he was some sort of vampire!

“If you’ve a vampire how do you walk out in the sunlight?” Scorpius blurted out, unthinkingly. He had a sudden vision of Albus’s eyes in the sunlight. Perhaps not a vampire then. Ill?

“Fuck Malfoy, keep your voice down! I have a migraine.”

“Oh,” Scorpius stage whispered.

“That’s not soft enough.”

“Are you sure it’s not hangover?” Scorpius asked.

Albus opened one eye. “Yes.”

“I have news. It’s going to blow you out of this bed. Oh, and I need your measurements, I’m the same as yesterday. I found out something about a class of spells called Stealing Organs—,” Scorpius said.

"There's a class of spells called Stealing Organs?"

"Well, it sounds more impressive in Latin," Scorpius tugged on Albus’s pajamas.

Albus struggled to sit up and ward off his hands. “Malfoy… are you flirting with me?”

“No, I just pulled off your pajamas because I wasn’t flirting with you,” he snapped.

“What?” Albus said before fainting on top of him. Scorpius gave a small shout before managing to manhandle him back amongst the pillows.

Shit, what should he do? Albus was breathing in short shallow breathes so he was clearly still conscious. Perhaps he should call for help. Wait, he was in the Gryffindor tower so that wouldn’t work.

Albus gave a small groan.

“Why do you get migraines? Do you have any potion or spell? Why is it so dark?” Scorpius asked in a rush.

“Calm down,” Albus said, so softly that Scorpius could barely hear him. “I’m not dying, I just have a tension migraines.”

Scorpius had a flashback to Lily saying that Albus needed to unwind or he would become ill.

“What are you doing?” Albus mumbled as Scorpius crawled in the bed behind him. He gently laid a hand on Albus’s shoulder.

Dear Merlin, the boy was wound so tight it was a miracle he was even able to move.

Scorpius ran his fingers lightly down Albus’s face before settling comfortably on his shoulder.

“Just relax. You’ll give yourself ulcers at the rate you’re going.”

“Ugh, too late. My stomach hurts,” Albus said. Scorpius pulled up his shirt and ran his hands down Albus’s chest. Albus’s nipples were erect despite the warm air around them. Was his skin oversensitive? Scorpius accidently brushed his hand across Albus’s nipples.
Albus groaned.

Scorpius felt himself shift and just like that they were kissing.

It wasn’t a fight anymore, it was a gentle probing. It was like the first time playing with a new toy that he didn’t want to break. Scorpius suspected that he would never get tired of this particular toy. Albus swept his tongue across his bottom lip further wetting it.

“Albus? Are you alright? Dad sent me some of your potion, here.”
Scorpius barely managed to throw the covers over himself before the curtains were ripped back revealing James Potter.

Scorpius rested his head against Albus’s thigh as James continues to talk about something or the other. Seriously, it was like the whole school was plotting against them.

Well, that was a lie because there was nothing between them.

Scorpius tried to shift around so there would be a small air hole because the temperature had rose to an unbearable degree. No, he couldn’t do anything unless James left…

Unless… Albus moved.

Scorpius ran his tongue along the inside of Albus’s knee.

There was a resounding crack from above. Albus must have hit his head on his headboard.

“Are you okay?” James sounded panicked.

“Yeah, I thought err… I felt a bug bite.”

Scorpius gently bit Albus’s inner thigh and was awarded by a knee into his ribs when Albus jerked. From his angle (though smaller and clad in underwear) Albus’s cock seemed impossibly big. How on earth did people put that in—in anything? He could see that Albus was (even if he didn’t admit it) turned on by this strange turn of events.

“Are you feeling better?” James asked. “You seem fidgety.”

“Yes, thank you for the potion. Just stretching,” Albus said. Scorpius allowed himself a few more minutes of exploration until Albus finally managed to pin him down with his legs.

Scorpius heard the door click shut. Albus relaxed his legs enough that Scorpius managed to wriggle out, his hand accidently coming into contact with Albus’s cock.

There was a sharp intake of breath.

Albus lifted the covers. “Get out!”

Scorpius dramatically fell out of the bed taking all of Albus’s sheets with him. “I could have died!”

“What the hell were you doing? Anyone could have walked in!”

“I had business here.”

Albus threw his hands up in the air and gestured for him to leave. “Not there. I need to shower. Forget this ever happened,” Albus said before slamming the door shut in his face.

*

-3.5 centimeters

“What did you want to tell me the yesterday,” Albus asked. Lily sat nearby seemingly analyzing them as though she were an old matron rather than a fifteen-year-old girl. There was an awkward pause as they both remembered why Scorpius hadn’t finished his news.

“Brutus Parkinson was talking about how his Great Uncle literally stole the heart of his wife’s lover. Lovely bedtime story. I looked up the general characteristics of the spell class and it fits. The problem is that most of the books on this particular spell cast are in the Restricted Section. Once we get a complete list it should be pretty easy to start eliminating spells.”

“Hmm… is Madame Pince--.”

“No! Not Pince, she hates Slytherins.”

Albus gave him a wide smile. “Don't worry, I have an idea.” He gestured for Scorpius to stand up. He quickly reached into Scorpius’s book bag and found what he was looking for.
They walked over to the librarian desk.

“Oh, Madame Pince! My Aunt Hermione sent me this book to give to you,” Albus said, pulling one of Scorpius’s Muggle volumes out.

She looked around to see if anyone was around.

“I took the liberty of reading it. Fernando is the ultimate post-modernist protagonist. His love for Cecilia is truly remarkable.”

“Post-modern, you say? Well, I do know a few students who would love to read another post-modern book,” she said seriously.

“Yeah, and I have to say that theme feminism represented through a the plight of the wildabeast was classic,” Albus said, holding the book up.

Madame Pince was practically salivating at this point.

“I think I should read it first… wouldn’t want the students to get the wrong idea,” she said.
Albus bowed his head respectfully. “I could watch the area for you if you if you want to screen it now.”

She was out of her seat toward the backroom before he even finished his sentence.

“You had no right to take my stuff!” Scorpius said through clenched teeth.

“My mistake. I’ll get Lily to lend you her copy.”

Scorpius opened his mouth, but no scathing resort came out.

Albus sat down at the newly vacated desk and pulled open a draw.

“I didn’t know they kept record of what book you checked out on paper.”

“They only do for the restricted section. That way if you turn up dead they know all the books you were looking at,” Albus said with a small half-smile.

That ranked about a 6.87/10 on Scorpius’s internal lie detector.

“Okay, well here is the Restricted Section’s books on love spells. It looks like…,” Albus trailed off.

There was one name that popped up eight times more than any of the other people.
James Potter.

*

-3.6 centimeters

“Albus, what brings you to my office?” Professor Lockhart said.

“Err… you sent a note saying you needed to see me immediately,” Albus said, holding the note up.

He was rather bewildered. Lockhart taught Home Economics for the First and Second years. He did the occasional administrative task for the Headmistress, but nothing that would relate to him.

“I happened to overhear a conversation between the Headmistress and Professor Flickwit. It seems that you have been going around with an interesting story—.”

There was a large crash from the classroom behind them.

“Shouldn’t you do something about that?” Albus said.

Lockhart looked annoyed, but scurried into the classroom.

Albus pulled out the parchment that had a copy of the list of names. It just didn’t make sense. If James was doing it then—

Shit, Albus had performed a Copy Charm meaning all the writing on the page had come over, including the date which he and Scorpius had failed to notice.

This James Potter was from over forty years ago. His grandfather! Not his brother.
Back to square one.

Albus sighed.

After five minutes the bell rang signaling the end of class and Professor Lockhart still hadn’t come back.

It had to be right in front of him. There had to be something he was missing.

He glanced into the classroom and noticed that Lockhart wasn’t there. There was a pulsating red ball of light hovering above his desk and a lone student writing. How had Lockhart left without walking past Albus?

Red… didn’t that mean that someone was using a dangerously high level of magic?

*

“Why are you so ugly?” Scorpius asked later that evening.

“Because I hang around with you twice a day,” Albus said, flipping Sex in the Dark: Spells, Potions and Countercharms. “Nothing in this one.”

“No, I think it’s your hair. If you had a different haircut you would be marginally less ugly.”

“Wow, you have never sounded gayer.”

Scorpius straightened his tie.

“I’m not! It was just that we were both erm… tired and stressed. It was reaction to stress and confined spaces.” Scorpius didn’t say that he had dreams about it and upon occasion he would get a mere flash of memory that would leave him hot and bothered for hours.

“Exactly, it was just one moment of complete insanity. It didn’t even feel good.”
Scorpius’s jaw dropped.

“Are you saying I’m bad at…,” Scorpius trailed off.

“Err… yes?” Albus said, staring at his book so intently Scorpius was surprised the book didn’t have a hole in it.

“So the ‘Oh, please Scorpius. Uhh… Scorpius,’ was what? Do you have a girl named Scorpius tucked away somewhere?”

Albus was slowly turning a purplish color. “I never said that!”

“But you wanted to!”

Albus threw his hands in the air. “How do you know that?”

Scorpius studied him for a moment. “If I make you scream my name will you concede that I’m not gay and that I’m good in bed and that I’m more attractive than you? I didn’t get a chance to err… test out any of my skills last time. ”

Albus smirked. “And if I don’t scream it, which seems like more likely outcome, what do I get?”

Scorpius shrugged. “My glorious company?”

“You will have to wear a Gryffindor shirt for a week,” Albus said.

“Fine.”

“Fine.”

“Fine.”

“Good.”

They both sat absolutely still for a few moments. Scorpius blinked.

It was awkward.

Then, they both started laughing. Albus leaned back for a moment to stretch feeling jittery.
Scorpius moved chairs so that their thighs were pressed together. Albus became aware of how his slightly rumpled trousers looked next to Scorpius’s crisp ones. Funny, he would have thought that something else would have been going through his head. After all, he had all but dared Scorpius to come and…and do things to him.

“You seem like one of those repressed types. The type that are all easy going on the outside, but on the inside they are nothing more than a tightly coiled spring,” Scorpius said, conversationally as he dragged his wand down Albus’s shirt flicking each button open with a pulsating light.

Albus froze. “I’m not—.”

“All you have to do is find the right button to push and pop, it uncoils,” Scorpius finished running his hands along Albus’s chest. “Breathe.”Albus’s attempts to do so made him look as though he had been running a marathon.

A wicked expression crossed his face. Scorpius flicked his wand before Albus could say anything.

“What the hell?"Albus asked, running his hands down the corset. The lace was soft, but the heavy bones in the corset cut into his skin. Who even invented spells like this?

“I’ve never quite understood the appeal of women in corsets, but it’s starting to make sense to me now. Merlin, Potter, if you could see the way you look,” Scorpius said, moving so that he was sitting on Albus’s lap.

Albus groaned as their hard cocks came into contact, he could feel it even through their waytoomany layers of cloth.

“Albus? Are you down here?” Lily’s voice could he heard through the bookcases. Fuck.
Albus shivered as Scorpius drew circles with his tongue on Albus’s neck. The little warning bell inside Albus’s head began to ring. Wrenching away from Scorpius was as impossible as finding the culprit to this mess.

Scorpius looked dazed as he slid back into the seat next to Albus who threw his robe on not trusting himself to vanish the corset.

“What on earth could you do with a big cock? Every boy above fifth year is losing mass. I mean what’s the point?” Scorpius said in frustration after straightening his clothes.

Albus frowned. It didn’t make any sense. He was sure the Lockhart had something to do with it, he was the only one with the opportunity, but what was his motive?

“Albus! You’re supposed to be at the Halloween ball,” Lily exclaimed, sitting down next to him.

Really, was it that time already? Albus’s eyes widened. It made sense! The Halloween ball!
It must have dawned on Lily and Scorpius as well because they all took off running toward the Great Hall.

“Drop your pants, Sir!” Scorpius yelled. “Or I will do it for you.” He brandished his wand in a dangerous fashion Albus thought. Various people in costume stopped to stare.

Professor Lockhart eyes darted back and forth. The hall was silent now.

“Boys, what is the meaning of this behavior?” He asked.

Scorpius took the opportunity to vanish away the Professor’s trousers and pants. Albus made a metal note to find that spell.

“I will win! I am the best ! I am the most popular!” He yelled.

The cock was grotesque looking. It reached Lockhart’s knobby knees. It was lumpy and the color was a patchwork of pale pinks and browns.

There was a sharp intake of breath.

“Why?” An anonymous boy shouted from the back.

Yes, why indeed.

“Because you didn’t deserve it!” His once handsome face twisted into an ugly mass. “Because I wanted her and I couldn’t have her! Because I loved Lily Potter! You can’t have her James; you won’t ever find out Dumbledore; you can’t stop me! She won’t be able to resist me now! Because I need to pass on my blood to another! I am the last—the last of the Great Ninja Warriors!” he declared, as he was being dragged out of the Great Hall by several Professors.

“Stark raving crazy,” Scorpius muttered as he followed the demented procession out. He was pulled aside by Albus.

“Well, you were right.”

“I was, but err... I guess you deserve some credit as well,” he said, feeling oddly out of place now that he wouldn’t have an excuse to spend time with Albus.

To his surprise Albus did bend down and pressed their lips together. Jolted out of the surreal dream feeling Scorpius allowed himself to be thoroughly ravished by his dark-haired knight. They had won the war after all.

*

+3.6 centimeters...

Normalcy crawled back into their lives on broken feet.

Hugo had his restoration surgery, due to the combined influence of the spell and his potion, and recovered well. As did Anthony who was out of the Hospital Wing days after Lockhart was caught. He had apparently been on a muscle building potion after a Quidditch accident over the summer.

Realization that the horror was over dawned on each male and each chose to celebrate it in a different way.

Albus crept behind Scorpius in the library. When Scorpius finally stopped to shelve a book, Albus slipped his arms around him and pressed a soft kiss on the back of his neck.

“You know, I think I’m ready to see that full twenty-five centimeters,” Albus said, unbuckling Scorpius’s belt. “And perhaps we should try page 25 of Muggle volume two.”

Scorpius approved, but had one question. "Why did the Sorting Hat cause you to faint?"

Albus gave him another kiss. "It couldn't decide if I would do better in Gryffindor or Slytherin so I had to fight. I was young. It was mentally draining. It said I was the hardest person to sort."

"That's it?"

"Well, yes." Albus spun him around and finally kissed him properly.

*