A/N: My apologies for skipping ahead so far. I really don't have an excuse, other than that nothing interesting happens between February and June, so... yeah.

Hufflepuff Girl17: Yeah, boys can be such idiots. Al in particular. He's a bit like his father. I mean, I love Harry to death but I always thought of him as rather daft.

FallenSyren: Don't worry, I have no intention of stopping! Thank you, though :) My side of the argument is James' side. Love is love, no matter what form (although I draw the line at actual incest and pedophilia).

ConradKCat: I was wondering when you'd find this story :) well, I'm happy you reviewed every single chapter, and I do actually have a reason for Ron being there first. He was at the jokeshop with George (where he works) and just came to the family gathering with him. Hermione, Rose, and Hugo showed up later on. My family actually has that many relatives- I'm not exactly sure how I feel about that fact. I'm glad you like my story, and I'm glad you found it!

FrolicWithNicole: I love you more, and I miss you.

ATTENTION: This story will not be 16 chapters long, like my last one was. It seems the plotline of this story wraps up pretty easily in around 10 chapters (I'm not sure, since I'm only halfway through chapter 7 at this point). I'll let y'all know.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters in this story (besides all the random family members I made up, and Miles Dawson).

June 2021

Fourth Year

"This isn't working," was the first thing that Scorpius said to Rose as he walked into the Gryffindor Common Room.

"You don't know that," argued Rose.

"It's been months, Rose, months," said Scorpius. He sighed, his shoulders slumping. "Face it, he just doesn't fancy me. Al couldn't care less that I'm dating you."

"He cares a lot, actually. You just can't tell."

"And you can?" He asked skeptically.

"I can."

"How?" he demanded, folding his arms and falling into the squashy couch beside Rose.

"I grew up with him, Scor. I know the boy. When have you ever seen him jealous of someone or something?"

"Never," Scorpius admitted.

"When we were nine, James got his first broomstick. Al was so jealous- he ended up breaking the broomstick. He acted in the exact same way he's acting now."

"Nice to see he's matured so much," Scorpius said. Rose ignored him.

"Just watch. He'll ruin our relationship. He just needs time. And maybe a little push from you."

"How much time?" Scorpius asked, sighing in frustration.

"Look, he's only just come out to himself," Rose said, "Nevermind that I've known he's gay for ages. He's only just figured it out for himself a few months ago and that's bound to have been a shock for him. Give him a little more time."

The door opened, and Al walked in. He was dripping wet, and appeared angry- his brow was furrowed, and he was muttering something to himself. His broomstick was clutched in his hand. He didn't notice either of them until he tossed his broom towards the couch and it landed on Rose. She let out an "oof" and he froze, looking around.

Al turned scarlet. "Oh... I'm sorry," he stuttered, avoiding both their eyes.

Rose laughed. "We weren't doing anything, Al, especially not in the middle of the common room. Scor and I are a lot of things, but we aren't exhibitionists. Come join us." she patted the cushion beside her.

"I don- I-"

"Come on, we never see you anymore, Al," Scorpius implored. Al broke down.

"Fine." he said, sitting down next to his friends.

"Oh shit," Rose moaned, seeing Miles striding towards them. "Hide me. Actually, hide Scorpius. Miles will kill him."

Nobody was more surprised than Rose when Miles sat down in front of them and offered a hand to Rose. He didn't even look twice at Scorpius and his out-of-place Slytherin tie.

"I just want to apologize for the way I've acted towards you. I should know that there's a way to get a girl's attention and I'm going about it in the wrong way. I haven't treated you with the respect you deserve and I regret that. I know we have no chance whatsoever of a relationship, but I was hoping you and I could be friends."

Rose just gaped. "I... er..." she stammered. "Sounds... good."

Miles beamed. "Thank you, Rose. Thank you so much." he squeezed Rose's hand before dropping it, and nodded politely to Scorpius and Albus, who both blinked.

"You don't understand either, right?" said Rose to both of them.

They shook their heads.

Rose shook hers, too, in disbelief. "I'm going to bed."

Al slumped against the couch pillows.

"Are you okay?" Scorpius asked, pressing a hand against Al's forehead. He pulled it away quickly. "Merlin, you're burning up!"

"My name's Albus," Al joked weakly.

"Shut up, you little bastard, we need to get you to Madam Pomfrey."

"No, I'm fine," Al protested, waving limp fingers in Scorpius' face.

"You're not," Scorpius said firmly. "Do you think you can walk?"

"'Course." Al rolled his eyes. "How pathetic do you think I am?"

Scorpius chose not to answer.

He also chose not to comment on how heavily Al leaned against him as they walked to the Hospital Wing, how hot Al's skin was, and how broken his breathing.

"Can I take a break?" Al begged when they'd gone only 100 meters from the portrait hole.

Scorpius sighed, and scooped an arm under Al's knees, lifting him up. He was struck with just how light the other boy was. He'd expected perhaps a little more substance from a Chaser, but Al weighed about as much as a Seeker normally did. He suspected Al got it from his dad.

"What're you-"

"At that rate, we would get there sundown tomorrow," Scorpius said briskly, cutting him off. "Now shut up and rest."

Madam Pomfrey bustled right over to Scorpius as he held his friend in the doorway to the Hospital Wing.

"Why is he all wet?" she asked, bemused.

"He was outside flying," Scorpius said, gently laying him down on a bed.

Madam Pomfrey sighed. "Like father, like son."

"Sc'rpius... wh're we?" Al muttered sleepily, forcing his eyes to stay open.

"Hospital Wing," Scorpius said softly, brushing Al's dark hair off his face. "I'll come visit you later, okay? Feel better."

"Where do you think you're going?" Madam Pomfrey demanded.

Scorpius jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. "Dinner?" he tried to say, but it came out as more of a question.

She clicked her tongue sternly. "I don't think so."

"What? Why?"

"You're probably sick too. You and Potter are practically joined at the hip." she put a hand on Scorpius' shoulder and forced him to sit. "You can't leave for a while, so you may as well get comfortable."

Scorpius groaned and leaned back against the crackling hospital sheets. He cursed himself for being the one to take Al to the Hospital Wing. He should have coerced some stupid Gryffindor into doing it.

He drummed his fingers against his leg.

Madam Pomfrey moved around him as if he were a part of the scenery of the room, administering potions to Al and attending to the other patients in the room. She ignored Scorpius.

Hours passed.

"I'm going down to Professor Lupin's to fetch some potions ingredients from him," Madam Pomfrey said, pulling her cloak off the hook by the door (it was always rather drafty down in the dungeons).

"But what about Al?"

"There's only so much you can do for a Muggle-originated illness such as the flu. I think in this case, we'll have to just wait it out. If he wakes up, give him some of that pain potion over there, but make sure he knows he can't have too much of it or too often."

Once he was relatively alone once more, Scorpius settled himself into a good long time of Albus-watching. He never really got to see Albus asleep, mostly because he and Al were in different houses. But he saw it now, and he knew he'd never see Al relaxed and peaceful-looking like this again.

Al was shaking, he realized. He wondered if that was a side-effect of being ill. Scorpius hadn't had a fever since he was five, so he couldn't remember.

No, Al was shivering. He was cold.

Scorpius looked round for the nurse, before remembering where she'd gone. He peeled the blanket off of the bed nearest to him and threw it over his best friend. Still, the boy shook.

Scorpius took all the blankets off all the un-occupied beds in the infirmary and threw them over Al- five in all. Still, the boy shivered. His emerald eyes peered piteously out at Scorpius from between the bedsheets and something within him snapped. He kicked off his shoes and crawled under the covers with Al, pushing them over so they bundled only around the sick boy.

"What're you doing?" Al protested feebly. "I'll get you sick."

"I've already been exposed to whatever you've got," Scorpius said. "I'm trying to help."

He wrapped both his arms around the shivering boy and pulled him flush against his chest, trying hard to focus on the fact that Al was sick and how completely un-sexy that was. It worked, but only marginally. It didn't exactly help that Al immediately nuzzled his face into Scorpius' neck.

Scorpius yelped. "Good Godric, your skin is burning!"

Al mumbled something Scorpius didn't catch.

It wasn't long before Al's breathing settled into a slow, steady rhythm, telling Scorpius that he was asleep. Scorpius himself fell into some sort of stupor, staring at the white ceiling and thinking of nothing and everything at once. At some point Madam Pomfrey re-entered the room, but she didn't disturb either of them.

He must have fallen asleep, because he awoke to a hand on his arm. Lily was sitting beside Al's bed, a shit-eating grin on her face. "Well, don't you look cozy," she said.

Scorpius somehow managed to smack her upside the head without jostling Al, a feat he was rather proud of. "Get bent," he said.

"I would," Lily said, "but you've already done that, haven't you?" she raised her hands in the air defensively. "I'm just making observations about the world that I see. Anyone would think that you two were poofters."

"Oi-" Scorpius said, warningly.

"Oh, I know that you aren't," Lily said, "I know you're straight. But you know he isn't. How do you know he's not getting ideas from this?"

"I don't. But he's sick, Lily. What was I supposed to do, watch him suffer? He's my best friend."

Lily winked.

"Look, are you here to see Al or not?" Scorpius said, finally becoming fed up with her and her ideas about him and Al. "Because if you are, I'll wake him up. If you're not, shove it up your arse."

"Not," Lily said, standing up. "No, don't wake him. Just tell him I was here when he wakes up, okay?" she blew a kiss at Scorpius, then clacked out of the Hospital Wing in shoes that were entirely too adult for a thirteen year old girl.

Scorpius combed his fingers absentmindedly through Al's hair, thinking. Al was gay. He'd admitted it, and Lily had just hinted that maybe Al had feelings for him. So why hadn't Scorpius done anything about it yet?

Because Lily could be wrong. She was wrong about Scorpius being straight, so she could be wrong about Al's feelings towards Scorpius.

It was something really only gay people could understand. Just because a bloke was gay didn't mean he was attracted to every other bloke in the vicinity. Especially not the straight ones. Was Scorpius actually doing himself a disservice by dating a Rose? Had he already been scratched off Al's list as "unavailable"?

He looked down at Al, still cradled against his chest, only to find the green eyes staring back at him. He immediately stilled his hand's motions in Al's hair. "Hi," he whispered.

"Hi," Al's voice whispered back hoarsely. "Any reason you were stroking my head?"

"How are you feeling?" Scorpius asked, dodging the question.

Al rolled his eyes but let it slide. "Pretty horrible, actually. My head is pounding."

"Madam Pomfrey left a pain potion on your bedside table," Scorpius said, gesturing next to him. "But you can't have it too often or in large doses. Do you want it now?"

"Please," Al said, reaching up to hold his head and grimacing.

"It'll make you drowsy," Scorpius said in warning.

"Just give it to me already."

Scorpius passed it to him and he downed it readily, shuddering.

"What's it like?"

"Poison," Al said dramatically. "I knew she was trying to kill me. You can leave, you know. You don't have to stay with me."

"Actually, I do," Scorpius said. "I'm under Quarantine because I spend so much time around you. Thanks for that, actually," he added sarcastically.

Al winced. "Sorry."

"I don't mind," Scorpius said, pushing himself off the bed.

"Where're you going?" Al called.

"Taking a piss," Scorpius called back. "I hope you know, we're missing our Transfiguration exam."

"Damn," Al swore. "Why did you just tell me that? Now I'm stressed and there's nothing you can do about it."

"Because now I can tell you that McGonagall's face turned an interesting shade of fuchsia when she came to find us and we were lying in bed together. Just to cheer you up."

"Oh, dear," Al said, but looked slightly amused.

Madam Pomfrey hurried out of her office. "I thought I heard voices- Al, I'm glad you're up. Did Scorpius give you the pain potion?"

Scorpius held up the empty vial.

"Oh, good," she said, and waved her wand, attempting to take Al's temperature.

"Professor," said Al, avoiding the flying thermometer, "I'm missing my Transfiguration exam."

"No, you're not, Potter," Madam Pomfrey said, succeeding in shoving the thermometer underneath Al's tongue. "Professor McGonagall talked to me this morning. You've already got above a hundred percent in the class, she says she can exempt you from the final this year. She feels confident that you have learned the material. Now, sit still!"

"Fine," Al huffed, flopping back onto his pillows, and promptly fell asleep.

Madam Pomfrey felt his forehead. "He's burning up," she said worriedly. "He's most likely delusional. I can't leave him alone, but-" she looked around at her other patients. The infirmary was always particularly full at this time of year- students trying to get out of their examinations.

"I'll stay with him," Scorpius volunteered. "I'd be happy to."

"Would you?" Madam Pomfrey sighed in relief. "Just make sure he stays bundled up and give him a pain potion if he wakes up. Make sure he's comfortable. I'm sure you know what he likes best, he's your best friend."

She bustled away as Scorpius dropped into the chair next to Al, watching his face. It shone with sweat, but even as Scorpius watched, Al pulled the blankets closer around him. His forehead creased and he muttered something.

Scorpius sighed, resting his chin on his hand and reaching out with the other hand to take Al's.

"A fine mess you've got yourself into," he said, accusingly. "I leave you alone for ten minutes and you go and give yourself the flu, you daft git."

Al whimpered a little. Scorpius melted. "Fine, it isn't your fault, is that what you want me to say? Well, I won't- not when you're awake, anyway. I was sorted into Slytherin for a reason, you know." He looked at Al's face, then used the hand not clenched in Al's to reach forward and smooth away the wrinkles in his forehead.

"You look worried, Al," Scorpius said, softly. "What's eating you?"

"You and Rose," Al replied weakly, and Scorpius jumped. He hadn't been expecting an answer.

"Why?" Scorpius asked, leaning forward.

"Why her?" Al asked.

"What do you mean?" Scorpius asked eagerly, but Al was either asleep again or had never woken in the first place. Scorpius sighed, slumping back.

This wasn't working. Rose's idea was a flop. How had it taken him until June to figure that out? Nothing about this was working. Al wasn't jealous because he didn't fancy Scorpius, and even if he did Scorpius was only making matters worse for himself by dating Rose.

It all came back to one conclusion: he had to break up with Rose. And soon.

A/N: I feel like this is almost a filler chapter, but a couple important things happened here. Anyway, review, because they make me happier and make me update faster! Sank you kindly. Or spank you kindly. Whichever you're into more.

AH. I need to stop drinking hot chocolate before I write because it messes with my head. So sorry about that.