The Potions Classroom

[Lily Evans]

.

[Albus Severus Potter]

As much as Al hated classes, he was at least pleased that he was actually pretty talented in some of them. Papers and exams, not so much, but the actual spells and potion brewing usually came almost naturally to him in some areas. Although he sort of actually liked potions, he hated the fact that he always ended up in class with the Gryffindors, meaning know-it-all-Malloy was always there. Al wasn't really sure what they were supposed to be learning today. He had been too busy passing notes back and forth with Melanie to really care about whatever it was their lecture was about. He already knew what he needed to know anyway. It wasn't until Slughorn announced that he'd be pairing them up that Al actually started to pay attention. Normally, he'd just work with Melanie. He could do all the work within minutes, and they'd spend the rest of class messing around and making fun of Scorpius behind his back. Al always sort of prided himself in the fact that during third year he had dropped a dried Billywig Sting into Scorpius' cauldron, only to laugh about it with Melanie when it caused Scorpius' entire potion to bubble over and produce some sort of black smoke.

However, now it seemed as though he wouldn't be working with Melanie at all, and when Slughorn paired him off with Scorpius, any cheerful smugness from his face was instantly wiped away. "You've got to be kidding me," he retorted, getting a few laughs out of some of the other Slytherins from his reaction.

[Scorpius Malfoy]

Though Scorpius loved potions, he hated when they would have to be placed into pairs. Usually he was rather lucky and Slughorn would place him with a fellow Gryffindor who was usually nice to him. He would often do a majority of the work, which he didn't really mind. It wasn't as though he would brag about the fact that he received top marks in his classes, but it wasn't as if others weren't aware of the fact that he got good grades. When Slughorn had announced that they would be working in pairs that day, he had sighed and hoped that he would be partnered with a Gryffindor. Maybe his new friend Parvati even. Apparently luck was not on his side though, for Slughorn announced that he and Al were to be partners. Well damn. Al was undoubtedly the last person that he wanted to be paired with, but it wasn't as if he had a choice. He rolled his eyes from Al's comment. "Because Slughorn just purposely wants to make our lives hell," he muttered to himself. He remained in his seat, figuring that Al would move to him to work.

[Albus Severus Potter]

Al sighed as he waited for Scorpius to come over to the table to join him, only to notice that he wasn't moving. He glanced over at the blonde, becoming more and more frustrated as he realized Scorpius was going to make this more difficult than it had to be. He grabbed his notebook and quill, and carried it over to Scorpius' table, dropping it down in front of his seat before sitting down next to the Gryffindor. "I don't want to do this anymore than you do, so let's just get this over with, yeah?"

[Scorpius Malfoy]

Scorpius watched as Al didn't move, cocking an eyebrow as he challenged the Slytherin to make him be the one that moved. Hell no was he giving up his favourite seat in the classroom for Al. He let a satisfied smile fall onto his face as Al moved over to where he was. "I completely agree," he replied, knowing that the faster they did this, the less time they would have to spend with one another. "I'll go and get the supplied. You set up the cauldron," he said, not giving Al any time to argue as he quickly got up and went to the cupboard. Grabbing the ingredients that were listed on the board, he then went back over to the table. "Alright I've got the ingredients," he said, placing the wormwood, asphodel, valerian roots, and sopophorous bean on the table. He then placed the Sloth brain down and made sure it remained covered by a napkin because he did not want to touch it.

[Albus Severus Potter]

Al's jaw dropped as Scorpius told him to set up the cauldron. Just because Scorpius was in his zone, didn't mean he got to boss Al around and try to take charge. He silently set up the cauldron, though he didn't look happy while doing it. As soon as Scorpius came back, Al glanced up at him with an unhappy glare before taking a step closer and lowering his voice. "Look, just because you're so fucking smart doesn't mean you get to boss me around, got it? Tell me what to do one more time and I'll be using your pretty blonde locks for one of the potions ingredients. I don't care if we're partners. I am not taking orders from a Malfoy."

[Scorpius Malfoy]

Scorpius figured he really ought to be bothered by Al's glare, but he was used to getting those sort of looks. He blinked a few times when Al threatened to cut off his hair and throw it into the potion. "Oh, you think my hair's pretty? Well thanks Potter," he said, taking the root towards him and beginning to chop it. "And you know, adding my hair to the potion will actually ruin it and then we won't get out of here quickly and we'll get a failing grade. I don't think it's quite worth it, do you?" he asked.

[Albus Severus Potter]

Al rolled his eyes, scoffing at Scorpius' obnoxious comment. "Don't let it go to your head, Malfoy. It was anything but a compliment." He turned to his own ingredients, 'accidentally' bumping his elbow into Scorpius' as he picked his his cutting knife. "There are more important things then school and grades, you know." He turned the knife on his side as he prepared to crush the beans rather than cut them like the instructions told them to.

[Scorpius Malfoy]

Scorpius let out a small 'mmpf' when Al knocked into his elbow and sighed. "Well way to go, now this one looks all messed up," he said, looking at his recently cut piece. "Yeah, I know that there are things more important than school. They just don't seem to- what are you doing?!" he asked, eyes widening as he looked over at Al. "That's not how you take care of the beans for this," he said, not sure what the hell Al was thinking or what he even thought he was doing.

[Albus Severus Potter]

Al laughed, rolling his eyes as Scorpius complained about the one piece of root he had messed up. "I'm crushing the beans," he answered, staring at Scorpius as if he was some sort of idiot. Scorpius may have been obsessed with studying, but that didn't mean Al was an idiot just because he didn't fondle his books every night. "What are you doing?"

[Scorpius Malfoy]

"What am I doing? I'm watching you about to crush the beans when that's definitely not what you're supposed to be doing to the beans!" he said, really confused as to why Al would just go and crush them. "See, Potter," he said, pointing to his book. "It says to cut the beans. Not crush the beans," he said slowly as if explaining to a toddler.

[Albus Severus Potter]

Al glowered up at Scorpius as he tried to tell him a 'better' way of making the potion. "You think I don't know what I'm doing? What the hell did I tell you about bossing me around?" He dropped the knife on the table and turned to face Scorpius. "You don't see me telling you how to cut your damn roots," he retorted, poking Scorpius hard on the chest with his finger. "So why don't you just back off and let me do my thing?"

[Scorpius Malfoy]

Scorpius stared at Al, wondering what in the world was making him so really angry and mean today. "Please don't poke me like that, it's rude and your finger kind of hurts," he said seriously. "I'm just going off of what the book says though, so I'm not really understanding why you would crush the beans. If you want to use your own made up methods on your own potions, fine. But this is a partner potion."

[Albus Severus Potter]

Al rolled his eyes as he lowered his hand. "For someone with a body likes yours, you'd think you'd be a little less weak." He rolled his eyes as he pushed Scorpius' book away. "I know what I'm doing. Everyone else is going to cut the beans, and their potions aren't going to work as well as ours. Crushing them gets more juice than cutting, so why don't you shut your mouth before you try to act like you know what you're talking about."

[Scorpius Malfoy]

Scorpius wasn't sure what to make of Al's comment. It was as though Al was implying he was rather fit, which he didn't really think was the case. Maybe he would talk to Parv and see if she knew any routines for getting into shape. Now that he had gone through his growth phase, he was definitely down with beefing up. He looked a bit unsure about what Al said, but knew better than to take control. "And you're sure about this?" he asked.

[Albus Severus Potter]

Al let out an exasperated sigh, showcasing just how frustrated he was with Scorpius by this point. "Yes, I'm sure," he huffed, glowering up at Scorpius before returning his attention to the beans, crushing them as he added the juice to the cauldron, mumbling something to himself about how annoying a certain Gryffindor was.

[Scorpius Malfoy]

Scorpius decided to just let Al crush the beans, because some battles were so not worth fighting. He was quiet as he finished cutting the roots, glancing every now and then at Al and hearing him mumbling. "You know, I'm sitting right here. If you want to talk bad about me, just say it and get it off your chest. Go on. I'm 'pathetic'. I'm a 'loser'. I 'should never have been sorted in Gryffindor'," he said, repeating some of Al's most common things.

[Albus Severus Potter]

Al's eyes darkened again as he turned over to look at Scorpius, placing a hand on his hip as he pointed his the stirring stick at him. "You wanna know what think? I think you're a know-it-all prick. Yes, you're a pathetic loser who shouldn't have been sorted into Gryffindor, but you're a lot more than that. I'd probably hate you no matter what house you were sorted in, and I'd rather shave my head than have to spend more than ten minutes with you alone. You have no sense of confidence and the fact that you rarely fight back when I insult you almost makes me want to stop looking at you all together."

[Scorpius Malfoy]

Scorpius was a bit surprised by Al's outburst, for though he said that Al should just talk bad about him to his face, he hadn't expected a huge rant to follow. "Well maybe I don't fight back because it's no use," he replied. "It's like talking to a stone wall with you. You're completely conceited and I know that whatever I say will be useless. Yeah, I don't have much confidence but it's because of twats like you that I am the way I am," he said, glancing around after saying 'twats' and making sure no one heard him. He wasn't the type to curse often and wanted to make sure no students, or especially the professor, had heard him. "Let's just finish the potion," he said quietly.

[Albus Severus Potter]

"A stone wall? Talking to a stone wall would be more interesting than talking to you because the wall would give me more of a reaction," Al spat back, his jaw clenched in irritation. He glanced around to make sure no one was listening before lowering his voice. "You think I didn't get shit for being the Potter who got sorted into Slytherin? You think I didn't have to work to actually make friends? If you're going to let a couple of insults keep you down and keep using it as an excuse for why you don't have any friends then maybe you shouldn't have even been sorted into a house at all." With that said, Al turned away and continued mixing together the potion, refusing to look at Scorpius as he concentrated on his work.

[Scorpius Malfoy]

Scorpius didn't respond, instead mulling over what Al said to him. Yes, perhaps if he did work hard to try and make friends, things would have been different. Though, it wasn't like he could just force people to talk to him. Many avoided him solely on his last name, as if he was going to hex them or something when he got near them. "Not that it's any of your business at all," he began, sliding the roots he had finished cutting towards Al. "But I actually do have friends now," he said. He didn't know why he bothered letting Al know this, for it really wasn't Al's business or concern at all.

[Albus Severus Potter]

Al rolled his eyes as he added the last of the ingredients to the potion. He found it hard to believe that anyone would enjoy being around Scorpius, but the guy was a Malfoy and he did have some sort of standing in the wizarding world, even if his last name had been tarnished by the second war. He was bound to have some friends. "And how much are you paying them, Malfoy?" he asked, not bothering to look at the blonde as he continued to taunt him.

[Scorpius Malfoy]

"I pay them each two galleons a day," he said seriously before rolling his eyes. "I know, it must seem like a crazy idea that someone would actually willingly want to talk to me or be my friend. I've just been getting to know more people this year," he said. He figured that it was about time he stopped dedicating all his time to books and studies, and instead started to make some friends. Already things were in his favour and he had a feeling that Parvati and Kras were going to be friends he would have for a while.

[Albus Severus Potter]

At the mention of Scorpius actually being people be his friend, Al just shook his head and laughed as he finished stirring the potion, ignoring the book as he turned it the amount of times he felt would work much better. "I hate you so much," he laughed, as if amused with his negative feelings for the Gryffindor. Really, he didn't give a fuck if Scorpius had friends or not. He didn't like him and that was that. He knew he could walk all over the guy, and Al liked things that way.

[Scorpius Malfoy]

“Well the feeling is completely mutual,” Scorpius replied, not being even the least bit fond of Potter since the day they were sorted. He watched as Al stirred the potion, eyes widening when he saw him stir it once the other direction. It was as if Al was throwing away the instructions completely. “Do you think it’s alright to just go on and change the whole thing up?” he asked.

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