ass_tea | [LOG] Flashback: The Chamber of Snogs

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Where: Hogwarts: Sixth Floor
When: end of May 2021 (fourth year)

It was a quiet Saturday near the end of the year, the kind where students were busy studying for their exams. Scorpius and Albus woke up to find the Slytherin common room completely hushed, as students lounged on sofas with their books open and crowded in groups on the rugs, reviewing lessons in hushed tones. Even the breakfast hall that morning was strangely quiet, the attendance far less than usual--the Ravenclaw table was almost completely empty, save for a few students who only came into grab food to carry back to their tower.

"Why's it so quiet in here?" Alex Moran said, taking a seat at the Slytherin table and reaching for a muffin. "Where is everybody?"

Joe Wenlock just shook his head, not even bothering to answer.

"It's called studying, Alex," Scorpius said, swallowing a bite of pancake and washing it down with some tea. "Might want to try it sometime. It's for those test things we do at the end of every year."

"Ha ha, very funny, Scorp. You're a bloody comedian."

Joe suppressed a snicker. Alex shoved him, and Joe shoved him back again.

The rest of breakfast passed rather uneventfully, and the library was crowded with studying students when they arrived with all their books, managing to find a couple spots with a table full of Gryffindors in a dim corner. Scorpius looked up from his Charms book when after a couple of hours, he saw Alby begin to get a little bit antsy, and they retreated to take a small study break in between some rows of bookshelves.

"I can't believe the library's this full," Scorpius complained. He was sure it wasn't this crowded at the same time last year, or maybe it could've just been that last year he had less work. "There's no room in our common room either." Scorpius frowned, annoyed. There was something infuriating about studying next to a group of Gryffindors--maybe it was the fact that they talked all the time, even in quiet voices it was a distraction and their chatter had nearly driven Scorpius insane.

Scorpius wracked his brain for good, secluded, places to spend the rest of his afternoon. "I guess we could always go outside," Scorpius said, thinking out loud, "but it's pretty windy today." He'd tried studying outside a few times before, but again, there were too many distractions outside, not to mention that the wind kept wanting to steal his notes.

"Hmm..." Scorpius adjusted his glasses, a habit he'd developed when deep in thought. "There is one place my mum's mentioned to me..." He paused and took a look around to make sure nobody else was within earshot.

"Hey Alby, have you ever heard of a room called the Chamber of Snogs?"

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"Absolutely not," Scorpius stated flatly. Half of him could not believe he was trying to negotiate with--for crying out loud--a portrait! "You two are out of your minds."

"Hmmm," Gilbert pursed his lips. "Your loss," he said flippantly, and winding his arms around Serge's shoulders again, he turned away from the two Slytherin boys and went back to his business.

Scorpius rolled his eyes and stared at the ceiling, a bit of despair creeping into his gaze. He really, really wanted to study. He really, really wanted to study someplace where there was nobody else--but Alby. And he really, really wanted to do it now.

"Fine then!" Scorpius said, screwing up his courage. He waited for Gilbert to turn around again, a little curiously, before he did it. He yanked Alby towards him, closed his eyes, and pressed a quick kiss to Alby's lips. There, done, before Alby even knew what happened or could begin to protest. Then they'd never talk about this again, and everything could go back to normal, and he'd get his bloody study room. "Now can we come in?"

There was a long moment of silence. The expression on Gilbert's face was absolutely blank, as was the expression on Serge's. Scorpius felt his own face starting to heat up, and he did not even dare glance in Alby's direction. He was sure Alby was pissed, and Scorpius mentally promised to make it up to him later. Somehow.

Finally, Serge broke the silence and straight out laughed. Scorpius had never had a portrait laugh at him before, and he was getting the feeling that his day was hitting an all-time record low.

"You call that a snog?" Gilbert said with a snort, shushing his dark-haired partner. He unwound an arm around Serge's neck and turned around, fully facing them, both hands on his hips. He narrowed his eyes at Scorpius. "Have you kissed anybody before, kid? Anybody at all?"

Of course Scorpius hadn't, but he was not about to admit it to a huffy, holier-than-thou painting. Scorpius bristled a bit, but couldn't really find much of anything to say.

"I'll take that as a 'no,' then," Gilbert said dismissively. He pointed a finger in Albus's direction. "You, Potty," he said. "Teach that boy over there how to kiss. And put some tongue into it." He glared at both of them, the way a teacher glares at a couple of delinquent students about to get the detention of their lives. "And neither of you are getting into the Chamber until you do it properly. Have I made myself clear?"

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Albus's brain was really having trouble comprehending things today, it seemed. Which was odd, really, considering most of his blood seemed to be in his head, which should have helped the matter, but apparently didn't.

He heard Scorpius arguing with the portrait, but it seemed very distant, as he kept trying to wrap his mind around the two words 'Snog Scorpius' in conjunction with each other. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad - they were friends, and Alby didn't mind touching or hugging or shoving Scorp and he certainly didn't mind Scorp touching him, they'd been mates since first year, this wasn't going to ruin anything -

He'd only dimly started to realize that the painting and Scorpius seemed at an impasse before Scorp said, "Fine then!" and yanked Alby towards him, pressing a quick, dry kiss to his lips before letting him go, turning immediately back to the portrait and demanding entrance.

Alby staggered a step, blinking - Scorp had just kissed him - but it hadn't exactly been a snog, just a peck on the lips, but that was okay, because now the portrait would let them in and he hoped Scorp wasn't mad -

It was when Serge started laughing that Alby seemed to snap fully back into the present, and Alby realized that Scorpius hadn't exactly had a lot of experience with kissing - he hadn't had any girlfriends, after all, though Alby had to admit, with his own somewhat disastrous past, that was probably for the better.

But then Gilbert had turned and pointed at him, and told him to do it - as though he knew Alby was the more experienced of the two. Maybe it was something to do with being a Potter, he thought vaguely, though his dad hadn't had more than two girlfriends the whole time he was at school, and the second was Alby's mum. Alby just stood there, mind racing frantically for a moment, trying to comprehend the situation and come up with the best course of action.

Alby had snogged people, sure - they were all girls, but at least none of them had seemed to complain (within earshot, at least) about his technique. In fact, earlier that year it had been practically all Sharpay Evans wanted to do, though in retrospect it had probably been because she wasn't very interested in talking to Alby, only dating him because she hadn't been able to get at James. But even Sharpay hadn't complained, and she was notoriously picky.

But the fact remained, able or not, that the boys in the portrait wanted Alby to kiss his best friend. But, well, the fact that Scorp had already tried once was proof that he was willing to do it to get in, right? So it was okay? And they wouldn't be weird? Because Alby decided it didn't have to be weird, they were friends and this was just...

It didn't explain the feeling in his stomach, entirely, but, well, he'd never been in this situation before.

From:

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"Okay," he told the boys in the portrait; Gilbert shifted and looked at him with a gaze that said he'd better get it right or they were out of luck, but Alby ignored him and turned to Scorpius, staring at the spot just beneath his chin that was conveniently where his gaze fell if he didn't tilt his head up to look his friend in the face.

"Relax and open your mouth," he whispered so the portrait wouldn't hear, grasping the front of Scorpius's shirt and standing on his toes a bit to press their mouths together, screwing his eyes shut so he wouldn't have to see the other's reaction. He wasn't sure if Scorp had listened, or if his mouth was still slightly open in indignance, but either way it was and Alby shifted a bit so as not to bump noses, slipping his tongue past the other's lips and praying that Scorpius wasn't going to bite him. This was actually better, in a way - Alby was much more used to being the one doing the kissing, instead of the one being kissed. Though, his mind kept echoing, it had been rather exciting, to be on the receiving end of it, even if it had been a peck -

Alby kissed Scorpius for a good twenty seconds, partly because he figured if this was their last chance then they'd better put on a good show, and partly because he had no idea what was going to happen when they stopped. But it had to end - he needed air and he knew Scorp wasn't exactly experienced with kissing and rationing breath, nor had he been expecting to be kissed in the first place, so Alby pulled back and let go of Scorpius's shirt and took a step back, wiping his mouth a little - not because it had been bad - it... really hadn't, at all, but his mouth was wet and he wasn't sure whose saliva it was. He stood, watching the boys in the portrait, shuffling his feet and quite unsure what the proper etiquette was for apologizing after you'd stuck your tongue into your best friend's mouth to get into a secret chamber of the castle.

From:

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For a moment, Scorpius had the sudden, violent fancy to rip the portrait off the wall and try to set it on fire. It was a far cry from studying Charms, but one ill turn certainly deserved another. He was indignant, no portrait called his best friend a "Potty" and it wasn't exactly in a position to make demands either (not really being alive, for one).

Alby turned and whispered something to him, but Scorpius thought he didn't quite hear it correctly.

"What?" he was about to say. He'd just gotten to the opening his mouth bit when suddenly Alby grabbed him by the front of his shirt and shoved their lips together. Instinctively, Scorpius's eyes closed, but he froze first. God, he'd never been kissed before. His mind raced, what was he supposed to do? Then Albus's tongue gently made its way into his mouth and Scorpius almost pulled away out of surprise. It wasn't that he didn't like the feeling, it was just that he never really envisioned that he would have Alby's tongue on his mouth, or that he'd be French kissing his best friend. For the benefit of two perverted boys in a bloody portrait.

There was really nothing Scorpius could think of doing, when being kissed, except to probably kiss back. Just standing there doing nothing would have been horribly awkward, and there was this instinctive need to prove himself as a good kisser--or at least, not a bad one--to his best friend. So he kissed Alby back, in the best way that he knew how, trying to do back to Alby what Alby was doing to him. He lost count exactly how long the kiss lasted, and when Alby pulled away the first thing Scorpius expected to hear was Gilbert's voice telling them it was too short.

"Hmmmm..." Gilbert seemed to be considering the kiss, a hand placed under his chin as he looked between the two boys.

Scorpius felt a little dazed, as if someone had just hit him in the head with something very hard. He licked his lips nervously and thought he tasted some lingering traces of Alby. He had no idea what he was supposed to say, or even do in this situation, and so figured he'd best keep his mouth shut and not make the already terrible situation any worse.

"Not bad..." Gilbert said hesitantly, as if unsure whether or not they got passing marks. Gilbert turned to Serge, who nodded. Gilbert grinned and turned back to address the boys. "Serge and I are considering make you snog every time you want in." Gilbert giggled a bit, Serge looked like he was about to too, but managed to hold it in. "But for now, you're in." Gilbert winked at Scorpius and suddenly the wall behind portrait swung inwards, revealing a short, narrow entrance, and a dimly lit, slightly dusty room beyond.

From:

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Alby did his best to glare as Gilbert mentioned making them snog every time they wanted to get in - somehow, though, his reasoning must have gone askew, because he didn't want to do it mostly because he thought it would get awfully weird if he had to snog Scorpius on a weekly basis. Not that he... wouldn't want to snog Scorpius on a weekly basis, since it hadn't been all that bad - Scorp had even started kissing back, and it was -

Alby stopped that train of thought right where it was. It was not going to get weird, and they were not going to snog every time they wanted into the Chamber of Snogs - and that was that. Before he could think much more, he took the other's hand and pulled him into the entrance, before the boys could change their minds and make them do it again. He hoped Scorpius wouldn't notice his fingers shaking, though Alby really couldn't imagine why they were, and wished they would stop.

When they were finally into the Chamber he paused, looking around. It was a large room, filled with old, comfortable-looking armchairs, ottomans, and a small couch beneath its one window. The room wasn't very dirty, though it was a bit dusty and obviously hadn't been used in years. There were a few bits of spare parchment here and there, and an old quill left on one of the low tables near one armchair.

Alby breathed in the thick air, somehow thinking this place seemed very nice, despite its dust. It was quiet, it was comfortable, and he and Scorp were the only two people who knew where it was. He suddenly wondered what it would take to dissuade his cousin Fred from looking for it ever again, and resolved to put his head together with Rose to come up with something - only it might be a bit difficult to do without telling her they'd actually found it.

He resolved to figure that problem out some other time - now he realized he was still clinging tightly to Scorpius's hand, and he dropped it. The silence stretched on, until finally it made Alby so uncomfortable that he coughed, hiding behind his hand a bit and finally risking a glance up at his friend. Scorp didn't look angry...

"I... uh, I didn't mean to startle you - it was the only way," he said, in a small voice, feeling his cheeks grow warm again, though thankfully they didn't feel quite as hot as they had before. It would be all well and good to just forget they'd ever kissed, but somehow Alby couldn't let it go. He needed to know it was okay. "I... uh, I hope it wasn't bad." Though from his end, it hadn't been, but he wasn't exactly sure how to tell Scorp that without risking further embarrassment.

From:

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Before Scorpius could venture in himself, or wait for the two boys in the portrait to say anything, Alby grabbed his hand and yanked him into the Chamber. The door swung shut behind them, though not without the sound of muffled laughter coming from Gilbert and Serge.

Scorpius took a look around the room. Certainly some of the armchairs were a little worn, and the thin layer of dust that settled over everything didn't help, but it was certainly a nice, cozy place to be. He could see why his mother had been so fond of the place when she had been a student here, though that was a bit difficult to imagine. Scorpius couldn't, for the life of him, picture what his mother must have been like as a student, or his father for that matter. To think that at one point in time his parents had both had to go through the same sorts of things that he did now seemed truly bizarre.

Belatedly, Alby must have realized that they were still holding hands, and dropped Scorpius's with haste. Scorpius cleared his throat as if he had something to say--which he didn't--so Alby beat him to it.

"Uh, well..." Scorpius said, trying to look like he was talking to Alby without actually looking at him, "it was grea--no, I mean, it was fine. It was okay." Scorpius shoved his hands into his pockets and desperately tried to look like the whole ordeal hadn't shaken him as badly as it did. He tried looking at the space above Alby's shoulder. He was Scorpius Malfoy, nothing could shake him, certainly not something as small as snogging his best friend.

"You know, it was the only way to get in here, so..." Scorpius adjusted his glasses and shrugged. "I mean, it's, it's just a kiss. It's not a big deal or anything like that."

Scorpius cast about the room for some sort of excuse not to continue the conversation in the direction it was presently heading, and then remembered why he had landed himself here in the first place.

"So, let's just...study. Here. For a while." Scorpius dusted off an armchair and an ottoman and scrambled for his Charms book, almost spilling the whole contents of his bag in the process. All he wanted to do was sit down, open his book, and forget that this thing had happened. But he couldn't, he realized, as he opened his Charms text. He'd been reading the same paragraph over and over again, not really understand what it said, because his mind was elsewhere. Namely, it was still outside where Alby had snogged him, and suddenly nothing about Charms made any sense to him at all.

From:

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Alby nodded, feeling rather relieved first when Scorpius said it hadn't been bad, and then when he said it was no big deal - though he noticed Scorp wasn't really looking at him either, so maybe it had bothered him more than he was letting on. Alby suppressed a frown and nodded, then bit his lip - his mouth still felt warm and tingly, and there was no reason for it to be doing that. And certainly no reason to want to try it again, to see if he could make it better.

That was really, really out of the question. People didn't go around snogging their best friends. Not when their best friends were guys too.

He wandered over to the window, looking out over the grounds, before coming back over to one of the tables, looking around a bit more. "I wonder if the last person to be here was your mum and her friends," Alby said absently, peering at one of the pieces of parchment - it looked like the start of a letter, in faded red ink, but it also... looked like something that he shouldn't be reading, not being the person it was directed to. The wording was... rather colorful. He suddenly hoped it hadn't been Scorp's mum who'd written it, and quickly set his bookbag down on top of it, following suit and pulling out his charms book, flopping into another of the armchairs with a small puff of dust. He sneezed, then opened his book - upside-down, so he righted it - and sighed, trying to settle down and concentrate on studying because that's what they were here to do, right?

Except his eyes kept wandering over to Scorpius over the cover of the book; Scorp must be concentrating really hard, he hadn't turned a page in minutes, and Alby wasn't sure that talking about it any more would really help things. He tried not to twitch, in an effort to let Scorp study in peace, and frowned down at his own text, wishing the book could tell him what to do, but the page didn't change, and he still had no answers.

[OOC: Alby's willing to talk about it a bit more if Scorp wants, but I think he's also quite happy to keep his mouth shut, but in that case we may be about done here? (It's so bad, half of Alby wants to ask Scorp if they can try it again, but I don't think he fully realizes why yet. XD;)]

From:

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Scorpius had the feeling the rest of his afternoon, maybe even his evening was shot to hell. He closed his Charms book and went to Ancient Runes instead--something he felt he was good at--but no matter how many times he looked at the passages or tried to memorize the meaning of obscure runic translations, he kept glancing over the top of his page at Alby, who had a look of concentration on his face. Scorpius wondered if Alby was dwelling on the kiss. Of course not, Scorpius thought, attempting to go back to his reading, Alby had had a couple of girlfriends before. He'd kissed and been kissed, and that was all nice and swell. It didn't seem to be a large matter to him, so Scorpius felt rather disinclined to make a fuss about it. It had been his first kiss, and he was absolutely, positively fine with giving his best friend that privilege...as long as nobody else knew.

Scorpius glanced at Alby again. The boy's eyes weren't roving over the page, so he was obviously still thinking. Deciding that he was absolutely not going to say a thing (after all, Alby wasn't) he went back his Ancient Runes book and read the text out loud in his head. Maybe then he'd finally get it.

[OOC: Yeah, I don't think they should talk about it. XD Yay for maximizing awkwardness! :D Anyways, did you want to wrap it up with things being a bit uncomfortable for the rest of the school year? I think then we should do some personal logging (ie: Scorp talking to Ora, Alby talking to James) and then start into fifth year with Alison and Ora having tea?]

From:

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[OOC: Yeah, sounds good to me~ Ahaha, the poor boys. <3 I was definitely planning to try and write down that Alby talking to James scene tonight if I can. XD Let me know when you want to start the tea log at the beginning of fifth year, and I can take care of the first tag for that one. :D]

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[OOC: Since it's just the two of us, did you just want to post the Alby-James and Scorp-Ora logs here on the comm? :D Let me do the Scorp-Ora log, and maybe tomorrow night or Tuesday we can start fifth year? X3

We might also want to do more planning, cause it sounds like with all our ideas for what's happening in fifth year, we'll be done by November, and we totally need to draw it out longer. XD]

From:

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[OOC: Yeah, I think it'd be fine to post them to the comm~ And okay, sounds good - I'll give it a couple days before thinking about the tea log. :D

XD We probably should, heh. I'm sure there's plenty more we can do, because they still have two and a half more years at school to play with by the time they get together~ XD]

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[OOC: Yeah, they totally have two and half more years after they get together, huh? XD Hahaha, two and a half years of torturing their dormmates with public displays of affection.

Alby is seriously the cutest thing ever. :3 ~<3 I can't wait until they're snogging all over the place and put even Gilbert and Serge to shame. XD Revenge is so sweet.]

From:

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[Yeah, they do~ Their poor, poor dormmates. :D;

::diiiies:: I really think the first time they go back to the Chamber of Snogs after they're together, Alby is going to give them a show they'll never forget. XD]