leashy_bebes | fic: Five Things James Hates About Scorpius (But Secretly Loves)

Title: Five Things James Hates About Scorpius (But Secretly Loves)
Pairing: James Sirius/Scorpius
Rating: PG
Summary: Er. See title? Written a little while ago for

besamislabios's prompt on the five things meme
Word Count: ~1100

1. James hates the fact that he has a crush on Scorpius. He's not James's type at all. James likes loud, jovial, social boys. He likes well-built boys, taller than him, dark, funny and easygoing. Scorpius is quiet and clever and sarcastic and spiky. He's slight and pale and blond and sharp-eyed. He doesn't pay much attention to James, and James is very used to attention. But Scorpius doesn't care that he's a Potter, doesn't care that he's top of his year, and ahead of most of the seventh years at Potions, doesn't care that James is the youngest seeker since his father. Nothing James does is good enough to warrant more than a passing glance from Scorpius Malfoy, and that fact gets under his skin, itches.

(But he can't hate it, not really, because some days just the bright flash of Scorpius's hair at the far end of a corridor can make James's heart pound in his throat. He wants to hate it, but he finds that he's almost addicted to the way Scorpius makes him feel, to the way his heart hammers and his skin feels too tight. He can't hate it because James has never felt like this before, never felt so much before. He doesn't understand it, he doesn't want it, but he doesn't hate it either, because it feels...special.)

2. James hates the fact that Scorpius is best friends with his little brother. It's stupid for James to have a crush on a kid in the year below, but even more stupid when that kid is Albus's best friend. Because really, anyone who's Al's friend obviously needs their head checking, and Scorpius is so damn pretty that being clinically insane seems like such a waste. James hates the way that they're always together, always whispering, always very obviously so close that they don't need anyone else.

(But if Scorpius wasn't friends with Al, he and James would never have ended up arguing one summer when Al took offence at one of James's comments and Scorpius leapt to his defence like a knight on a charger. And if they hadn't had that argument, then Scorpius wouldn't have pushed James in frustration, and James wouldn't have slung a handful of mud into Scorpius's perfect hair, and Scorpius wouldn't have given a murderous shriek of outrage and launched himself at James and somehow ended up kissing him instead of giving him a black eye. So James doesn't hate that, not really.)

3. James hates the fact that Scorpius is so posh. James is polite, he has manners, he's not a fucking oaf. It doesn't seem fair that when he goes to Malfoy Manor to meet Scorpius's parents for the first time, that they manage to make him feel about a million miles away from good enough for their son. James's parents have always protected him from the publicity that goes hand in hand with being a Potter, but that's also meant keeping him away from upper class soirees where he might have learned how to speak to a Lord, who was also kind of, sort of, his father-in-law. It's not about money, and it's not even about status, really. It's more to do with the fact that everyone acts as though James is Scorpius's teenage rebellion before he settles down with a nice, quiet girl, and produces the requisite blond-haired heir.

(But it means they can give each other things, share experiences like they're gifts. James takes Scorpius to a football match and teaches him the filthier chants. Scorpius takes James to the opera, and they're both pleasantly surprised when James doesn't completely hate it. James takes Scorpius to the fish and chip shop – newspaper? Why in the name of Merlin is my food wrapped in newspaper? – and almost splits his sides laughing at Scorpius's expression when he sees a battered sausage for the first time in his privileged little life. Scorpius teaches James that there's actually something to be said for wine that costs more than two galleons a bottle. So no, James doesn't really hate that either.)

4. James hates the fact that Scorpius isn't a morning person. James loves being awake as the sun rises, and there's nothing quite like a morning run to blow the cobwebs away. He dearly wants to drag Scorpius with him, because James is always in the mood when he gets back from a run, heart pounding and breath singing. But if Scorpius wakes up at all on James's return, it's almost always to roll over with a grumble and cling to the duvet like a limpet. He tells James he's sweaty and disgusting, to fuck off and have a shower and leave him the fuck alone. Definitely not a morning person.

(But James can't even hate that, really, because it means he gets to wake up first and he can spend just as long as he wants looking, drinking in the sight of Scorpius, and marvelling at the fact that he's really in James's bed. Scorpius is loving without being overly affectionate, and James loves the silent moments, the thrill of victory when he tucks Scorpius's hair behind his ear and whispers sweet nonsense words to the back of his neck. And then, once in a blue moon, there are days when Scorpius wakes up and says, drowsy, 'I'll blow your cobwebs away', and yeah... James can't hate that at all.)

5. James hates the fact that Scorpius knows him so well. James likes being independent, likes keeping his own counsel. He is used to being the oldest sibling, to holding himself together for everyone else's sake. He takes pride in the fact that he can always smile, can always put any problems to the back of his mind, tuck them away where they'll go unnoticed. It's always been that way, but Scorpius can see through it in an instant, and when James is having a bad day, Scorpius just has to look at him once before he gets that troubled expression on his face and asks, 'what is it?' And the worst part is that, unlike with everyone else, James can't just issue a cheerful, 'nothing'. Instead it all comes spilling out and he finds himself raw and vulnerable.

(And James doesn't hate that either, really, because Scorpius is the most straight-to-the-point person James has ever known. He can solve almost any problem James throws at him, and when he can't solve it, prickly, standoffish Scorpius Malfoy will take James in his arms and press kisses into his hair and say, 'hey, hey, it'll be alright', and James absolutely loves the fact that he always believes it.)

fin

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