round 3 overflow post

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Round 3 Overflow Post

This post is for Round 3 fills only. We ask that when a round hits 8500 comments, fillers begin moving their fills to this post.

Format:
SUBJECT LINE -- Round #, short description of fic (ex: "Alex/Hank, lab partners")
--- Link to the prompt
--- Text of the prompt

--- Link to the fill
OR
--- Entire text of the fill

EXAMPLE:
Prompt: http://xmen-firstkink.livejournal.com/6437.html?thread=1038472#t2038174

Charles/Erik -- Charles is a bakery owner whose most frequent customer is Erik.

Fill: http://xmen-firstkink.livejournal.com/6437.html?thread=0139482#t4502942

Charles started off the morning the same way he always did...

Comments

FILL: The Better Men (20e/30ish)

[(Anonymous)]

Professor Xavier was watching him with concerned eyes, somehow sharp and gentle at the same time. Scorpius didn't mind Professor X, as they mostly called him – he seemed very nice – but as Scorpius was too young for Divination classes, he didn't really know the man. He'd come here to see Professor Lehnsherr and he couldn't help wondering what Professor X was doing here and whether it would be possible to talk to Professor Lehnsherr alone.

He caught himself staring at the red mark on Professor Xavier's neck, and the Professor pseudo-casually put a hand over it and blushed.

Well. If Scorpius were being honest with himself, he wasn't entirely confused about what Professor X might be doing here. Not after what Peter Parkinson said his uncle said about Lehnsherr and Xavier when they were all kids together. Of course that was just a rumor, but looking at them now, together at this hour of the morning, Professor X wearing a sweater Scorpius recognized as Lehnsherr's, it wasn't hard to believe.

"Is it true you're Muggle-born, sir?" Scorpius asked.

Professor Xavier blinked. "Yes. I hadn't meant that to be any sort of secret."

"I guess that explains it, then."

"Explains what?"

"Why Professor Lehnsherr wouldn't let anyone speak ill of Imogen Cox. For being Muggle-born, I mean. He caught… someone calling her a M-Mudblood and... spoke to us very severely about it."

"...I see," Xavier said softly, smiling slow and with a sort of light to it. "And what do you think I have to do with it?"

Scorpius glanced nervously at Professor Lehnsherr, only a few steps away, stirring milk into the teacup. "Well, everyone knows that the Professor… thinks very highly of you, sir."

"I think rather highly of Professor Lehnsherr, too," Xavier said. "Even more highly now than I did a moment ago."

Professor Lehnsherr brought the tea, then, and sat down next to Xavier, and he was blushing too, why was everyone blushing, and Professor Xavier looked at him with this warm, happy expression that made Scorpius really wonder if he shouldn't have come back later.

It was too late now, though, so he just took a long drink of his tea. The warmth of it felt wonderful. He wasn't sure he'd stopped shivering since he left the Headmaster's office the night before.

"All right, Mr. Malfoy," Professor Lehnsherr said. "You said you needed to talk to me?"

Scorpius's eyes wandered over to Professor Xavier.

"I can go," Xavier said. "If it's something personal." He was already getting up, but to his own surprise Scorpius shook his head.

"It's all right, you can stay. I don't mind."

Xavier sat back down again.

Scorpius took another long, warm drink before he could even start trying to explain. "My father," he began. "My father told me, before I came here, that if anyone ever... touched me in a way that made me... uncomfortable... a teacher or another student or whoever. To write to him right away. And to tell a teacher that I trusted."

Lehnsherr and Xavier had both gone very pale and still.

"He didn't, he didn't touch me," Scorpius said hurriedly. "He never did actually touch me. Just told me to take my shirt off. And it was... it was weird and Dad said uncomfortable and it was, so I. Thought I should. And he said -- Professor Shaw said -- not to tell anyone but Dad said to tell anyway." He looked down into his teacup, feeling a little sick.

"Yes," Professor Xavier said. "You absolutely should tell. Can you start at the beginning and tell us what happened? Did Professor Shaw take you to his room?"

"No, his office. It was late, I was on my way back from the Great Hall after dinner. He passed me in the corridor and said come with him, so I went. And he shut the door and said to take off my shirt. I thought it was weird but he's the headmaster so I did it. He said to stand against the wall. Then he asked if there was any chance I was adopted, like was my mum really my stepmum or anything. I told him no, I look just like my dad and have the same birthmark as my mum's brother, so I don't think I could possibly be adopted. And he said good, and hold still, this will hurt a little." He swallowed hard. "It hurt a lot."