if i told you i loved you (would you even care)

Chapter Three

James grinned. All his and Albus's friends and family surrounded them, all talking at once. 

"You okay?"

"Albus looked like he was gonna die when you fell!"

"That bludger was not aimed at you!"

That last one was from Fred, who had been trying to hit Albus when James had fallen. James put an arm around Fred.

"Aw, Freddie, no hard feelings," he said. "And also, I'm gonna kill you." The room laughed, and they all split into their standard groups. Albus sat on a couch by the fireplace, and Scorpius sat right next to him. They were pressed in to each other extremely close, but it wasn't anything new. They sat like that all the time. Albus's cousin and the third in their group, Rose, sat in an armchair next to them, sipping a bottle of butterbeer.

"James is trying to start a game of 'Never Have I Ever,'" she said. "Wanna play?" Albus was about to protest, but Scorpius jumped to his feet and pulled Albus with him. 

"We're playing, Al. You can play with butterbeer so you don't get drunk. That's what I'm gonna do." Albus chuckled. 

"You're such a good little boy," Albus told him. Scorpius nodded. 

"Yeah, sure." They had reached the circle of kids with shot glasses and joined in, each of them getting handed one. 

"Alright," James said, a glint in his eye. "Are you all familiar with the rules? You drink if you've done it. And before any of you little shits tries to cheat, I'll have you know that I have personally enchanted each and every one of these glasses. Even if you don't open your mouth, the cup's going to be there, so you might as well drink instead of dribble all down your shirt."

"But James," Albus said innocently. "If you personally enchanted them, then why should we be worried?" The rest of the people in the circle laughed, but James just smiled mischeviously. 

"Just for that Al, I'm going to do something special when it's my turn." Albus felt a sense of dread creep over him at his brother's words. James knew about Albus's feelings for Scorpius. He had found out on accident, but wouldn't let go of it. And now, he was going to use it to publicly embarrass Al.

"James, no," he said. "I'm sorry. Don't do it." But the smile on James's face was too wide to go back.

"Scared, Al? Don't be. It'll all work out." He winked and pointed to Dominique, who was about halfway between the Potter brothers. "Dom, you start, and we'll work down."

Albus tuned out most of the game, dreading James's turn, drinking only when he felt his arm tug the cup to his lips.

"Alright," James said, the smirk on his face unlike any other Albus had ever seen. "Never have I ever fallen in love with my best friend." On his left, Albus heard a laugh of pure glee as he did his best to keep his arm down. It was Rose, laughing so hard she was in tears.

"James, you evil genius," she said. "I've been waiting three years for this." Albus felt the gaze of everyone in the circle shift to him...or his immediate right?

He looked down to see his right hand shaking as it fought the shot glass, but shifted his gaze to Scorpius's right hand, where the same exact thing was happening. He locked eyes with his best friend, who smirked then downed his shot. Albus did the same, to much cheering. He leaned in and placed his lips on Scorp's soft pink ones. The cheering got louder, something he didn't think possible as Scorpius placed a hand on his cheek and he deepened the kiss. When they finally broke apart, James stood and walked across the circle. 

Leaning down, he whispered in Albus's ear "I told you it would all work out. And also, I reserve the right to tell mom and dad."