Albus/Scorpius: As Long As I've Got You By My Side

Certain Things Don't Cease

Albus Severus Potter never believed in the saying 'all good things must come to an end'.
At least, not when it came to friendships. His friendship with Scorpius, in particular.

"We have got to see each other over the summer, I'll ask my parents to owl yours as soon as we get home".
Albus was laying spread-eagled on Scorpius's bed, with Scorpius draped over his midsection. The latter boy was immersed in the Transfiguration book Rose had gotten him for his birthday, and appeared not to have heard a word Albus said.
"Scorpius! Are you even listening to me?"
Albus put on his best sad-puppy face and started repeatedly poking his friend's cheek.
"Did you say something, Al?", Scorpius asked, finally looking over at the other boy.
Seeing Albus's pouting face, he immediately dropped his book and repositioned himself so that he was face-to-face with his friend, still lying on top of him.
"What happened? Did I upset you? Am I being a horrible friend? Please don't be mad at me! I swear I didn't mean to upset-"
The words spilled out of Scorpius's mouth increasingly quickly, until Albus clapped a hand over his mouth, giggling.
"I was just saying how we should get together over the summer holidays", said Albus, finally removing his hand from Scorpius's mouth. "I bet my mum and dad would let you come to our house for a few days!"
"Oh", said Scorpius, relieved that there was nothing wrong.
His face brightened happily before he replied, "That would be great! I've never been to your house before... And you can come to my house again after that!"
Albus grinned.
"I knew you'd like that idea".
SSS
In the last few weeks of term, Albus, Scorpius, and Rose underwent their final exams along with all of the other first years. They all had predictably different mentalities in the aftermath of their last test (Defense Against the Dark Arts).
"Albus, your dad's the Head of the Auror Office!", cried Scorpius. "You must've scraped at least an A on this one!"
"I wouldn't count on it", Albus replied gloomily. "I'm pants at Defense Against the Dark Arts".
"You're better than me, at least"
"I'm really n-"
At that moment, Rose came running up behind the two boys, shouting, "I CAN'T BELIEVE THE EXAMS ARE ALREADY OVER!"
"It's only us you're talking to, Rose, you don't need the whole school to hear you", said Albus with a chuckle.
Lowering her voice, she continued, "Well, obviously I'd done practice exams with Mum before, but they were nothing compared to the real thing! I think I scraped at least an E in every subject, except maybe History of Magic... I really don't think I did myself justice on the bit about the goblin rebellion in the sixteenth century-"
"I'm sure you did fine", said Scorpius.
"On the bright side, at least we don't have any more work for the last few days of term!", Albus exclaimed.
"Speak for yourself, I'm getting started on our summer homework", said Rose, and with that, she dropped down underneath the beech tree by the Black Lake, pulled out some parchment and a textbook, and began to read.
Shaking his head disbelievingly, Albus turned to Scorpius.
"Hey, Scorpius?"
"Yes, Albie?"
"Do you want to go swimming in the lake?"
Scorpius blanched, his eyes widening fearfully.
"And get myself killed by the Giant Squid? No thanks", he said.
"Oh, come on, I heard the Giant Squid is actually friendly!", said Albus excitedly.
He grabbed Scorpius's hand and dragged him off, towards the castle.
"We'll need proper swimming attire first, of course".
"Right, yeah...", said Scorpius.
=(-)=
Once they were clothed properly for swimming, Albus and Scorpius made their way back to the edge of the lake, near the spot where Rose continued to read.
"Oh, I hope it's not to cold", said Scorpius hesitantly.
"I'm sure it'll fine", Albus assured his friend. "Now, come on!".
He took Scorpius's hands in his and pulled him towards the lake.
Scorpius felt intimidated and vulnerable. He wasn't really much of a swimmer, but he would do it if Albus did it with him...
"Together?", he asked.
Albus smiled encouragingly.
"Together".
They jumped in the lake with their hands still intertwined, Albus laughing, and Scorpius shivering.
After around five minutes, Scorpius was beginning to feel very uncomfortable. He was very cold, and he really didn't want to go any deeper in the lake for fear that he wouldn't be able to swim properly. Noticing his friend's visible discomfort, Albus made his way over to Scorpius, looking worried.
"Scorpie, are you okay?", he asked, putting a hand on the other boy's shoulder. "You're looking rather pale".
"Oh, er, I'm fine", said Scorpius, not meeting his eyes.
"Come on, Scorpius, you can tell me if there's something wrong", Albus pressed on, a look of genuine concern on his face.
At the intense expression on Albus's face, Scorpius started talking, almost involuntarily.
"I'm not a fan of water. It's so cold, and swimming's never been my thing. I don't even know if I can do it properly anymore, and that squid scares me a lot, however friendly it may be!"
He finished in an almost despairing tone of voice, "And I just didn't want you to think I was being boring, or mean, or a bad friend. Please don't hate me, or stop being my friend!"
After Scorpius finished talking, Albus threw his arms around him.
"Oh, Scorpius, I didn't mean to make you feel like this!", he cried. "You should have just told me that you don't like water. And I will never, ever stop being your friend, no matter what!".
Holding Scorpius ever tighter to him, Albus whispered, "Let's go inside and dry off. Then we can come back out here and lay under the tree with Rose until it's time for dinner".
=(-)=
Twenty minutes later, Albus and Scorpius were back under the beech tree by the lake. Rose was still reading her textbook, apparently unaware of her surroundings. Albus spread a blanket out on the ground and promptly dropped down on top of it, pulling Scorpius with him.
"You know that I'd never stop being your friend", he whispered. "but I just want to say: please don't stop being my friend, Scorpie".
"You know that will never happen", said Scorpius earnestly. He wrapped his arms around Albus's neck and touched their foreheads together. Albus smiled, and kissed Scorpius lightly on the nose.
Looking into his friend's twinkling eyes, Albus knew that he never wanted this "good thing" to end.

Rose looked up from her book, watching her "slimy green idiots/geniuses" with an expression of utmost smugness. She, at least, knew that certain things never come to an end.