Ice and Emeralds (A Scorbus Story)

- Chapter Eight -

Albus slept in that Sunday and woke to find his bed curtains slightly open. Scorpius sat beyond, peering between them.

"Were you watching me sleep?" Albus yawned, pulling the curtains all the way open.

Scorpius grinned guiltily. "You caught me," he admitted.

Albus rolled out of bed. "Why?" he wondered, tugging off his pajama shirt. He felt Scorpius's eyes sweep across his bare chest and collar bones. They both blushed.

"You look so peaceful when you're sleeping," Scorpius murmured.

Albus pulled a t-shirt over his head and walked over to where his boyfriend sat, kissing his lips softly.

"Don't let me catch you doing it again," he whispered.

They sat up in the dorm for few hours, getting through their homework and discussing the Quidditch match. Albus rejoiced at how easy it was to talk to Scorpius now that they had come to terms with their feelings towards each other. Every now and then he had to stare up at him and think boyfriend. The thought made him laugh, yet it felt exactly right at the same time, like his whole life had been leading up to it.

The two of them decided to skip lunch in order to avoid Rose Granger-Weasley. They sneaked down to the kitchens and nicked a few chicken legs from the house elves instead. It wasn't that difficult, as the elves begged them to take as much as they wanted.

Breathless with laughter, Albus and Scorpius ran back to the Slytherin common room, fingers full of stolen food. They stuffed themselves by the fireplace until they were too full to eat any more.

They went back up to the dorm, too lazy to do more homework. Scorpius sat on his bed, reading his novel. Albus lay next to him, head in Scorpius's lap. He wanted to ask what his boyfriend's book was about, but a more pressing issue came into his mind.

"What are we going to tell our parents?"

Scorpius shrugged. "We tell them the truth. It's like I told you. They won't have a problem with us."

"Yeah, but when are we going to tell them?" Albus wondered.

Scorpius closed his book. "I don't know. Maybe we could send them a letter."

Albus shook his head. "No. This is the kind of thing you should tell people in person."

"So, when we get back to London in June?" he said.

"Yes. We break the news at King's Cross station," Albus said.

Scorpius laughed. "That'll be a fun conversation. 'Hey dad, guess what? Albus Potter is my boyfriend!'"

Someone in the room gave a tiny gasp. Albus sat up quickly and glared at the door. Noah stood there, his mouth hanging open. He clutched a letter in his shaking hands.

"Noah, what are you doing here?" Scorpius exclaimed, throwing his book aside.

But Noah appeared to be frozen. He swallowed and said, "Are you two ... a couple?"

Albus's mouth became very dry, as though it were filled with sand. Scorpius cleared his throat.

"Er," he said nervously. "Yes, Noah. We are."

A moment of silence passed. Then, slowly but surely, a smile appeared on Noah's face.

"That's great," he whispered. Suddenly, dropping the letter, he said, "I can't wait to tell the others!"

Without warning, he dashed from the room and down the stairs.

"Noah, wait!"

But it was too late. Noah was gone.

"Bloody hell," Albus muttered. Scorpius stood up and went to fetch the letter Noah had dropped on the floor.

"Who's that for?" Albus asked.

"Me," Scorpius answered. "It's from my dad."

At that moment, the sounds of voices came from the staircase. Noah, Selel, Keith, and Heiress, who wasn't supposed to be in the boys' dorm, came bustling through the doorway.

"We've just heard from Noah," Keith said excitedly. "Is it true?"

Four pairs of eyes stared in wonder at the two of them. Albus felt Scorpius take his hand. "It's true," he said happily.

There was a mixed reaction from their friends. Noah, Keith, and Selel looked overjoyed. Heiress scowled.

"What about Rose?" she said crossly. "She still thinks you're her boyfriend. Wouldn't stop asking us where you were."

Scorpius frowned. "I'm going to break up with her tomorrow."

Heiress was not satisfied. "You should break up with her today," she said. "Otherwise you're cheating."

"It's not cheating!" Scorpius protested. "I didn't mean to hurt her. It just sort of happened. Besides, she's just won the Quidditch match yesterday. I don't want to ruin her happiness."

"If you don't tell her, I will," Heiress huffed. Then she turned and ran down the stairs.

"Don't worry about her, mate," said Selel.

"She'll come around," Keith reassured. "So, the two of you? I should have seen it coming."

"Yeah," Selel said. "Albus, is this why you've been so moody lately? Is it because you've been jealous of Rose?"

Albus felt himself turn pink. "I mean, yes, I suppose."

The group laughed and Scorpius threw an arm around his shoulder. Together, they went down to the common room, where Selel and Scorpius went head-to-head in Exploding Snap. Scorpius won at last after the two of them tied over and over again.

Then, barely containing their laughter, the Slytherins went to dinner.