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

The (Un)Expected Aftermath

Albus pulled back slightly, his heart racing excitedly. Looking at Scorpius's dilated pupils and slightly opened mouth, he was able to truly take in the magnitude of what had just happened. He caught his breath. Immediately, he saw the aftereffects of their kiss fade from Scorpius's eyes, replaced with incredulity. This expression positively melted Albus, and he realized in that moment just how much Scorpius meant to him. More than just a friend, or even a brother. Without Scorpius, he could scarcely imagine what his life would be like. He took the other boy's hands in his, taking a deep breath.

"Scorpius?"

Scorpius just looked at him with a curious expression.

"Would you...er...would you maybe want to...ah..."

He swallowed.

"Willyoubemyboyfriend?", Albus finally managed to ask, his words rushed and breathless.

Scorpius gave a laugh, and tackled Albus with a hug. Looking down at the other boy, he smirked,

"I thought you'd never ask".

SSS

"I knew it, I bloody well knew it!", cried Lily Luna Potter.

This was bound to happen eventually, thought Albus. It's not as though my sister was in any way oblivious to my feelings, even if I was myself. He watched Lily and Rose victory-dance around the living room of the Burrow, shaking his head with resignation. Scorpius looked torn; he was unsure whether to laugh or sigh.

On the other side of the room, Hermione and Ginny clinked their glasses of champagne together, smiling at their children's antics. Like their daughters, they had seen this coming for quite a while. Harry and Ron, on the other hand, seemed completely incredulous.

"As long as Albus is happy, so am I. But...I never noticed anything that would make me think...", Harry trailed off.

"I dunno, mate, I wouldn't have expected it either...", said Ron. "But then, we wouldn't've guessed he would befriend the little Malfoy in the first place".

Harry just shook his head and downed the rest of his firewhiskey all at once.

"Albus is dating Scorpius, Albus is dating Scorpius!", Lily began to chant, laughing wildly as Rose joined in.

Albus sighed and took Scorpius's hand, using his other hand to grab to bottles of butterbeer. They could eat Christmas dinner shut up in Uncle Ron's old attic bedroom, right?

=(-)=

When it came time to tell Scorpius's family about his and Albus's new relationship, their initial reaction was much less tumultuous than that of Albus's family. Astoria seemed completely unsurprised; she only smiled and gave a little wink upon hearing the news. If Draco was expecting this to happen as soon as it did (or if he was as surprised as Harry had been), he didn't show it. He simply nodded and said, "Make each other happy".

His cheeks burning slightly, Albus looked up at his boyfriend's father and said,

"We already do".

On Draco's other side, Scorpius's normally pale complexion turned pink. This was confirmation that Albus's words had been true, not that Draco needed any reassurance that there was any better a person to make his only son happy.

SSS

Scorpius trudged across the Hogwarts grounds, his feet dragging in the partially-melted February snow. He was making his way back to the Slytherin common room, an Ancient Runes paper crumpled in his hand. And to think, he thought miserably, I was having such a good day. He stepped into the common room, flopping down on one of the couches. From his own chair on the other side of the room, Albus saw his boyfriend enter and immediately jumped up to greet him. However, it soon became apparent that Scorpius wasn't exactly ecstatic. With a concerned frown on his face, Albus walked over to the couch on which Scorpius was sprawled, and put a tentative hand on his shoulder.

"Scorpie? Is everything all right?", he asked.

Scorpius just sighed. Reluctantly, he took his Ancient Runes paper and gave it to Albus, who unfolded it.

"I don't understand what's wrong", murmured Albus, looking it over. "It's just a- oh. But Scorpius, this is still an excellent grade..."

"An, E, Albus, an E!", cried Scorpius. "In Ancient Runes! One of my best subjects, one of my favorites, and I got an E!"

"Every subject is your best subject. But still, I suppose it makes sense why you're upset... oh, come here! I can't stand to see you so unhappy". He held his arms out, offering a comforting hug.

Scorpius leaned into Albus, on his face a pitiful expression.

"Thanks for being here, Albus", he said quietly as the latter rubbed his back in a soothing fashion. "And for not calling me ridiculous or ungrateful for being disappointed in my grade".

Albus just hugged Scorpius tighter, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. Though they were still fairly new at this whole 'dating' thing, there was little difference between comforting Scorpius as a friend and comforting him as a boyfriend. With anyone else, Albus figured, there would have been a drastic difference. But with Albus and Scorpius, a snuggle meant for soothing would never really change.

SSS

One Saturday in early March, Albus and Scorpius took their first trip to Hogsmeade. Now that they were third years, they had the privilege to go the little village with all the other, older students. Unfortunately, they had not yet had the chance to visit Great Britain's only non-muggle settlement.

Scorpius was ecstatic. He had heard many amazing things about all the places to go in Hogsmeade, particularly the Three Broomsticks pub and Honeydukes candy shop. Albus, on the other hand, was not quite as enthusiastic. For the past couple of months, he would usually prefer to stay inside with Scorpius, but this could still be fun. As they walked through the village gates, Albus felt that he should be at least a little bit more excited, but he just...wasn't. He pushed these thoughts aside and put a small smile on his face. As long as he was with Scorpius, what could go wrong?

"Look, Albus! A bookshop!"

Albus gave a little chuckle. "Well, then, what're we waiting for? Let's go".

He allowed himself to be pulled by the hand into the beginning of his first "date" with his boyfriend.

=(-)=

The rest of the day was filled mostly with books, butterbeer, and various types of candy. Albus decided that the Three Broomsticks was his favorite place in all of Hogsmeade, the Shrieking Shack being a close second. Now that he knew the story behind it, as well as the secret passage to get in the building from Hogwarts, he felt like it held a part of his family's history. Not only that, but he and Scorpius always had fun watching the other students regard it with terror or amazement, even though it was just a little wooden shack. And yet, through it all, Albus still felt that little lack of something, though he wouldn't let himself dwell on it. By the end of the day, though, he had gotten very tired. All he wanted to do was hug Scorpius, to let himself be held.

And so he did.

"Is this a thing we're going to do now? Random bouts of snuggling?", asked Scorpius, sounding rather delighted.

Albus only squeezed him tighter. He never wanted to let go.