Hold Me While You Wait // Scorbus

Seven - New Years Eve

Scorpius acted as if nothing had happened. At first this frustrated Albus to no end.

Granted he didn't see Scorpius much after Christmas Eve until Jace's New Years party. Jace was one of their dorm mates and friends. He and Albus weren't necessarily close, but they still got along well, and he had a big house with a pool, so Albus wasn't about to say no to his invite.

The house was crowded with Hogwarts students, mostly Slytherins. Albus hadn't found Scorpius or Iza yet, but he knew they'd be here by now. He was rather late because he'd been fretting over his outfit too much. In the end he'd chosen a soft creme colored sweater with black ripped jeans and had worn his favorite copper brown cloak over it all.

He wandered through the kitchen and saw that there were some snacks and drinks, both alcoholic and not. He didn't want to know how Jace had gotten that. He kept walking and found his three friends on the outside deck watching some fireworks go off in the distance. Midnight was still about two hours away but Jace's neighbors seemed excited.

"Hey, Al!" Scorpius greeted cheerfully. Albus merely nodded at him, not sure what to make of his behavior. He was dressed in tight fitting grey pants, a black turtle neck. His maroon cloak was drapped over Adylinn's smaller frame. Albus eyed her carefully, making sure Scorpius noticed the slight scowl he had on his face. She was wearing an extremely short gold sequined dress. Scorpius' arm was wrapped almost protectively around her waist. That made him slightly queasy.

"Al!" Iza practically squealed and pulled him into a hug.

"Hi," he chuckled, hugging her back, "It's good to see you! How was your Christmas? Did your parents give you trouble?" he asked curiously.

"Oh no, it wasn't a big of deal as I'd thought," she went on, "It was probably the best Christmas because it was the first where they didn't fight!" she smiled.

"That's fantastic," he smiled warmly back at his friend before briefly glancing over her shoulder at Scorpius and Adylinn who were giggling and whispering into each other's necks. His stomach turned and Iza noticed where his eyes were trained.

"Hey," she reached up and grabbed his jaw between her dainty fingers and tilted his head back down to her, "Don't worry about those two tonight. They're bound to be gross. Just focus on something else, okay? I want you to have a good night, is that fair?"

Albus bit his lip and nodded, doing all he could to not look back up at the couple as he heard Adylinn giggle.

"Come on, why don't we go in and get a drink? That'll loosen you up for sure," she winked and grabbed his hand before he could protest.

She dragged him back into the house, the way he'd just come.

"Are you sure a drink is a good idea?" Albus whined. "I don't want to get in trouble..."

"One drink won't kill you, Al," with two beer bottles in her hands, she rolled her eyes and shoved one at him, keeping the other to herself.

He hesitantly took it and eyed it as if was some vile potion she'd just brewed.

"This one tastes like lemonade, you'll like it, trust me," she took a small sip of hers and Albus closed his eyes and took a swig soon realizing it wasn't all that bad and he didn't feel any different.

"See? Not bad," she smiled and Albus shook his head. "Now tell me what's new with you and Scorpius. You're both acting weird."

Albus sighed and took another drink before answering. "So, you know that Scorpius came to my grandparents house for Christmas, right?"

"Yes, Ady had a fit that he couldn't come to hers," Iza chuckled.

"Yeah - well - it was good and all, but then at the end he... he kissed me, Iza," he blurted.