Scorpius is very quiet over the next few days, and on occasion, I regret telling him. Most of the time, it's completely fine, but it's awkward when he's quiet. I can tell that his mind is working at a million miles an hour, but he doesn't talk. I try not to let it worry me, because if he's feeling shit, he does talk to me.
It's only when he's supposedly okay, except there's something obviously wrong and he never says anything. I don't want to pressure him into talking when I feel like it's my fault.
I mean, it's quite a difficult thing for anyone to move past. And it's only been a few days. It'll be fine a few days from now. It'll be fine.
All these thoughts are flying through my head again as we sit in the dormitory, both curled on Scorpius' bed. He's been doing an essay but now he's stopped and it staring into space again.
"Scorpius," I say gently. "You okay?"
"Yeah," Scorpius jumps. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"How's the essay?"
"The what – oh right. Yes. It's fine."
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"I've been thinking," he says slowly, "and I wanted to talk to you about – it..."
"Okay," I nod. "Well, I'm here when you want to talk."
"Is now okay?"
"Of course it is," I smile.
He sits up, crossing his legs and taking a deep breath. I smile gently at him and he starts to speak.
"I've been thinking," he says again, "about you. And me."
"Okay," I nod.
"I care about you, Albus," he says. "I really, really care about you. More than I think I would care about other friends. If we had other friends."
Don't stop breathing, Albus.
"I don't know if I have a crush on you. I don't know what I'm feeling. But I've been thinking about it. A lot."
I nod.
"I was thinking, maybe, it wouldn't hurt if we, maybe..." he clears his throat. "Albus, would you go on a date with me?"
In that moment, I think we both freeze. Him in fear. Me in shock. We remain like that for about a minute, just staring at each. And then Scorpius clears his throat again, awkward.
"I mean, if you don't want to – that's fine and–"
"I'd love to," I smile.
"You'd love to say no?"
"No, you muppet," I grin. "I'd love to go on a date with you."
"You would? I mean, I don't really know how I feel and I guess if you're happy to try or–"
"Hey," I cut him off gently. "Hey, it's fine."
"Good," Scorpius smiles. "Yeah. Good."
"So," I say slowly. "What are we doing? I know it's a Hogsmeade weekend but that might not be the best idea."
"No," Scorpius smiles again. "No, probably not."
"So, we just walk around the grounds?"
"Sounds good."
"Saturday," I smile. "When it's quiet."
I am almost irrationally excited for Saturday, even though I know it might not come to anything. He asked me on a date.
Holy shit.
He asked me.
On.
A.
Date.
YOU ARE READING
Working Through the Rest
Fanfiction*trigger warning for basically this whole story* After they returned from time, Albus had assumed that everything would work as it always did. Maybe with a little bit of change. That little bit of change was one of the biggest things Albus had ever...
