SCORBUS // consider me yours.

14 | "i'd say so."

Albus made it through about an hour of the movie before really freaking out over a scene.

At the edge of the screen, a figure opened their mouth to let out a guttural scream. Immediately, insects poured out of the sides of the mouth, crawling around the character's lips. More screaming was heard from behind.

Scorpius realized that Albus definitely didn't like hearing screams. He was sure of this, because when Albus did so, he removed his hand from under Scorpius' instantly. Albus used both of his free hands to cup them over his ears, and pivoted toward Scorpius before he could even hesitate to think. He squeezed his eyes shut and aimed to stuff his face into Scorpius' shoulder, though it was actually placed between both his shoulder and his neck.

Scorpius could feel Albus' eyes close even tighter against the fabric of his sweatshirt. He trembled against his skin.

Scorpius didn't know what to do. He tried to stroke the back of Albus' head, but it turned into more of a brief pat. "We can turn the movie off,"

Albus didn't reply. He nodded, but didn't lift his head. The screams of the movie's victims were still audible, and Albus must've thought that it wasn't safe to look yet.

Scorpius finally successfully stroked Albus' hair, tracing his hand down to the start of Albus' neck and lifting it to begin from the top of his head. "You're okay, right? You're okay."

The entire common room was silent, other than occasional screams that came from Scorpius' laptop, naturally. In an attempt to soothe Albus, Scorpius changed his hands' movements, now running them through Albus' hair, rather than up/down it. The tangles had returned, of course, but Albus' hair was still strangely soft.

Scorpius dug his hand into the thick tufts of Albus' brown hair, now playing with it for his own benefit rather than Albus'. Scorpius felt the brown locks enter against the spaces of his fingers, and he wished he could have played with Albus' hair forever.

Albus breathed against Scorpius' neck, which brought Scorpius back into reality. He moved his hand from Albus' hair, and to his back. He rubbed it slowly, pressing softly as he moved up and down. He continued for a little while longer, but finally removed his hand to reach for the laptop. Albus lifted his head quietly as Scorpius leaned forward, shutting the computer off. Silence fell over the common room.

"See?" Scorpius turned back to Albus, who was sitting up, a disoriented look on his face. He spoke to him as if he were a toddler. "You're okay!"

Albus sighed, his words a soft mumble, "Never again am I watching a scary movie."

Scorpius knew that was Albus' attempt at a joke, but it really just made him feel worse about his movie choice. He leaned backward, sinking into the couch. Albus did the same, his head appearing right beside Scorpius'.

"You feeling better?" Scorpius whispered.

"I would be, if your hands were still in my hair."

Scorpius couldn't help but laugh. He wasn't used to Albus being so confident, and it was strange that he was doing so right after being scared witless.

He realized that if Albus got to be confident, Scorpius could be, too.

Scorpius extended his arms so that they reached Albus' side. Scorpius' legs were spread open, and he pulled Albus closer to him so that Albus was sitting in between the space. Albus back was brushed up against Scorpius' chest, Albus slightly leaning on Scorpius' front.

"Is this better than my hands in your hair?"

Albus giggled. "I'd say so."

Scorpius blushed— something he'd started to do a lot more around Albus.

He sighed contently, enjoying the feeling of Albus sitting between his legs.