𝑡𝘩𝑒 𝑠𝘩𝑎𝑑𝑒'𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝗁.𝗉. 𝗇𝖾𝗑𝗍 𝗀𝖾𝗇.

.nineteen.

Scorpius felt his throat dry up.

"What?"

One look at his best friend told Scorpius that Al had mistaken his confusion for disdain.

"H-hold on, wait." Al's voice broke. Scorpius saw Al crumbling before his eyes. "Let me explain, please. I'm sorry, I'm sorry for being such a jerk just now. I should've listened to you and tried to help you instead of making it about me, I was just so scared. I wanted to tell you, I-I really did, it's just I wasn't sure how you were going to react and I just--I didn't want to freak you out or anything, it's just been so fucking weird to deal with. I kinda blocked it out of my mind and I just don't know what the hell I'm doing and I just...you weren't wrong, there is someone, and I don't know how to do any of this, Scorpius!

What we have is good but I'm not ready for anything and I feel bad, like I'm holding him back, and Jonah's just so amazing and attractive and he could have literally any guy in this whole fucking school but no, he gets stuck with the anxious Slytherin who isn't even out yet. He just deserves so much more, honestly, I want to tell everyone just for him but I'm just so fucking afraid. I barely have any friends right now, and if I tell everyone they'll all just hate me, and--"

Scorpius felt himself reaching forward before he even thought of it. Gripping Al's shoulder's tight, Scorpius shook gently.

"Hey--hey. Al." his best friend looked up, tears in his eyes.

Shit. "Hey, c'mon. Don't be scared, Al. It's okay. I'm cool, we're cool."

He sniffled, a few tears falling free. "Really?"

"Yeah, dude," he spoke softly. "Yeah, you're good. You're safe, you can always talk to me. Please never be afraid to talk to me." He reached up quickly and wiped a stray tear from Al's cheek. Sitting back slightly, he smiled. "You don't ever have to be afraid of what I think of you. I could never hate you, okay? However," he added, "If Jonah decides for some demented reason to break your heart, I will have no problem whatsoever breaking rules to show up in the Gryffindor common room with a chainsaw."

Al laughed, sniffing again. "You do have a wand, Scorpius."

"Yeah, but whoever hurts you deserves worse."

He got another smile. "You're insane."

"That's why I'm your best friend. No one else would ever do that. Well," he pondered, "maybe Cas." Al's expression shifted immediately to one of fear.

He'd blown it.

"I...I don't know if I can tell her, Scorpius. Its just...I'm pretty sure it'll be fine, but I mean...we've been so close for literally a decade and just...I don't want anything to change. I just love her so much...I don't want to change her views of me, even if she's fine with it. It would honestly be worse if she just...looked at me differently though. I'd rather just get fucking yelled at."

He was working himself up again. "Al, hey. The fact that you're so close is exactly why nothing's gonna change. You care about each other so deeply, and she loves you so much. I see it every day. You have nothing to worry about. Oh," the wheels in his mind began to turn. "What if I came with you? To tell her. Not to intrude or anything, just to be there."

"You'd do that?"

The fact that he was unsure made Scorpius feel like he'd failed even harder.

"Of course I would." He awkwardly shuffled for a second before reaching in closer. Pulling Al into a tight hug, Scorpius held on until his friend let go. He had to make sure Al knew that he meant every word. As they pulled apart, Scorpius smiled.