The smile that seemed to have permanently fixed itself to Al's face was almost starting to make his cheeks ache. There was a pleasant tingling in his groin still, almost two hours after the fact, and Al, despite having spent a great deal of that time talking to friends and fans, was all too aware of the fact that his eyes had barely left Scorpius the entire time. He felt altogether rather euphoric, if truth be told, and Quidditch was only part of the reason.

Scorpius, of course, remained out of the spotlight, and Albus wasn't about to force him to mingle if he didn't want to, but he couldn't deny that the urge to snog him senseless with a huge grin on his face wasn't a strong one. In fact, if it weren't for the dozens of eyes trained on him and the look of barely-concealed discomfort on Scorp's face, Al would have done just that.

"When will you start tryouts, then?" asked Abigail Hounslow, looking more than slightly eager.

"Probably not until late September," Al replied, shrugging. "Certainly not before we break up, anyway. Why? You thinking of trying out?"

Abigail nodded. "Actually, I was thinking of going up for Beater."

Albus raised an eyebrow. That surprised him. Abigail was a small, willow-y thing and Beaters tended to be more… well… just more.

"I was excellent at Rounders in primary school," she added quickly, and Albus realised the look on his face had probably been less than encouraging. "I'm stronger than I look, so don't think just because I'm not built that I can't give a Bludger a good smack. Because I can."

Albus nodded. "I believe you," he said quickly, sensing the defensiveness in her voice. "I'll look forward to seeing how you go, then."

"And I have a mean tennis serve," she went on, but Albus simply nodded and made his way back into the crowd, looking for a little more ego-stroking before the alcohol arrived and everyone got too drunk to do it properly. His gaze once again fell on Scorpius as he strolled through the crowd and he smiled, giving Scorpius a small wave and feeling his stomach flutter when the wave was returned. Scorp seemed to be doing very well, considering the fact that these loud, after-match parties weren't really his thing and Albus was glad when he saw Lily appear at Scorp's side with two cups of juice.

He wouldn't stay long; he'd spend another thirty minutes or so chatting with friends, then he'd take Scorpius somewhere. Even if just back to the dormitory… or maybe the Owlery… but that was always covered in bird droppings and perhaps not the most ideal of settings for what Albus had in mind. However vaguely. In fact, he didn't really have any set plan, but he knew it would involve something… well… something nice. Something for Scorpius. He'd figure it out.

He spent ten minutes with one bunch of over-excited girls, ten with various members of his House and the last ten trying to politely get rid of Nott as he made his way slowly over towards Scorpius.

"I'm sure you're very good at swerving," he said, nodding. "But I can't do you any favours, I'm afraid. You'll have to come to try-outs like everyone else."

"When ar–"

"September," Albus cried, taking the opportunity to slip into a small gap in the throng of people and once again lose Nott in the crowd.

"Having fun?" Scorpius asked, grinning and raising an eyebrow. Albus sighed, exasperated, but grinned back.

"There's no way he's getting on the team," he said, shaking his head.

"And what if he's the best among them?"

Al shrugged. "He's still not getting on."

Scorpius chuckled and Albus turned to him, confused.

"What?"

"Nothing," Scorpius said, smirking. "Just that I think Nott might have a crush on you."

Albus groaned and rolled his eyes. "I don't need any more boys crushing on me, thanks."

It took a second, but it was a second too late. His eyes widened and he turned to Scorpius so quickly he almost snapped his neck. "Oh, God… that didn't come out… I didn't mean it like that…"

Scorpius looked at him for a while before grinning again. "You're cute when you're flustered," he said, and Albus was unsure if this was some bizarre cover or if his words truly hadn't had the effect he'd imagined. He swallowed.

"I just meant… because getting here was, you know… hard for both of us… I didn't want to have to deal…" He trailed off, not exactly sure how to put into words exactly what he'd meant. It had been a joke, really, but one he'd blurted out without thinking and now he was kicking himself. "I meant… after everything, it would be typical for something else to come up, you know?"

Scorpius smiled. "It's alright," he said, nodding reassuringly. "I got it."

Albus felt his gut unclench and let out a relieved breath, smiling back. Merlin, but this wasn't a very good start, was it? He looked around briefly, then stepped closer to Scorpius and lowered his voice. "Can we go somewhere? Back to the dorm or something?"

Scorpius' smile faded somewhat. "Is everything alright?" he asked, and Albus felt slightly silly. Clearly this was not the smoothest of invites.

"Yeah," he replied, giving a wide smile. "Just… please? I promise I won't make any more stupid jokes." He grinned and was relieved to see Scorpius grin in return.

They made their way from the crowd and back across the lawn to the castle. Albus could feel butterflies already taking flight in his tummy and it was all he could do not to squeak out loud when he felt Scorpius accidentally bump into him on the stairs. It was almost more nerves than it was anything else. He was excited, yes, but with equal parts terror and insecurity, because he was about to offer something he didn't even know if he could do. Not just on a technique-based level, but on an emotional one. He wasn't sure he was ready.

Al opened the Common Room entrance and was glad to find it mostly empty, save for the odd Slytherin scattered about the room. The dormitory however, he was pleased to note, was completely empty. When Scorpius was inside, Albus closed the door and leaned against it for a while, wondering if locking it before offering an explanation would seem as creepy as he imagined it would. He decided against it for now. He took a deep breath and pushed himself away from the door, making his way over to his bed, pleased when Scorpius followed.

"So…" he started, before having to stop and swallow again. "I wanted… that is… you've been really patient with me, and that's really amazing, because you didn't have to be at all, and yet you were… and I…" He stopped again and frowned, clearing his throat and wondering why he was feeling so awkward. He'd never been this awkward with anyone before. He looked up, directly into Scorp's eyes. "I want to do something for you."

Scorpius licked his lips and Albus watched the way Scorp's cheeks turned a faint shade of pink. "What do you mean?" he asked, and Albus almost chuckled, because it was obvious Scorpius knew essentially what he was driving at.

"I want…" Albus went on, actually feeling his hands shake slightly as he spoke. "I want to… I want to touch you. Like… like you did… earlier. I just… I know I want to, but I want you to know I want to."

The blush on Scorp's cheeks deepened slightly, but his eyes softened. "You think I don't know?"

Albus shrugged and averted his eyes again, feeling particularly young and foolish at that moment. He looked at Scorp's shoes, watching them as Scorpius stepped towards him and placed a hand on Al's shoulder.

"You're amazingly silly," he said, and Albus frowned, looking up, only to have any protest die on his tongue when he caught the playful expression in Scorp's eyes.

"Of course I've been patient," Scorpius went on, as if it were obvious. "After waiting so long for you, I wasn't about to scare you away by pushing. I'm not that desperate," he said, grinning. "And I'm not going to push you now, either. You're definitely not ready to give me a blowjob, Al, I know that much. And it's not like you haven't touched me before, anyway, so…"

Albus could have let him go on speaking, but the urge to kiss him was clearly much stronger than his waning attention span, and, truth be told, Albus liked kissing him. He especially liked catching Scorpius off-guard, because that slight pause before he kissed back, that moment of genuine surprise was so un-Scorpius-like, so un-guarded that Albus felt closer to him in that moment than at any other time.

The hand on his shoulder gave a firm squeeze and Al moved his arm to wrap very purposefully around Scorp's waist, pulling him closer in a way that, he hoped, left very little to the imagination. He could feel Scorp's body stiffen slightly and the kiss was broken as Scorpius turned his head to the side. "Al…"

Albus moved his head to follow Scorp's lips and kissed him again, happy to find the kiss returned. "Please, Scorp?" he whispered, breaking just long enough to speak before going back to the kissing. "Let me... just… please?"

Scorpius mumbled something into the kiss, not even stopping long enough to speak, but Albus could feel Scorp's back muscles relax under his hand and could feel the gentle press of Scorp's torso against his own and he took it as a yes. Again, his mind started to race, and he closed his eyes tight as he reached down to Scorp's groin with his free hand and rubbed him awkwardly through his trousers. It wasn't the best of positions; they were standing too close and Al's wrist was bent at an awkward angle, but he was touching him… rubbing him firmly through the stiff fabric of Scorp's trousers and he could feel Scorp's body responding as he moved.

Their kissing became less controlled as Al thrilled at feeling Scorpius begin to move un-rhythmically against his hand. You dont really need to remind us that Al is still rubbing him. Eventually Albus' wrist started to ache and he moved back to fiddle clumsily with the fastenings on Scorp's trousers. His hands were shaking again and the buttons kept slipping through his sweaty fingers, but he eventually got them undone and pulled Scorp's trousers and boxers down with one movement, apologising as he caught Scorp's erection in the elastic of his underwear and made him shriek in a most un-dignified way.

"Fuck," Scorpius hissed, bringing a hand to his mouth and biting down on the ball of his thumb. "Careful."

Albus felt his face burn, and he wondered if he'd messed things up, but his thoughts were soon assuaged when Scorpius swooped in to kiss him again, pressing his cock into Al's hip and rubbing against him. It was strange, Al thought blearily through the haze of arousal floating in his brain, that this didn't feel at all strange. He'd imagined it would, because this was the first time he'd seen Scorp's cock. The other times he'd touched it had been strictly hands-down-pants jobs, but this didn't feel weird or uncomfortable in the slightest. Not in the way he'd imagined, anyway.

He reached for Scorp's erection and took hold of it, breaking the kiss to look down at it as he stroked him. He felt Scorp's mouth move to his neck and ear, all tongue and lips and hot breath against his skin. He remembered when he'd touched himself in the mirror… imaging it was Scorpius he'd been touching. He'd imagined the feel of Scorp's cock in his hand, imagined the pulsing in his palm wasn't his own, and he'd watched… studied the way his hand had looked wrapped around a cock, and it had been exciting. Weird and new and strange, but exciting. And now he could see his hand, once again, wrapped around a cock, stroking a cock, seeing the skin move as he moved and watching as the head disappeared into his fist with every up-stroke.

He could feel Scorp's body tremble slightly, and he moved them awkwardly over to the bed and let Scorpius collapse onto it before shuffling backwards until he was sitting up against the headboard. Albus straddled one of Scorp's legs and kissed him again as he continued to stroke, nipping occasionally at his lips and moving down to kiss at Scorp's chin and jaw and neck and collarbones. A smile stretched across his face as Scorp's fingers slid frantically through his hair, and even the sting of knots being clumsily tugged on couldn't break it. He sucked on Scorp's throat, feeling the skin heat up in his mouth as he purposefully drew the blood to the surface and felt Scorpius' moan vibrate through his lips.

After a few moments, the muscle in Scorp's thigh twitched and tensed and Al moved back from Scorp's love-bitten throat to look into his panting, sweaty face. Scorpius was biting down on his own lip and looking down at his cock, at Al's hand on his cock, and he was about to come... Albus could see it… he could feel it. He closed the distance between them again and kissed him once more as he squeezed and tugged on Scorp's dick and felt him shudder and come messily all over his fist.

Albus kept stroking him slowly, watching the way Scorpius' hips twitched and jerked weakly under him as the last of his orgasm was pulled from him, before he went limp against the headboard. Al waited for a moment, then removed himself from Scorp's leg, letting go of his softening cock and biting nervously on his own lip.

The silence lasted a few moments and Albus was about to gently prod Scorpius in the leg before Scorp lifted his head and grinned.

"Was that… okay?" Al asked, suddenly incredibly self-conscious.

Scorpius smiled and nodded wordlessly and Albus let out the breath he'd not realised he was holding. He smiled back and used his clean hand to run his fingers through his hair, brushing it away from his sweaty forehead.

"Good, because I didn't want you to think I didn't…"

"Shhh," Scorpius said, waving his hand vaguely in Al's direction and shaking his head. He patted the mattress next to him and Al took a few moments before moving to sit beside him. For a moment he wondered if he should try to explain himself again, but Scorp's head on his shoulder was all the silencing he needed. They'd have to clean up before the others came back, of course, but they had time. For now, though, this was just fine.

* * *

The few days before James' N.E. were impossibly exciting for Al. Of course, Lily also had her O., but it was less fun to mock her about it, and James always rose to the bait so well.

Albus would seek him out in the library and distract him he was studying, talking incessantly about how amazing their last game was until James would shout at him to shut up, only to then be ejected from the library for being too loud. Albus found this all too amusing, until, of course, Scorpius told him off.

"It's immature and unfair," he'd said, frowning. "You found your O. hard enough and N.E. are much harder. Leave him alone or I won't help you study at all next year."

That had been enough to scare Al into behaving himself. Though he'd sulked about it when Scorp's back had been turned.

The rumours about his and Scorp's relationship had slowly spread throughout the school, and Albus couldn't help but notice the unusual looks some of the females would give him now as they passed; a sort of strange, coy smile, followed by occasional giggling and excited whispering amongst groups of friends.

He'd been most disturbed when Emily Tippit had approached him outside the Charms classroom, surrounded by a group of fifth-year girls.

"Hey, Al. We heard about you and Malfoy, by the way. We just wanted you to know that we think you're really brave, coming out to the whole school and stuff, and we wondered… if it wouldn't be too weird… well… if you and Malfoy would… kiss… in front of us. We think it would be really cute."

Al's answer had been a blink, followed by a scowl, and then a wordless slamming of the door in their collective faces.

He'd decided against telling Scorpius about that little encounter.

As maddeningly inappropriate as it had been, however, it wasn't the worst. He'd noticed a distinct difference in how the boys and the girls had taken the news. Thankfully, most of them were quite accepting; there were a few, however, who didn't seem terribly thrilled. One group of fourth-year Hufflepuffs in particular.

It was Scorpius who took most of the flack, Al had observed, which infuriated him. He'd had a long talk with Scorpius late one night about how he was going to attack them if he caught them doing it again, but Scorpius had told him to ignore them and that getting worked up was only playing into their hands. Albus had agreed, but slipped a follicle-sealing potion into their pumpkin juice the next day, anyway.

Albus was quite surprised, actually. He'd been sure the rumour would elicit more of a response, but it seemed that people were either much more accepting than he'd expected, or were just doing most of their gossiping in private. Probably the latter, he thought. Either way, it suited him just fine. In fact, apart from the odd comment or jeer here and there, their last few weeks were relatively ordinary, and it wasn't long before the last day of term was upon them once again.

* * *

Albus flopped down into his seat as the Hogwarts Express jerked into life and chugged heavily out of the station. Packing had been a long and boring process, as it was every year, but for some reason it had seemed to take its toll on him more than it ever had before. Going home for the summer had always been one of Al's favourite things and waving goodbye to Hogwarts for six whole weeks had almost been the highlight of his year – after Christmas, of course. Now, though, watching the castle shrink into the skyline and vanish behind the mountains left a sense of melancholy settling uncomfortably in his chest. He sighed.

"The summer came sort of quickly, didn't it?" he asked, letting his head flop to one side and leaning against the window, the vibrations of the train thrumming in his ears. He waited for an answer, and when one didn't come he turned his eyes in Scorp's direction.

Scorpius was gazing out of the window, too, looking completely lost in thought as the countryside sped by in a mess of colour. Albus watched him for a while, then sighed again, going back to the window.

"You know, this time last year we were talking about holidays," he said. "You were going to France and I was just going to go down to the beach. Do you remember?"

He heard Scorpius' small breath and could tell he was smiling, without even looking.

"You going back this year, then?" he asked, turning to look at him again.

"Probably." Scorpius nodded. "Though I think I'd prefer a secret day at the beach, eating ice cream and candy floss, to be honest."

Albus grinned, feeling the weight on his chest lighten somewhat at Scorp's words. It was obvious why this train ride was different to other train rides, really, and the more Albus thought about not seeing Scorpius for six weeks, the more miserable he became. Their day at the beach the previous summer had been a complete fluke and the chances of them doing it again this year were pretty small. Their parents were not the most understanding people in the world… well, Scorpius' dad didn't seem to be, and Al knew his mum wasn't. His dad had always been slightly more lenient about his and Scorp's friendship, but, well… things had changed rather a lot over the past year.

"Have you thought about what you're going to say to your mum and dad, yet?" Al asked, realising that this was something they'd still not discussed. Rather silly of them, really, but it had just never been an issue before now; not when they'd been tucked safely away on the other side of the country, anyway.

Scorpius looked at him blankly, not speaking for quite a few moments. Albus watched him for a while, then bit his lip, wondering if perhaps it had not been the best topic for discussion. It did seem rather daunting to bring it up as they were on their way home, after all. Thankfully, Scorpius didn't seem too put off.

"I can only really tell them the truth," he said, very matter-of-factly. "I think mother will be slightly more rational about it than father, but it's either that or keep it a secret."

Albus pursed his lips and looked down at the floor. Clearly Scorpius had thought about this more than he had. He felt slightly stupid for not even having entertained the notion of telling his parents when it was clearly a rather substantial piece of information. One he was pretty sure would make his parents most upset should they find out from, oh… say, James, which Albus would not put past him.

"How about you?" Scorpius asked. "What will you say?"

Albus looked up at him and bit his lip, shrugging, feeling like a child who hadn't done his homework. "I… I don't know," he said, sheepishly, wincing slightly at Scorpius' exasperated eye-roll. "Mum will flip her lid, I know that much. She doesn't even like me being friends with you. Dad's managed to calm her down and talk some sense into her about that over the years, but… well, this is entirely different. I don't even know how dad will react. He might go a bit mental, too. And Uncle Ron… bloody hell…"

"Why does your uncle need to find out?" Scorpius asked, raising an eyebrow. Albus couldn't help but chuckle.

"Nothing stays secret in our family for very long," he replied. "I remember the day Lils got her first period. I heard about it from Hugo of all people. Mum was so excited she told everyone we knew. Practically one step away from sending the story in to the Prophet."

Scorpius made a face and bit his lip, obviously as keen on the idea of having news of their relationship spread throughout the entire Potter-Weasley family as Al was, himself. Al could only assume the Malfoys, being as traditional as they were, would want to keep the whole thing quiet. That is unless his mum and Scorp's dad ever came face to face – he doubted there'd be much quiet there.

"When do you think would be a good time to say something?" Albus asked, and Scorpius shrugged.

"I don't know. To be honest, I think it might actually be best to wait until the end of the holidays. They can stop us seeing each other during the summer, but they can't keep us out of school."

"I don't think I can do that, though," Al said. "Both Lily and James know and… well, apart from not trusting James not to blurt it out just to get me in trouble, I also… I wouldn't… I'd rather they know. I mean… otherwise they'll ask me questions about how me and Joanna are doing and I don't want… it would be really awkward."

Albus was surprised at himself. He'd never had any problems lying to his parents before – he'd done it loads of times – and yet here was Scorpius, actually giving him permission to lie, and he didn't think he could.

He could see the smile on Scorp's face and wondered what he'd said. "What?" he asked, unsure exactly what had amused Scorpius so much. Scorpius just shook his head.

"Nothing. It was just nice to hear, that's all."

Al grinned and felt his cheeks heat up. It hadn't been just him to notice the uncharacteristic role-reversal, then. "So will you still wait until the end of summer?" he asked, wondering if his parents could be trusted not to get there before Scorpius did. He didn't even want to think about the consequences of that meeting.

"We'll see," Scorpius replied, leaning back in his chair and giving Al a small smile. Albus smiled back and eventually returned his gaze to the window.

* * *

Albus felt his stomach lurch as the train finally pulled to a stop. He could see parents waiting eagerly on the platform and students already hastily jumping from the train and running to meet them. He turned to Scorpius and was almost relieved to see the same look of reluctance in his eyes as he knew were evident in his own. Albus opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when the compartment door flew open and Lily bounced in.

"I've seen mum and dad, they're over by the far end," she said, beaming and talking excitedly. "Oh, and Scorpius, your mum and dad are under the clock. Just so you know."

And with that, she bounced back out of the compartment and down the carriage.

Al let out a breath, smiling slightly and looking at Scorpius. Scorpius looked back and Albus suddenly felt like he'd been hit with a Leg-Locker curse. He didn't want to go home. He didn't want to even stand up. Scorpius remained as still as he did and it was only when the driver knocked on the compartment window ten minutes later that Albus realised they'd just been staring at each other the whole time.

"I suppose we should probably go," Scorpius said and Albus nodded, although it was the last thing he wanted to do at that moment. He knew they couldn't just sit here forever, though, so with a heavy sigh, he pushed himself to his feet and grabbed his trunk from the overhead compartment.

"In case our parents go crazy over the summer, should we have some sort of emergency meet up point?" Al asked, only half joking.

Scorpius grinned. "Where would you suggest?" he asked.

"The Golden Banner?"

They both chuckled and dragged their cases out into the corridor, where Albus suddenly stopped and kissed Scorpius soundly on the lips, pushing him gently up against the carriage wall.

"I'll write to you," he said, smiling as Scorpius squeezed his arm.

"Yes you will," Scorp replied, and Al kissed him again quickly before the driver rounded the corner and ushered them off the train. Al could see his parents waiting with James and Lily over by the exit and he gave them a wave before walking with Scorpius over to his parents. He caught the look of thinly veiled disdain on Mr. Malfoy's face, but simply smiled before giving Scorpius a pat on the back.

"See you soon," he said, before making his way over to his own family, turning back one more time and waving goodbye as they all made their way from the station.

The End