Title: The Little Things
Summary: Albus and Scorpius love each other, and he's a few reasons why
Pairing/Characters:Albus/Scorpius
Rating:K
Warnings: N/A
Notes:Written for Princi (octocelot) for Secret Santa. I'm so sorry it's late, and I hope you like it.

It was such a stupid thing, really. The white dance in the snow was something that most people grew out of, but Albus was different. Growing up, at the first sign of snow, Albus would run outside with a wide smile and start to dance. His laughter would fill the grounds of Hogwarts (because Scorpius didn't know Albus until Hogwarts) and by the time the other students joined him, he was already soaked to the bone.

Scorpius remembers that first snow day as clearly as any other day. He remembers scoffing and walking away, but there was a small twinge in his chest as his steps grew further away.

"Scorpius! Are you coming?" Albus yelled from underneath a large tree.

Scorpius smiled. He may have missed out on dancing in the snow as a child, but Albus never let him miss out now. With a twitch of his wand, the large clump of snow sitting on the tree branch above Albus fell, leaving Albus covered in snow.

"You're going to pay for that!" Albus called out once he stopped coughing up snow.

Scorpius laughed, a true and loud laugh. "I'd like to see you try!"

Scorpius could never get over how much he loved the snow.

The hot chocolate was warm running through his fingers. The winter chill was inescapable, even inside the Muggle cafe they were sitting in. Albus pulled the cup into his hands and took another long gulp, letting the melted marshmallow brush against his upper lip.

"Why do you do that," Scorpius whined in front of him. He held his own mug of hot chocolate in his hands and staring at Albus with a distressed frown.

Lifting his mug up to hide his smile, Albus tried to make his eyes as wide an innocent as possible. "What do you mean?" Albus knew exactly what Scorpius meant, looking down at the two marshmallows sitting on his saucer completely ignored.

Scorpius wasn't fooled, glaring at Albus and huffing. Still, he couldn't leave well enough alone and he started talking again when Albus took another long drink of his hot chocolate, smearing the marshmallow on his lip again.

"How can you stand the stickiness?" Scorpius asked, glaring Albus' lip like it had personally offended him.

"Hmm, I don't know." Albus shifted in his seat, moving forward and before Scorpius could react, planted a kiss on Scorpius' lips. Scorpius melted underneath his lips, just like the marshmallows in the drink, but when Albus pulled back, Scorpius was glaring.

"I hate you," he said, standing up and disappearing into the bathroom.

Albus chuckled and sat back down. Scorpius aversion to sticky substances would always be a source of entertainment for him. Maybe one day I'll try introducing honey to the bedroom, he thought wickedly. Scorpius would love that.

Scorpius hated Christmas shopping. It wasn't the usual stuff that bothered him about shopping. He didn't care that the price tags shows a higher price just so they could go on sale in the last week. He didn't care that every person from here to Scotland seemed to be shopping in the same place he was, and it wasn't the screaming children that never seemed to shut up. No, none of that bothered him.

Scorpius hated Christmas shopping because of all the abuse that was hurled his way.

Even after all these years of peace, a lot of people still remembered the times where being a Malfoy meant being evil. Despite all the good his dad has done since that time, and the effort they both put in to change the image, around Christmas time, no one seemed to remember that.

Scorpius couldn't really blame them A lot of people lost their loved ones because of his grandfather, and even his dad, but he still hated it all the same.

"How dare you?"Albus' voice was deadly, a hissing sound that almost should belong to a snake. Scorpius had forgotten he'd agreed to go shopping with Albus and his family (although they left the family as soon as possible) this year, and because being called a the Devil's spawn was nothing new this time of year, he'd continued walking. Apparently, Albus hadn't.

"What's it to you," the large man sneered, looking down at Albus' fake red hair and brown eyes. (Albus hated the attention he received at Christmas time, so he always went shopping in a disguise). "Who are you to tell me what to do, hmm?" The man took a threatening step forward and Scorpius pulled out his wand. Insulting him was one thing, but no one threatened his boyfriend.

Apparently, his concern was unfounded. Albus took his own step forward, getting into the man's personal space and waved his own wand over his hair. Scorpius watched in shock as the red hair morphed to its usual black and the brown seemed to drain out of Albus' eyes, leaving behind the intense shade of green that was so recognisable.

"Albus Potter," the man breathed out, stumbling away.

"You will apologise to Scorpius now."

Scorpius couldn't take his eyes off Albus. He hated the spotlight, and yet there he was in the middle of Diagon Alley, forcing the man to apologise in front of hundreds of other shoppers.

"But, he's a Malfoy," the man stuttered, turning to glare at Scorpius again.

"I don't care. How do you think you—"

Scorpius touching Albus' shoulder stopped the tirade that Scorpius could see coming. "It doesn't matter, come on."

"No, it does matter," Albus said, glaring at the patron, but he let Scorpius lead him away.

"I'll tell your father!"

Albus whipped around to respond, but a deeper voice did it for him. "Tell me what?"

There seemed to be a hush in the crowd. It was like the hatred to Malfoys, the love of the Potters expanded in this time of year. So, when The Harry Potter stepped from the crowd, no one was talking anymore.

"Hey, kiddos," he said, smiling and ruffling Scorpius' hair like he knew he hated. Scorpius scowled but smiled at the obvious inclusion into his family.

The man behind him started stuttering, and Mr Potter turned to face him. "So, tell me what?" there was a genuine smile on his face, but there was steel under his gaze, and the man seemed to sense it. He squeaked out a response before fleeing the scene, and Mr Potter shrugged and turned back to the pair.

"Come on," he said, throwing his arms around them both and leading them away—while also making sure his little boy was separated from his boyfriend, Scorpius thought with an eye roll. "We're having ice-cream."

Albus cheered and started running ahead, but Scorpius walked beside Albus' father with a smile. He didn't know it now, but Christmas shopping was always going to be better for the years to come.

The fire cracked in the corner of the room, warming the house and chasing away the bitter chill. The storm outside raged on, and all the lights in the house were off to prevent possible accidents. Albus hated days like this, where it constantly looked like night and the snow was vicious and violent. Cuddling into the blanket, Albus stared at the fire and tried to avoid flinching at ever vicious whip of the wind.

The flames in front of him, without any warning or meaning, turned green and a figure stepped out of the fireplace.

"Are you insane?" Albus asked, jumping from the couch and pulling the man into his arms. He ignore the relief that flowed through his at the thought that he wouldn't actually be alone during this storm

"No?" Scorpius cleared his throat and looked at Albus with a raised eyebrow. "Am I not allowed to come home?"

"Not in this weather you're not!" Albus couldn't believe how obtuse Scorpius was being. He knew that the floo was dangerous in this weather, so why in Merlin's name would he risk using it.

Albus opened his mouth for another tirade when the wind picked up outside. The windows rattled from the force and a tree branch could be heard banging on one window. Albus' mouth quickly fell shut and a shudder ran through his frame.

Scorpius' arms were quickly around them, leading them to the couch and tucking them under a blanket. "I wouldn't leave you alone in a storm," he whispered into Albus' ear.

Albus curled up next to him and let the relief take over his body. "Thank you for coming home," Albus whispered in response. "But if you ever do something so stupid again, I'll rip your balls off."

Albus could feel Scorpius' arms tighten around his and heard him swallow. "Noted."

Harry sat on the porch, his crippled legs no longer holding him up. He never thought he'd see the day his skin turned wrinkly, but he's glad he did. He stared at his children and grandchildren and even those two little great-grandchildren as they ran around the backyard.

The empty seat next to him was still painful, but manageable when the rest of the family was over.

"Scorpius Malfoy, I'm going to kill you!" Albus called from somewhere out the back.

Harry smiled, knowing that Scorpius had probably just knocked a clump of snow on top of Albus. My son never learns.

"No Albus, please, not the mug!"

Harry outright laughed at that. He loved how those two always acted like children despite already being grandfathers to twins.

"Will those two ever grow up?"

Harry turned and smiled at the hunched over form of Draco Malfoy, his hand locked in Astoria's small hand.

"Probably not," Harry replied, once again realising how amazing it was that two boys could break a life-long feud with just one line.

I made a friend today! His name is Scorpius Malfoy and I think we're going to be friends for life!

(w.c 1,654)

WolfWinks-xx-