A special thank you to my beta, Nymphadorable, for all of your help!

A pale sun rose high in the mid-winter sky, casting the collosal shadow of Edinburgh castle across the city below. Even on a clear summer's day the medieval fortress loomed overhead, a great brownstone monolith perched on top of Castle Rock. Not as magnificent as Hogwarts, of course, but it was spectacular for a Muggle fortification. It was the main draw for most tourists who visited Scotland's capital; a romantic vision that dominated the skyline wherever you were in the city. But Albus Severus Potter barely noticed it. He checked his watch for what felt like the hundredth time, tapping his foot impatiently as his train from Kings Cross slowly pulled into Edinburgh Waverly Station. When the train finally came to a standstill, he hopped onto the platform and hurried towards the exit barriers, eyes peeled for something of far greater interest and importance than any castle.

Albus tried to keep his cool as his progress to the arranged meeting point was slowed by throngs of commuters, shuffling shoulder to shoulder at a painfully slow pace towards the exits. Albus gritted his teeth - it had been six whole months since he had last seen Scorpius and he'd be damned if these people were going to keep them apart any longer. But just as quickly as the frustration had flared up inside of him, it melted away - the familiar white-blonde hair was easy to spot amongst the crowds even from a distance.

"Scorp!" he bellowed and he saw Scorpius' head turn in the direction of his voice. As his best friend's face came into view Albus ran forward, easily hopping over the barrier and half-leaping into Scorpius' arms, hugging him fiercely.

"Albus!" Scorpius yelped in surprise, unprepared for the rugby-tackle greeting and both boys tumbled onto the ground, laughing hysterically.

"Oi!" yelled an angry voice. Albus looked up and saw a bemused-looking staff member looming over both of them still lying sprawled across the ground. "Ye cannae jump the barrier, lad. Ye need tae buy a ticket!"

"Oh, sorry," laughed Albus pulling his crushed train ticket out of his pocket and thrusting it into the man's hand. "We just haven't seen each other in a long time. I didn't mean to cause any trouble."

The man inspected the ticket closely before relenting, "Alright, but nae jumpin' the barrier in future, eh? And get aff the ground, yer gettin' in everyone's way."

The man stalked off without another word. Albus watched him leave before leaping to his feet and holding out his hand to help Scorpius back up. Scorpius took it and Albus heaved him back to his feet, both boys grinning broadly at one another. Albus looked Scorpius once over and his eyes widened in surprise.

"Check you!" he laughed taking a step back to take in a very different, very Muggle-looking Scorpius Malfoy. "When did you get a stylist?"

Scorpius blushed and smiled sheepishly. He put out his arms and turned slowly in a circle for Albus' perusal, "You like it?"

Albus did. He'd only ever seen Scorpius wearing wizards robes, so it was strange to see his best friend wearing Muggle clothes, and suiting them into the bargain. Instead of his usual loose-fitting black robes, Scorpius was sporting old sneakers with skinny jeans, a beige shearling jacket and a green beanie hat.

"Yeah, you look great," said Albus truthfully, feeling a little scruffy by comparison in his grey hoodie and sport trainers.

"You look great, too," Scorpius offered sincerely. Albus snorted.

"Not as stylish as you, but thanks anyway. Shall we make tracks?"

Scorpius nodded and beckoned Albus to follow. They marched out of the station and onto the bustling street, Scorpius turning left in the direction of the castle.

"I'm so glad you came," said Scorpius, his cheeks flushed pink from the cold and excitement.

"'Course I came," laughed Albus. "Like I'm going to turn down a trip to Edinburgh - free accomodation and food to boot."

Scorpius smirked, "Is that the only reason you came here? A free holiday?"

"Well, I suppose getting to spend Christmas with you was another factor in my decision to come here," he teased. Scorpius rolled his eyes exaggeratedly.

"Whatever. I'm just glad you're here," he said hooking his and Albus' arms together. "I've got so much to show you. You're going to love it here…"

The boys chatted animatedly as they walked up the steep hill towards Scorpius' flat. Albus considered himself to be fairly fit, but by the time they had reached the top of the hill, he was struggling to catch his breath.

"Why are we walking, Scorp?" he huffed, taking a moment to lean against a low wall to get his breath back. "Couldn't we just have apparated?"

"I thought you wanted to see the city?" asked Scorpius with a cheeky grin.

"I've got all of Christmas break to see it," he argued, massaging a stitch in his side. "Right now I just want to dump my bag and heat up, it's bloody freezing out here."

"Yeah, the temperature has dropped a bit," Scorpius agreed, pulling his winter coat closer to his neck. He inclined his head in the direction of a narrow, cobbled street, "Come on, we're almost there."

"How many others do you share the flat with?" asked Albus, rubbing his cold hands together to try and heat them up, but to little effect.

"There's six of us altogether," he replied, peeling off his gloves and handing them to Albus. Albus made to decline the offer, but Scorpius was already forcing them onto his hands. When the first one slipped across his fingers he gave an audible sigh of relief, the biting cold lessening already.

"Thank you," he said quietly. Scorpius gave him a small smile.

"No problem. So yeah, there's six of us during term time, but Betty, Fraser and Jorge have all went home for Christmas. So it's just Pippa and Rose who'll be there with us."

"I thought Rose would be going home for Christmas," mused Albus. Scorpius shrugged.

"She says she's got too much uni work to do over the holidays," he explained. "She thinks going home will be too much of a distraction."

"I'm sure Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron were delighted to hear that," said Albus sarcastically. Scorpius laughed.

"Well, she relented and said she'll be going over to see them on Christmas day and Pippa's working that day-"

"Working on Christmas?" asked Albus in surprise.

"She couldn't afford to go home for the holidays, so I think she's just working to distract herself from missing out on seeing her family this year. She says it's a good money earner; people are more generous with tips at Christmas. So it looks like it'll just be you and me on Christmas morning," Scorpius hopped a little with excitement. "It'll be like being back at Hogwarts, again!"

"Urgh, does it need to be?" groaned Albus. "We only just escaped that place, I don't need to relive it again anytime soon."

Scorpius kept a smile fixed to his face, but his voice had a slight edge to it, "Well, it doesn't have to be exactly like Hogwarts. Just the good bits, you know? Get up to mayhem together again, only this time we won't get caught and given detention. Just...hang out like we used to. I've missed it. I've missed you."

Albus glanced up at Scorpius at these words and felt a hot flush rise in his cheeks. He stared at the ground as he marched forward and admitted quietly, "I've missed you, too."

Scorpius smiled meekly at Albus and they walked in silence for the rest of the journey, both deep in thought. They had spent the last seven years muddling through their Hogwarts education, counting down the days (in Albus' case at least) until they finally graduated. Hogwarts was not the home he had hoped it would be, certainly not the one his father had professed it to have been. But he and Scorpius had found solace in each other, supporting one another through it all - bullies, vicious rumours, Death Eaters, everything; Scorpius was the only reason Albus had bothered to return for his seventh and final year.

They hadn't talked much about what their plans were after leaving school; all Albus knew was that he was keen to leave his parent's home as soon as possible. His relationship with his father had greatly improved in the last couple of years, but he was still keen to have his own space. Albus had assumed that he and Scorpius would find a place together in London, so it had come as a shock when his best friend informed him that actually, he would be leaving for Edinburgh come the end of the summer holidays.

Albus had been surprised at how hurtful it was to have his friend up and leave him like that without consulting him first. Okay, so they'd spent the last seven years in each other's pockets; Scorpius probably wanted to go out on his own for a bit, make new friends, do his own thing - Albus could understand that. But when he found out from Rose and not Scorpius that they would be sharing a flat together, Albus had let his temper get the better of him and had made himself incredibly busy over the summer holidays, too busy to see his best friend before he left for his new course and a new life on the opposite side of the country.

It had been stupid on his part; Albus had been miserable all summer without Scorpius for company, then when the academic year had begun, they really were too busy to see one another. So when Scorpius had owled him a couple weeks before asking if he wanted to spend Christmas with him in Edinburgh, Albus had jumped at the chance. He felt he had a lot to make up for over the next four weeks.