Woohoo! I am on a roll. Enjoy the new chapter xo

When Albus opened his eyes he was back in his bedroom. He had landed on the bed, he realized, so there hadn't been a loud thud as his body hit the floor. Instead the mattress had given a shrill and protesting shriek, but then there was silence. Albus was grateful for this, as he was quite sure that the sound of a body hitting the floor would have woken his parents, and he had no explanation as to why he was full-dressed, not to mention drunk, in the middle of the night, hours after he had allegedly gone to sleep.

Albus quickly got up and pulled off his clothes. The room spun dangerously as he stood, and it took him a moment to right himself. A knot began to form in the pit of Albus' stomach as he realized just how drunk and high he was and just how stupid it had been to apparate home. It was a miracle that he was all in one piece; a miracle that he hadn't left half of himself behind in Scorpius' closet. Scorpius. His stomach dropped again. Scorpius was in trouble. Big trouble. The underage drinking was one thing, everyone broke that rule and ministry wizards would never arrest young wizards for throwing a party. But the drugs, and the underage magic. Then there were the illegal portkeys. Albus still didn't know how Scorpius had gotten his hands on them, besides his claims of Tess' "family connections". Even worse, he had only needed to use the portkeys in the first place because of Albus. And now, Albus has run away and left everyone else to take the blame. The guilt settled in even further when he imagined his friends being taken to the ministry, spending the night being questioned and having their parents called.

Albus sat back down on his head and put his head in his hands. It had gone all wrong. He was beginning to wish that he had been splinched, or caught, just to relieve the overwhelming guilt coursing through him. Laying down on his bed Albus closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind. There was nothing he could do for his friends, at least not tonight. His best hope was to get some sleep and think about something to do in the morning. He thought sleep would be impossible but the alcohol was making everything spin, and his remaining high made it feel like his bed was a cloud. With his eyes closed, the spinning felt like a gentle rocking, back and forth and back and forth, and soon enough he was asleep.

When Albus woke in the morning it took him a moment to remember where he was. He sat up in bed too quickly and immediately groaned. A sharp stabbing in his temple brought all of the memories of the night before back to him, especially the drinking. He was no longer high in the least, which meant that his head was completely clear to feel the throbbing pain of his headache. This was the worst hangover he had ever experienced and without the help of one of Sullivan's special potions, he was going to have to deal with it on his own. He stood slowly, which was even worse than sitting up. Laying would definitely be the best option, he decided, but just as he crawled back into bed he heard his mother shout from the bottom of the stairs.
"Come down for breakfast boys!"

Albus groaned again, just the mention of food and his stomach turned.

He got up again, very slowly this time, pulled a sweater over his pajamas and dragged himself into the hallway.

He made his way into the bathroom, deciding that he needed to brush his teeth to rid his breath of any of the remaining evidence that he had been drinking. Of course a shower would be best, but with his mother calling him down for breakfast, hopping in the shower would be suspect. He glanced himself in the mirror as he was brushing his teeth. His reflection was not great. He looked extremely unrested for someone who had gone to bed early. As he exited the bathroom he saw James coming down the stairs and was pleased to notice that James looked almost as bad as he did. He hair was a mess and his eyes were squinting shut from sleep. Perhaps Albus' appearance simply looked like he had rolled out of bed like his brother, and not that he had been up partying until the wee hours of the morning.

James grunted to Albus and the two continued down the stairs. As they approached the kitchen he heard his mother and father and sister all talking, but there was another voice, one he recognized.

"Good morning Albus." His uncle sat at the breakfast table, drinking from a cup of coffee. He looked exhausted, but he straightened up when Albus entered the room. Albus stopped in his tracks, which caused Ron to narrow his eyes, staring at his nephew intently.

"Sleep well?" He asked, taking another sip of his coffee.

Albus forced himself to calm down, causally sitting at the table, and loading his plate with food. "Well enough." He said with a smile. "It looks like you didn't sleep at all." He pointed out, gesturing to his uncle's unkept appearance.

"Yes, well that's actually why I am here." The rest of the breakfast table had gone silent. James and Lily were looking around in confusion, but Harry and Ginny's eyes were firmly planted on Albus.

"Any idea what I was up to last night?" He asked.

"Uhhh… ministry stuff?" Albus guessed. He tried to downplay the tension in the room. He took a bit of the French toast on his plate. Ignoring the way his stomach turned when he swallowed it, he smiled at his mom. "Great breakfast mum."

Ginny didn't respond, she just looked at her son curiously.

"It was for the ministry." Ron continued, "There was a raid."

Albus took another bite of his breakfast. His mind was racing, and the headache was not helping him think. He had to be careful about what he said next. He couldn't give anything away. Thankfully for him Lily spoke.

"Where was the raid Uncle Ron?" She asked, clearly curious as to the tense breakfast conversation.

"Malfoy Manor." His uncle responded. His eyes didn't leave Albus.

Albus didn't react. His uncle hadn't said anything shocking yet, he couldn't show that he had an idea of what his uncle was talking about. Calmly he put his fork down and looked back at his uncle.
"So, what happened?" He asked.

But Ron never got a chance to answer. A second after Albus spoke there was a tapping on the window. A large tawny owl was resting on the perch, a letter wrapped in it's beak.

"That's a ministry owl." Harry said, getting up to open the window. He took the letter from the owl, who promptly flew away. Harry's eyes widened as he read the front of the envelope.

"It's for you Albus." He said, handing his son the letter.

Albus immediately recognized the handwriting on the front of the envelope. It was from Scorpius. He opened it quickly, aware of everyone's eyes on him. The letter had been written in a hurry. The ink was smeared and the handwriting was messy, but still unmistakably his boyfriend's.

"It's from Scorpius." Albus said aloud, almost not daring to believe it. There was a noticeable tension in the room. Albus skimmed the letter quickly, falling further and further into disbelief. When he had finished he realized that everyone was silent, waiting to hear what the letter had said. Albus cleared his throat and began to read it aloud.

Albus,

I have to tell you something and I hope you haven't heard it from someone else already, because I really want to be the one to tell you.

First of all, I am so sorry. I know I promised you that I would stay out of trouble this week, but I've been lying to you. I planned a party at the manor for last night. I thought I was being really clever, getting portkeys to all the guests, so that the ministry couldn't trace the floo network, but the ministry showed up anyways. Needless to say, I'm in a lot of trouble. And the only thing I can think about is how I lied to you and I am so so sorry. I know that you told your parents about us this weekend, and that they will find out about this soon enough. I've made everything harder for you and betrayed your trust, and I just hope you can forgive me somehow. I really messed everything up. I don't know why I keep doing this. It's like the minute I'm away from you everything goes out of focus.

I'm sorry, I know I can't make up for what happened, and that excuses won't help. But, I'm begging you to forgive me. Please I'll do anything.

Send a reply as soon as you are able. Even if it's just to yell at me. I need to hear from you.

-Scorpius

Albus blushed slightly as he read the letter, and didn't look up at his audience until he was done. His uncle was eyeing him suspiciously.

"I-I can't believe he did that." Albus said, trying his best to sound earnest.

"You really didn't know Albus?" His mother frowned slightly.

"No." He replied flatly, worried that any emotion in his voice would give him away.

"Alright then." Harry began to fill his plates with more eggs. "That's settled then."

"Not exactly." Ron said, sighing loudly. "Albus, there is something else I need to tell you."

Albus kept his face expressionless, but his heart raced.

"Okay." He nodded and sat back down at the table, still clutching the letter in his hand.

His uncle suddenly looked uncomfortable. "Maybe it would be better if we talked… privately."

Ginny sent her brother a look that said if he tried to have this conversation outside of her earshot, there would be hell to pay.

"It's fine Uncle Ron." Albus said smiling slightly, trying to look calm. "What is it?"

Now Ron looked even more uncomfortable.

"Because of your new… relationship with Malfoy, I think it is only fair that you know." He began, then cleared his throat a few times loudly.

"Last night I was the one who found Malfoy. He was nowhere in sight when we first entered the mansion. I went looking for him and found him in his bedroom, in a…. compromising position."

Albus did his best to look confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well…" His uncle looked extremely uncomfortable, and it took him a moment to continue. "He was in his room with the door locked. It took us a moment to get in, and we heard him talking to someone. When he entered the room, he was undressed. The sheets on his bed were a mess and there was no one else in sight. I questioned Malfoy as my partner searched the room. He was about to open the door to the closet when he heard someone apparate out of the closet. When we opened it there was no one inside."

His uncle, who had been staring at him so intently before was now refusing to make eye contact with him.

"Okay." Albus drew out the word slowly. He needed to be very careful about what he said.

Everyone was looking at him sympathetically, like he was the butt of an extremely cruel joke.

"Well…" Albus continued, "I mean, that doesn't necessarily mean anything." The faces around him changed from sympathy to shock.

"Albus, sweetie." His mother said gently.

"He's cheating on you!" His brother yelled angrily.

"Shove off James, that sound from the closet could have been anything, like something falling, or a noise from somewhere else in the mansion. We don't know it was an apparation."

His uncle shook his head, "Albus, I know what apparating sounds like." He said sternly.

"Fine," Albus conceded, "So what if someone apparated out of his closet? That doesn't mean he was cheating on me." Albus reasoned. His parents had just gotten used to the idea that Albus was dating the Slytherin, the last thing that he wanted was them to think that he was two-timing their son.

"Albus." He uncle said sternly, "Don't be stupid. He was undressed, in his bedroom, with the sheets a mess."

Albus shook his head. There was no way to convince his family that Scorpius had not been having sex with the person hiding in his closet, because, of course he had been.

"Maybe he doesn't make his bed, or he was taking a nap…" Albus' aching head was not helping him defend his boyfriend. "I just need to think." He said, turning around, attempting to exit the room.

"What is there to think about?" His uncle said angrily.

"Ron!" His mother shushed her brother.

"I… I just need to talk to him." Albus continued. At least that part was true. He was dying to speak to Scorpius, to figure a way out of this whole mess.

"Why, so he can lie to you?" James demanded.

"Shove it James." Albus shot back.

"You wont be able to talk to him for a while anyways." Ron reasoned. "He's in ministry custody."

"What?" Albus asked, incredulous.

"Yeah, him and his little friends." Ron smiled slightly at the thought, "I think their court date is sometime on Monday."

"But… the start of term." Albus replied. As soon as he said it he realized how stupid he sounded. His friends had broken numerous laws, of course they couldn't be sent back to school as if nothing had happened.

"There won't be a start of term for them if they get expelled." Ron said casually. "Or sent to Azkaban."

Albus heard a gasp and realized that it had come from himself.

"Ron, shut up will you." Ginny said irritably.

"No one is going to Azkaban." Harry said, rolling his eyes. "But they will have to face some kind of punishment for breaking the law Albus." His father said.

"Right, yeah." Albus said quietly. "I think I need to go lie down." Thankfully no one tried to stop him. He felt tears streaming down his cheeks before he even got inside his bedroom. He closed the door behind him and laid on his bed, shoving his face in his pillow so he could cry.

Everything was so unfair. He should be with them, with his friends, being punished. And instead he was home, his family pitying him for having a cheating boyfriend. It was all so messed up. Albus had half a mind to run back downstairs and tell everyone the truth, but, he reasoned, that would help absolutely no one, and put him in a world of trouble.

Albus didn't leave his room for the rest of the morning. Around lunch time his mother brought him some food and told him that his uncle had gone home.

"I'm sorry that you had to find out this way honey." She said, rubbing his back softly. "But it's better that you know the truth." Albus nodded glumly, it wasn't worth fighting about.

He could tell that his mother felt bad for him, she offered to wash all of his clothes and help him pack his trunk for school. But Albus told her that he would rather do it himself. He needed something to keep his mind occupied. After laying in bed for a few hours and eating lunch his head and stomach felt considerably better, but his mood was even worse. Sitting in his guilt all day was taking a toll.

He did his laundry and packed his bags, had an awkwardly silent dinner with his family.

After dinner his sister followed him back to his room.

"I don't want to talk about it Lily." He said, when she walked into his room and sat on the bed.

"Well I think you need to talk about it." She replied. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know Lily." He said. How could he explain this to her?

"Well you have to break up with him." She insisted. "Albus, he lied to you and cheated on you!"

"Like I said before Lily. I need to talk to him." Albus sighed. There was no way to maker her understand without telling her the truth, and he couldn't tell anyone the truth.

He went to bed that night feeling extremely sorry for himself and woke up in an even worse mood. As they packed the car and drove to King's Cross, Albus couldn't help but remember his train ride home with Scorpius. It had been barely a week ago, but it felt like an eternity. Now Scorpius was on trial for breaking magical law, and it was all Albus' fault.

They said their goodbye's to their parents quickly. Thankfully neither his mother or father brought up Scorpius again, but his mother did give him an exceptionally long hug.

The train was mostly empty, just as it had been on the way home. Lily suggested that they all sit together, but Albus spotted a compartment full of Slytherin students.

"Albus, don't." Lily said when she saw him eyeing the compartment.

"I just need to see if they know anything." Albus said. "About what happened."

"Let him go." James said, already walking away from them, towards the back of the train. After a moment Lily followed him.

Albus hovered in the doorway of the compartment. There were three seventh-year wizards inside and one sixth-year witch. They stopped talking as soon as they saw him. The witch gestured him inside. He sat and they closed the compartment door behind him.

"So," one of the seventh-year boys said, once the door was closed. "You made it out without the ministry catching you." He seemed impressed, and not angry, like Albus was expecting.

"How'd ya do it?" Another asked. But Albus shook his head.

"It's not important." He said, "What happened? Did everyone get caught?"

"Most everyone," the third boy shrugged. "I think a few people managed to hide until their portkeys activated. The rest of us were taken to the ministry."

"What happened?" Albus was surprised by how calm they all sounded.

"Nothing too bad." The witch insisted. "A lot of lecturing, but they let us all go once our parents got there."

"O' course my mum lectures better than any ministry wizard." The second boy laughed, "I wouldn'ta minded staying locked up a bit longer."

"Did they let everyone go?" Albus asked again, already knowing the answer.

"No, well Scorpius 'fessed up right away." The first wizard said, "He and his friends said the whole thing had been their idea and took all the blame. That's why we were all allowed to leave." He explained.

"So what's going to happen to them?" Albus asked nervously. The rest of the cabin shifted uneasily.

"Dunno." One of the boys offered.

"Don't worry Potter." The girl smiled at him. "It will be alright. Scorpius and his friends always get into trouble. You don't have to worry about them."

But Albus did worry. He left the compartment a few minutes later, needing to be alone. As he walked down the train he noticed another familiar face, sitting alone in a compartment. A familiar Ravenclaw girl. Sullivan's girlfriend.

"Mind if I join you?" He asked. The girl's name was Hazel, he had heard Sullivan say it enough times to remember, but he still had never spoken to her before.

She turned and her eyes widened when she saw him.

"Oh, Albus. Sure!" He closed the door behind them and sat down.

"So…" She trailed off, looking nervous. "Did you get caught?"

Albus shook his head, "No." He felt guilty admitting it over and over again, but Hazel looked relieved.

"Did you apparate too then?" She asked.

Albus looked at her in surprise. "Uh, yeah." He admitted.

"Sullivan got me out." She admitted. "Side-along apparation. I don't know how he learned it, but I was grateful. My parents would have been furious if they found out."

Albus stared at her incredulously. Leave it to Sullivan to be practicing side-along apparation behind their backs.

"So, he didn't get caught?" Albus asked hopefully.

"Oh, no, he went back after he dropped me off at home." She said glumly. "I'm pretty sure he is in a lot of trouble with the ministry."

Albus saw a familiar look on her face. It was the same look of guilt that he had been carrying around for two days.

"Scorpius too." He admitted. "I just ran away and left him there." The words came out before he could stop them. He had been waiting for someone to confide in, to confess his guilt to. Hazel nodded, she understood how he felt.

"They wouldn't want us to be there with them though." She said, putting a hand on his in a comforting gesture.

"I know you're right." He said, "But it still sucks."

Albus rode the rest of the way to Hogwarts with Hazel. They chatted for a bit and sat in comfortable silence for a while. Albus felt so much better being with someone who understood how he was feeling, and he knew that Hazel felt the same.

By the time they were back at the castle he was feeling better. But as he laid in his four-poster bed that night the guilt began to seep back in. He wanted nothing more than to apparate down to the dungeons and climb into bed with Scorpius, but of course the blond wasn't there. Albus suddenly remembered the last few moments of bliss before the ministry had arrived at the party. How happy he had been to lay in Scorpius' arms, how he had never wanted to leave. He had been so close to telling Scorpius that he loved him. He had told his parents after all, and wanted Scorpius to know. But he had been scared, their relationship was still so new, and so fragile, he was afraid to ruin everything. Now 48 hours later, he was afraid that he had ruined it all. His entire family was convinced Scorpius cheated on him, and his boyfriend could be expelled from Hogwarts. He felt tears well up in his eyes at the thought of Scorpius getting expelled. He tried to push the thoughts back down, but the harder he tried to think about something else, the more impossible it became. He laid in bed for what felt like hours. At some point he must have drifted off to sleep, because the next thing he knew he was being shaken awake by Drew.

"Come on, you're going to miss breakfast."

Albus sat up, feeling more exhausted than he could ever remember.

"You look like shit." Drew remarked.

"Thanks." Albus grumbled, pulling himself out of bed.

"Sorry mate." Drew grinned, "Are you sick? I didn't see you last night."

"Not sick." Albus said, pulling on his robes, "Just needed some alone time."

"I see." Drew said, they walked out of the dorm together. "Rough week at home I gather?"

"Yeah…" Albus didn't really have the energy to go through it all, and Drew seemed to understand. He didn't push the matter any further, which Albus appreciated.
When they got down to the Great Hall, the school was already buzzing with the news about the Malfoy Manor party and subsequent raid. Albus shouldn't have been surprised, after all Hogwarts did love its gossip. But he was extremely happy to hear not a word about himself. The Slytherins were keeping his presence there a secret, which he was beyond grateful for.

Rosie found him as soon as he entered the hall and dragged him over to sit next to her.

"Lily told me everything." She whispered to him.

Albus nodded silently.

"Albus, we need to talk about it." She insisted.

"Later." He said. Thankfully she dropped the subject after that, but he had no doubt that he would be grilled on it later. He was not looking forward to it.

Even though it was the first day of a new term, their lessons were as difficult as usual. Thankfully, because he and Rosie had done so much work over the break, Albus was caught up again. He thought that he would find it difficult to focus on school, but in fact, the lessons were a welcome distraction from all the thoughts in his brain. He had a full schedule on Mondays, but before he knew it, the last lesson of the day had ended. His lack of sleep had caught up to him, and Albus was hoping to go back to his dorm and lie down. Unfortunately, as he was packing up his things, Rosie came over to him.
"Ok, it's later." She said, hovering over him, "Can we talk now?"

Albus looked up at her miserably, but her face was stern.

"I need food." He said, look up at the clock on the wall. Dinner was just about to start.

"Alright, but after dinner." She insisted, "I mean it Albus."

Albus agreed, and they walked back down to the Great Hall together.

There was a steady stream of students entering the Great Hall, but they seemed a little more lively than usual. It took Albus and Rosie a minute to see through the crowd and realize what all of the fuss was about.

But then Albus saw it, a familiar head of blond hair, sitting at the Slytherin table. Scorpius. His heart did a strange flip, and he gave a slight gasp. Scorpius was sitting next to Andrew and Tess. But glancing down the table he saw the rest of the gang was sitting a few feet away. They all seemed to be chatting merrily.

"They weren't expelled." Albus murmured.

"It would seem." Rosie replied, disdain dripping from her voice.

Scorpius still hadn't seen Albus, in the large crowd of students. Albus wanted to walk, no, to run over to his boyfriend, but he didn't want to cause more of a scene. Rosie was pulling him over to the Gryffindor table and she purposefully sat them with their backs to the Slytherin table. This didn't stop Albus from turning around every minute to try and catch his boyfriend's eye, and when their eyes finally did meet Scorpius winked at him, raised an index finger casually and mouthed, "one minute".

Albus turned back around and began eating as quickly as he could.

"Do you have somewhere to be Albus?" Jeremy, who had sat down across from them, asked.

But that question was answered a moment later, when Albus felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned and saw Scorpius standing over him, smiling.

"Hey, can we talk?" Scorpius asked. Albus scraped the last spoonful off his plate and shoved it into his mouth.

"Yep, just finished." He grinned.

"Great." Scorpius smiled.

"Wait." Rosie but-in, putting a hand on Albus' shoulder to keep him from standing up. "Sorry Scorpius, but Albus and I actually planned to have a talk after dinner." She was glaring up at him, and Scorpius just looked back at her in amusement.

"Sorry Rosie." Albus pushed her hand away, "We can talk after."

Scorpius grinned at Rosie's horrified expression. "We'll be quick."

And with that he set off towards the doors of the Great Hall. Albus followed behind, passing his brother and sister along the Gryffindor table. They both looked furious, but he didn't have time to worry about that. Once Albus and Scorpius were safely outside the Great Hall Scorpius turned abruptly and pulled Albus towards him. This wasn't what Albus had expected, but he leaned into the embrace, feeling at ease for the first time in days. There were still students wandering the halls, so Scorpius let go quicker than Albus would have liked, and led him by the hand towards the main doors of the castle.

They didn't turn towards the Forbidden Forest, but instead turned towards the lake. As they neared the shore, Scorpius let go of Albus' hand and sat down on the grass.

He patted the space next to him, "Now we can talk." He said.

Albus sat down, and said the first thing that came to mind. "Scorpius, I'm so sorry."

Scorpius looked amused by this, he chuckled. "Don't be. There is nothing to be sorry for."

"Of course there is!" Albus insisted. "Throwing the party in the first place was my fault and then I left you!"

Scorpius rolled his eyes this time, but still looked amused. "So you think that if not for you I would have never thrown another party in my life?" Scorpius asked, "You like I would have never gotten in trouble with the Ministry? Never broken any rules?"

"Well…" Albus knew what Scorpius was trying to get at, but it didn't make him feel any better.

"Albus, if anything, you have been a positive influence on me." Scorpius insisted. "Nothing that happened was your fault. I'm the one who should be sorry."

"What? Why?" Albus was confused, Scorpius was the one who had been punished for the party. What did he have to be sorry about?

"It's my fault you were there in the first place." Scorpius said. "And then you had to apparate." Scorpius wasn't smiling anymore. "Albus, I was so scared. I thought when they opened that closet they were going to find your leg, or finger or something."

Albus gave him a small smile and lift up his hands, wiggling all 10 fingers in front of Scorpius' face. "Nope all accounted for." He teased.

Scorpius grabbed his hands and held them tight. "It's not funny Albus. What you did was dangerous. Even full-grown wizards know not to apparate when they are drunk."

"I know." Albus said, "I didn't mean to. I was just so desperate. I mean, if my uncle had found me there, it would have been awful. He was still suspicious the next day, he came to my house first thing in the morning."

"But you got my letter?" Scorpius asked.

"Yes." Albus nodded, "Scorpius, that was genius. How did you think of it?"

"Well, I had a feeling that your uncle thought you were involved. He kept questioning me about you. I didn't say anything, but I could tell he was suspicious. So when they gave us owls to send to our parents I sent one to you as well."

"Well, I'm glad you did." Albus smiled, "You really saved me. Again."

Scorpius smiled, and leaned in to kiss him softly.

Albus broke off the kiss. "I wish I could have saved you." He whispered.

"It really wasn't a big deal Albus." Scorpius replied softly, "Please don't beat yourself up about it."

"Wasn't a big deal?" Albus scoffed, "I thought you were going to be expelled!"

Now it was Scorpius' turn to scoff, "Let me guess, your uncle told you that."

When Albus nodded Scorpius just laughed.

"Albus, we were never going to get expelled." Scorpius smiled. "It was a harmless teenage party. And it wasn't on school property, so there is no reason for the school to get involved at all." He insisted.

"Well, then, what did happen?" Albus asked.

"There was a trial. They accused us all of breaking wizarding law, blah blah blah. My father's lawyer came in, proved that all of their evidence of underage magic was from an illegal search and seizure of property and that their actions were discriminatory against my family because of past circumstances and then almost all of our charges were dropped, we had to pay a small fee and they let us go home. The whole thing was over and done with in under an hour. The six of us grabbed lunch in Diagon Alley and then were floo'd back to school in time for dinner."

Albus realized that his mouth was hanging open. "Are you serious? All of that and they just let you go?"

"My parents have a very good lawyer." Scorpius explained, "Plus the ministry has been illegally monitoring my family for decades now. The judge was also a family member of a death eater, so she was sympathetic to our case."

"So you got lucky?" Albus asked.

Scorpius smiled, "I don't think it was luck. I think she was doing my father a favor."

Albus was stunned that Scorpius had so casually admitted that the judge who tried his case could have been bribed by his father.

"Don't look at me like that." Scorpius sighed, "I know it sounds bad, but my home has wards up to protect from the monitoring of magic use. The only way the ministry could have known what we were doing was if they had infiltrated those wards and were monitoring us, which is illegal. If the other side isn't playing fair, I don't see why we have to." Scorpius shrugged.

Albus suddenly felt very small. Here he had been thinking that getting brought into Ministry custody was the worst thing that could happen to someone, but Scorpius didn't seem to mind at all. He didn't seem to have much respect for the ministry, who discriminated against his family. Albus thought that maybe he understood a little better where Scorpius' lack of respect for authority and rules came from.

"Well…. were your parent's mad?" He asked finally.

"Dunno, haven't spoken to them yet."

"But you said that they were at the trial."

"No," Scorpius smiled again, but it looked a little forced, "I said their lawyer was at the trial. My father got my owl that I was in trouble and he sent his lawyer."

Albus stared at Scorpius.

"I said don't look at me like that." Scorpius joked, but again, it seemed forced.
"I'm sorry." Albus said finally, "They should have been there."

"I'm glad they weren't." Scorpius said, "They would have just yelled at me."

Albus thought that if he was in trouble he would rather have his parents show up, even if it was just to yell at him, but he didn't say this. Instead he scooched closer to Scorpius and leaned into the other boy's chest.

"I'm glad you aren't expelled." He said softly.

"Me too." Scorpius agreed, putting his arm around Albus' waist. "I wouldn't get to see you every day."

Albus turned and smiled.

"Scorpius…" He looked into the other boy's eyes. They were soft and warm. Scorpius had been through so much, but he didn't blame Albus at all. Albus felt a surge of emotion inside him, one that he now had a name for. "I want to tell you something."

Scorpius looked at him curiously. "Ok."

"When I told my parents about us, I-"

But Albus was cut off by a loud shout from towards the castle.

"ALBUS POTTER!" Albus saw Rose Weasley storming towards them, quickly.

"Oh no." Albus groaned.

"What's her deal?" Scorpius laughed, "She seems to hate me more than usual today."

"My uncle told everyone about the person who apparated out of your closet." Albus groaned.

"Oh." Scorpius said.

"Yeah." Albus replied miserably.

"So, they all think I'm a cheating bastard?" Scorpius seem slightly amused by the idea.

"It's not funny Scorpius." Albus whined. Rosie was almost to them. Albus pulled himself away from Scorpius, realizing how bad it would look that he had already forgiven the "cheating bastard" that was Scorpius.

"I should go." Albus sighed.

"Well, will you come by tonight?' Scorpius asked quietly, so that Rosie who was almost to them, wouldn't hear.

Albus nodded and stood up.

"Sorry Rosie!" He said, walking towards her. He only had to take a few steps before they met. She was very angry and it looked like she was going to storm right past him and attack Scorpius. Albus grabbed her.

"Come on, I thought you wanted to talk." Albus said pulling her back towards the castle.

She was still glaring at Scorpius as they walked away. "I should have pushed him in the lake." She muttered.

"No, you shouldn't have." Albus said, trying to calm her down.

Rose looked at him incredulously.

"You've already forgiven him, haven't you?" When Albus didn't respond she threw up her hands and agitation. "I knew it! I told Lily that this would happen."

"Let me explain!" Albus called, for Rose had now stormed ahead of him, and Albus was hurrying to keep up.

"Save it." Rose said, they were back inside the castle, and she was leading him away from the Great Hall.

"Where are we going?" Albus asked her. But she didn't answer, he followed her through the main floor of the castle and into an empty classroom. Only it wasn't empty.

James and Lily were both leaning on desks, waiting for them.

"You found him!" Lily sounded relived.

"So, what is this some sort of intervention?" Albus asked.

"Yes Albus." Rosie snapped, "that's exactly what this is."

James' arms were crossed, and he scowled at his brother. He clearly did not want to be here.

"Well there's no need. Scorpius and I talked, and he explained the whole thing." Albus had been inventing the lie in his head the whole walk over. "It was all a big misunderstanding."

Lily looked at Rose with a worried expression.

"Well, what did he say?" Rosie demanded.

"He said that he and a friend were playing a game. It involved drinking and they spilled on themselves. Scorpius offered him a change of clothes, so they went upstairs to change. While they were changing, the ministry showed up, his friend panicked and left." Albus thought it was a pretty convincing lie, but the rest of the room was not impressed.

James just snorted, and mumbled "bullshit".

"Albus, you can't believe that." Rosie insisted, looking at him desperately. "He's lying to you!"

"Rosie, I trust him." Albus said, "And that's all there is to it."

"Why wouldn't they just cast a spell to clean their clothes? Why would they go change?" She demanded, "And what about the bed? Why were the sheets all messed up?"

"I don't know Rose. Maybe he doesn't make his bed before throwing a house party for underage wizards." Albus said sarcastically.

"They have house elves Albus!" Rosie was yelling, "That bed would be made unless he had just been in it. You need to stop lying to yourself."

"What happened to trusting my judgement huh?" He asked, yelling back, "I thought you trusted me."

"We do!" Lily added, "This isn't about you Albus. It's about Scorpius. He's bad for you Albus, and he's tricking you!"

"He's not Lily." Albus lowered his voice, trying to sound calm. "He loves me."

James snorted again, "Did he say that to you?"

Albus faltered, "Well, no, what I meant was-"

"Face the facts Albus. You love him and he doesn't love you. He's using you and when he is done he will break your heart." James stared at his brother, "I know you aren't this stupid Albus."

Albus sighed, he realized there was no way to convince them. "You don't have to believe him." He said "I do. And I am done talking about this."

"Good." James said, walking towards the door. "I'm late to quidditch as it is." He left without another word, though Lily called him to come back.

Rosie was staring at Albus as if she didn't recognize him.

"Albus, please, use your head." She begged him, "You know this isn't right. He already did it once, on New Years."

"New Years was completely different." He said.

"Wait, what happened on New Years?" Lily asked, suddenly looking confused.

"It's ancient history Lil." Albus assured her, "It was before we were dating, he wouldn't do that now."

"He would!" Rosie's voice rose again, "And he did! You're acting like such an idiot Albus!"

"I said I was done talking about this." Albus repeated, "I meant it."

Rosie was glaring, "We are just trying to help you Albus. But if that's how you're going to be then fine. Date your cheating boyfriend, I don't care!" She too, stormed out of the room. Albus looked at his younger sister. She looked upset, like she was about to cry.

"Lily, don't worry, please." Albus said.

"I can't help it Albus." She replied, "You've changed so much, it's like I don't know you anymore. You blow us all off to spend every second with Scorpius. It's like we don't even matter. You are obsessed with him."

"I love him." Albus said simply.

"That's not what love is Albus." She sighed, "Love doesn't make you turn your back on all of your friends, and lie to your family."

"That's all in the past Lily." Albus assured her. "There's no lying anymore. And I'm sorry I've been ignoring you. I'll admit I was a little obsessed, but I will try to do better."

Lily nodded, but she didn't look reassured in the slightest.

"Come on," Albus put his arm around her, "Let's go back to the dormitory." And together they walked out of the classroom.

Much later that night after all of the Slytherins had already gone to bed Albus apparated into their dorm. The curtains were drawn around Scorpius' bed, but a moment after Albus appeared, the curtains opened and Scorpius peered out.

"There you are." He smiled, "I thought you had forgotten about me."

Albus stood and climbed into Scorpius' bed without any hesitation.

"Sorry, family intervention took longer than expected. My sister wants to spend more time with me, so I was trying to appease her." Albus sighed.

"Family sounds so troublesome." Scorpius said, as he moved to make room for Albus next to him.

"They mean well." Albus reasoned, but the truth was, they were starting to get on his nerves. James never hung out with family at school. Neither did Hugo for that matter, but Rosie and Lily seemed to think that Albus wasn't allowed to have friends of his own.

"Let me take you mind off of it." Scorpius said, his hands slowly unbuttoning the shirt of Albus' pajamas. He ran his hand down the bare skin of Albus' chest. Albus' breath hitched. Scorpius slid his hand lower but Albus stopped him.

"What is it?" Scorpius asked.

"Can we just… lay here?" Albus asked.

Scorpius looked concerned. "Of course." He said, laying back down. "Is everything ok?"

"Yeah, I just…." Albus was too embarrassed to say it.

"What?" Scorpius asked.

"I just want you to hold me." Albus said, barely above a whisper.

Scorpius smiled, giving Albus a tender kiss.

"All you had to do was ask." He turned and wrapped his arms around the Gryffindor, pulling him in close. Albus cuddled up against the Slytherin, basking in the warmth.

Albus was beginning to drift off to sleep when suddenly Scorpius asked. "What was the thing you wanted to tell me?

"What?" Albus asked.

"By the lake," Scorpius reminded him, "You said there was something you wanted to tell me. What was it?"

Albus lay in silence for a moment. His mind flashed back to what his brother and sister had said earlier that night.

You love him Albus, but he doesn't love you.

That's not love what love is Albus. Love doesn't make you turn your back on all of your friends, and lie to your family.

"Albus?" Scorpius asked finally, breaking the silence.

"It was nothing." Albus replied.

Maximum drama. Maximum angst. Lol, hope you like it ;)