Chapter 13
"Minerva, could you please leave the four of us alone for a moment?" Harry looked at McGonagall, who opened her eyes in horror.
"Huh?"
"Potter is right." Draco Malfoy spat out the word "Potter" with so much scum that you would think he was drowning in his own words.
"No, I'm staying." Minerva crossed her arms and shook her head. "I'm not leaving you four alone."
Draco exhaled in annoyance before turning his head to Harry, who was already waiting a little curiously and was probably mentally preparing for a fight.
Okay, what means probably?
He totally was preparing.
"Our sons, Scorpius and Albus, have been sharing the same dormitory since first year." Draco raised his eyebrows and Harry choked on his own spit.
Oh.
Nervous and with their hearts racing, Albus and Scorpius looked at each other, seeking comfort from each other.
Minerva McGonagall swallowed the lump in her throat that had formed after Draco had finished his sentence. By Merlin, that couldn't be true.
"Albus! Is that true?" Harry's voice was deeper than before. Albus had never heard such a deep tone from Harry.
Albus looked briefly at Scorpius, who swallowed, before looking back at Harry, whose gaze became harder and harder.
A few seconds passed until the answer came out of Albus mouth.
"Yes."
"But we're not talking to each other!" Scorpius intervened and Draco nodded. "If you say so, then it must be true."
Yeah, sure.
"Promise?" Harry asked again and Albus sighed. "Yes."
"Is there a way to give them two other rooms?" Harry and Draco asked this question at exactly the same time. Both tones were angry and annoyed.
So many thoughts were flying back and forth in Albus and Scorpius' heads at the same time. Neither of them wanted a different room.
Especially not if the other wasn't there.
"No, there isn't. All the rooms are full at the moment." McGonagall folded her hands in front of her body to signal to Harry and Draco that the conversation was over for her. Albus and Scorpius' eyes immediately shot over to her. No matter what will happen, McGonagall would never give Albus and Scorpius a room without eachother.
"As soon as there are any free rooms, you move them away from each other," Harry demanded and Draco agreed for once.
McGonagall just nodded in response.
"Now we'll talk in private!" Harry demanded and pulled Albus by the arm and went out into the corridors. Draco and Scorpius stormed past them.
"What were you thinking?! Why didn't you tell me? You're in a room with Malfoy, Albus! Do you know how dangerous that is? Have you even listened to any of my lectures? Do you not care about anything I say?"
Harry was seething with anger. He couldn't believe it. He tried to protect his children as best he could, and then they didn't even tell him the truth.
"Sco-Malfoy said we don't talk! Isn't that enough for you?" Albus' voice had gotten louder, which he regretted in the end.
"No!" Harry countered before taking a deep breath.
"I'm sorry, Dad, okay? We only share a room, I didn't think it would be such a big problem." Albus tried to make his voice normal again.
Harry breathed out and closed his eyes for a moment. "I never want to see you talk to each other or spend time together. Do you understand?" Harry's voice was sterner again with the last sentence. Harry just wanted to protect Albus.
Something inside Albus broke. Maybe his heart. He didn't know. But it hurt him. Inwardly he had hoped for the last few years that his family could overlook it.
But now he was standing there. Opposite Harry. And the only thing he could see was disappointment. Albus should have told him earlier.
Albus squeezed his eyes shut for a moment to hold back the tears that threatened to flow out.
"We're not talking." That was the only thing Albus could say. Otherwise his voice would break. He knew that.
In response, Harry simply nodded. At that moment, Harry was satisfied with the sentence from Albus. He didn't want to talk anymore. Especially because he knew that otherwise he would say something he would regret later.
"See you in the winter holidays, Albus." Harry nodded at Albus before turning around and walking away.
Towards the Gryffindor common room.
"Albus?" McGonagall's voice rang out and Albus felt a hand on his right shoulder before he turned completely to Minerva and hugged her.
Just like that.
Albus wasn't even thinking at that moment.
He just needed someone who wouldn't judge him right now.
McGonagall was a little surprised at first, but then she gently returned the hug, only to suddenly feel another arm wrapped around Albus and her.
It was Madam Promfrey.
"I just heard everything," whispered Madam Promfrey and sighed quietly.
After a few minutes, Albus broke away from the hug. "I'm sorry."
"It's all fine," replied McGonagall and Madam Promfrey nodded. "I'll accompany you back to the Slytherin common room," explained Minerva and Albus nodded, although he had hesitated for a moment.
"You and Scorpius should spend some time alone now," was the opinion of Madam Promfrey, who had taken Albus and Scorpius so close to her heart.
Albus simply nodded and McGonagall nodded. "We should go."
♡
Albus opened the door to his dormitory very quietly because he wasn't sure whether Draco would be inside or not.
He wasn't.
Only Scorpius, who was sitting on the edge of his bed and playing with his hands.
Albus closed the door. "That was great, wasn't it?" Albus still found sarcasm to be the best way to hide his feelings.
"Mhm."
Albus frowned before moving to Scorpius' bed and sitting next to him. "They'll get over it."
"Will they?" Scorpius asked unconvincedly and Albus swallowed nervously. "Probably not."
"Was your father very angry?" Albus asked, really worried. "Yes, definitely. He just didn't understand why I never said anything. And you?"
Albus swallowed and furrowed his eyebrows. "Definitely. I've never seen him so angry. He had adopted a completely different voice than the one I'm used to." While Albus spoke, Scorpius hesitated for a moment, his heart racing, before laying his head on Albus' shoulder.
Albus' heart stopped beating for a moment.
Before it started beating three times faster than before.
As if thousands of fireworks were exploding in his heart.
Gently and hesitantly, Albus put his arm around Scorpius' shoulder.
"Do you think we can do this, Al?"
Albus tightened his grip for a few seconds.
"Together, yes."
Always together.
♡
There was a lot of murmuring in the Great Hall. There were rumors that Harry and Draco had been caught arguing in the corridors.
Whether that was true was another matter.
Alaric sat down opposite Albus and Scorpius.
"Hey, I heard what happened. Is that true? So the thing about the dormitory?"
Albus and Scorpius exchanged a look. "Yes."
"Oh, by Merlin..." Alaric muttered and held his hand to his mouth.
"But they don't know anything else?" A friend of Alaric's asked. He had been the other boy who had defended Albus in the Great Hall that time.
"Seriously, Jareth, you can't just ask that!" Alaric thought and crossed his arms.
"It's okay," said Scorpius and Albus then answered Jareth's question. "No, they don't."
"I think that's good?" Alaric frowned before he flinched because there was suddenly a loud noise at the Gryffindor table.
A mass of Gryffindor students could be seen standing up and the entire Great Hall was silent for a brief moment before loud murmuring broke out again and everyone focused on the students with the red tie.
A boy moved towards a Slytherin student, only to tackle him. "What were you thinking, flirting with my sister?!" His voice was loud and mixed with anger.
"What?" The Slytherin boy looked a little confused.
"I flirted first, you idiot!" A girl from Ravenclaw looked annoyed at the Gryffindor student.
"I don't care! You damn Slytherins, keep your distance from us!" His friends, who were standing behind him, agreed with him immediately and without hesitation.
"Wow, what does that have to do with the others from Slytherin?" asked Alaric and crossed his arms.
"You're all the same," said James, before quickly putting his hand over his mouth and immediately regretting his words. After that, Lily held her breath.
Albus' heart beat faster and he crossed his arms.
"Is that so?"
"Alb-"
"No."
"James, why don't you think before you speak?" asked Lily desperately and furrowed her eyebrows. ,,I'm sorry."
Most of the Slytherins were more than just horrified by James's sentence. Albus was still his brother.
At that moment, Scorpius wanted to say something, but he left it at that. It would only cause more unnecessary trouble. Especially for him and Albus.
"Hey, Al. James certainly didn't mean it that way," Scorpius whispered so only he and Albus could hear.
"I know."