Chapter 28
Stay close to the people, who feel like home.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~♡
It was 5 a.m. Alaric and Jareth were both snoring, Albus and Scorpius were wide awake.
Scorpius had his arm wrapped around Albus' stomach, Albus' back was pressed against Scorpius' body.
Albus' heart skipped a beat every time he felt Scorpius' warm breath on his neck.
"My mother saw us..." Albus whispered and Scorpius tightened his grip on Albus. "What?"
"She saw us kissing. The night I spoke to my dad and you took me to the bathroom afterwards..." Albus kept his voice low, Scorpius sighed softly.
"How did she react?"
》
"You saw us kissing?" Albus wanted to sink into the ground. It couldn't get any more embarrassing.
Ginny nodded gently. "Yes, I have. How long have you been together?" She squeezed Albus' hand when she noticed that he was getting nervous.
"Just over a month," Albus whispered, a worried expression on his face. "Please don't tell anyone, Mum. The others can't even accept our friendship."
Ginny looked at her son with pity. "I won't say anything. But I have to honestly admit, I don't know what I think about it. But I'm always here for you."
She pulled Albus into a hug, who was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
》
"She's trying to accept it. That's the most important thing, isn't it?" Albus asked quietly, Scorpius nodded - as best as he could in his position.
"I think so."
Then Albus turned around in Scorpius' arms. "Hey... do you want to go for a walk in the woods? I honestly can't sleep anymore, and you seem to be completely awake too."
Scorpius frowned for a moment before agreeing.
So the two of them started to sneak out of the house and head towards the woods. The stairs gave them problems because they creaked but otherwise they managed to sneak out without any problems.
Scorpius grabbed Albus' hand and linked it with his. After a while they stopped and looked at each other.
Scorpius' eyes darted over Albus' body, causing butterflies in Albus stomach.
"You're really pretty, you know that?" Scorpius whispered, looking into Albus' eyes, who immediately blushed and turned his face away.
Scorpius laughed a little at that, putting his fingers under Albus' chin to turn his face to his.
"It's just the truth," Scorpius added, smirking at Albus' reaction, who playfully slapped him on the shoulder.
"Scorpius."
"Yes?" Scorpius replied gently, frowning slightly when he noticed how nervous Albus looked.
"I love you."
At that moment, Albus thought his heart would jump out. He was so afraid of the reaction.
Scorpius' heart stopped for a moment at that sentence before he pressed his lips to Albus's with so much love.
Then he separated his lips, their faces remained close.
Albus looked into his eyes.
"I love you too. So much."
Albus' heart fluttered at that answer. Scorpius wrapped his arms around Albus' body and turned them both around once. Albus wrapped his arms around Scorpius' neck.
After they had come to a standstill again, the two smiled at each other before putting their lips together.
The kiss quickly became more intense and in the next second, Albus was already being pushed against the tree by Scorpius.
Their bodies were pressed together, Scorpius' lips wandered to Albus' neck. He started sucking on the sensitive spot and Albus' hands held onto Scorpius' shirt.
Albus closed his eyes and let Scorpius take control. Albus' breathing became heavier and his thoughts wandered to more than just kissing.
But he didn't know what Scorpius thought about it and whether he was really ready for it. He wanted to have a real conversation with Scorpius about it first - a much longer and more detailed conversation than the last conversation the two of them had on the subject.
Suddenly something rustled and the two of them separated. Both hearts raced and no one dared to make a sound. Not even the slightest.
"Shit... what was that?" whispered Scorpius and Albus narrowed his eyes. Then he shook his head. "I don't know."
Albus took Scorpius' hand. "We should go back inside." Scorpius nodded immediately and together they sneaked back into the house.
They quietly closed the front door and thought they hadn't been caught.
"Lumos."
Albus and Scorpius immediately flinched, turned around and then their hearts started racing again.
Ginny, Harry, Hermione and Ron stood in front of them. "Hey?" Albus said uncertainly, Harry crossed his arms.
"Yeah, hey," Harry replied and Ginny nudged him. Then she turned back to the boys. "Why were you outside?"
"Um..." Albus scratched the back of his head and Scorpius became visibly nervous.
Then Ginny's expression changed to knowing. "Oh..." she muttered to herself before pointing towards the stairs. "Go into the room."
Albus and Scorpius immediately nodded and disappeared.
"Ginny! Why?!" Ron had crossed his arms and was very annoyed because of Ginny's decision to let them get away with it.
"Maybe they wanted some distance or something..." answered Ginny and looked briefly at Hermione. Suddenly Hermione's eyes got bigger and her mouth was open.
"Why would they?" Harry locked the front door, Ginny shrugged. "I don't know. How would I know?"
♡
"Man, that was close," whispered Scorpius as he and Albus entered the room. They thought that Alaric and Jareth were actually still asleep since it was very early, but the two weren't even in the room.
They exchanged a confused look for a moment.
Then Albus moved to the bed and lay down. His heart was still racing because they had been caught. But he was really grateful to Ginny for letting them go immediately.
Scorpius threw himself on top of Albus and Albus laughed. He wrapped his arms around Scorpius and Scorpius smiled at him. Albus kissed Scorpius on the lips.
"Do you want to sleep a little longer?"
Scorpius nodded and kissed Albus quickly on the lips before lying down next to Albus.
Albus was about to say something when he was interrupted again by Scorpius' lips. Albus' stomach tingled.
Their lips lingered for a while.
"I didn't expect you to kiss me again," Albus murmured against Scorpius' lips, which twisted into a smile. "Sorry, I didn't have enough."
Albus smiled gently, then Scorpius stood up again.
"Can I borrow a shirt from you?" Scorpius' voice rang out and Albus nodded immediately. "Of course, you can take the one from the desk."
Albus was a little confused, as Scorpius' shirt was actually fine for sleeping in. But he didn't say so.
"Thanks." Scorpius' hands wandered to his shirt and then he took it off. Albus didn't really want to look, but he couldn't stop himself.
His eyes wandered over the naked upper body and he got butterflies in his stomach - the longer he stared at Scorpius.
Then a realization hit him.
Could it be that Scorpius had done it on purpose?
"Do you like the view?" Scorpius grinned, pulled Albus' shirt over it and turned his head towards Albus. Albus' cheeks heated up and he pressed his head into the pillow, mumbling something incomprehensible.
Scorpius giggled a little before falling onto the bed and resting his chin on Albus' back. "Hm?" escaped Scorpius' mouth and gently stroked Albus' hair.
Albus sighed into the pillow before lying on his back. Scorpius moved his head away from Albus so he could look at him.
He gently ran his fingers through Albus' hair over and over.
"Yes."
Scorpius frowned in confusion and tilted his head slightly. "What?"
At this, Albus grinned and gave Scorpius a kiss on the lips. "That's my answer to your question," explained Albus, intertwining his fingers with Scorpius'.
Then Alaric and Jareth entered the room again. Albus and Scorpius' eyes immediately flew to the two. "Where were you at that time?" asked Scorpius.
Alaric and Jareth exchanged a look before blushing a little. "Oh, not that important," said Alaric and Jareth nodded in agreement. "Besides, you two weren't in the room either. Where were you, huh?" said Jareht and began to grin.
Albus scratched the back of his head. "Okay, yes. You're right."
♡
Ginny was standing in the kitchen, taking care of the leftover dishes. Hermione entered the room and cleared her throat, which made Ginny frown.
"Everything okay?" Ginny asked and Hermione played with her hands a little uncertainly.
"I'm not sure how to start this conversation. I don't want to go too far," Hermione explained and nodded slowly. "Just start, don't worry."
Then it was Hermione who nodded. "Okay, um... Are Albus and Scorpius more than just friends?"
Ginny choked and coughed a few times. "Excuse me?" She turned to Hermione, who furrowed her eyebrows.
"Honestly, I have no idea, Mione," Ginny began. She didn't want to tell the truth - it was Albus and Scorpius' decision when to reveal that they were a couple.
"What makes you think that?" Ginny asked and Hermione shrugged. "I had a feeling."
Suddenly Molly entered the room. "Hey, hey. I don't know what you were talking about, but I just have to say something: I think Albus and Scorpius are really close. And I don't know what to think about it. He's a Malfoy." Molly threw her hands in the air.
Ginny pulled a face before turning back to the harnesses. "I know how you all feel about it. I wasn't very happy about it at first either, but I've spent more time with Scorpius and I think he's really okay. He doesn't have to be like his father."
♡
February
Valentine's Day was just around the corner. Mistletoe was being enchanted everywhere so that they could fulfill their tradition like on christmas Day.
The students were all relatively nervous. Most of them didn't know who they wanted to date. The others didn't dare to ask their crush.
And then there was Albus: He had always hated Valentine's Day in recent years. Everything. Scorpius knew that, and he was more than convinced that he would change Albus's mind this year.
Today was the day at school when Albus had his free period. At the moment, Lily was walking with him along the corridors.
"Lils. Please." Albus sighed in annoyance, but Lily shook her head.
"I know what you think about Valentine's Day. But you're together as a couple with Scorpius this time! Have a nice day with him, Albus. Just the two of you," Lily shared her opinion, which made Albus think about it again and a little longer than usual.
Somehow Lily was right after all. He had been single for the last few years, but this year he had his best friend, who was also his boyfriend.
Although Albus and Scorpius had spent the last few Valentine's Days together, this year was different.
This year they were a couple and probably wouldn't just sit around in their dorm room and do nothing. This year was different.
Then two arms suddenly wrapped around Albus' body from behind and lifted him up briefly. Lily laughed and continued on her way.
"Scorp, did you just scare me!" When Albus was back on the ground, he playfully hit Scorpius on the shoulder. In response, Scorpius ruffled Albus' hair.
The butterflies in Albus' stomach were still going crazy because of the unexpected action.
"Why aren't you in class?" Albus asked, wrapping his arm around Scorpius' shoulder, who then put an arm around Albus' waist as they walked down the corridor.
"Our professor was taken out of class and that's why we had an early day off," Scorpius said and Albus nodded as suddenly screams were heard, a loud bang was heard and they both jumped.
After that, everything happened quickly.
Everyone who was near the noise tried to find what had happened.
Daily Prophet:
Now students at Hogwarts are being attacked! How far is the Ministry of Magic willing to let this go? Something must be done!
Measures must be taken against the Death Eater families!
Didn't the Ministry of Magic even mention years ago that they seem to have caught all the Death Eaters who mean harm?
We were lied to.
Two half-blood students were caught with a spell. They were not fatally injured.
---------
Albus sighed, threw the Daily Prophet away and put his head in his hands.
"Why does the dark side want another wizarding war?" Albus asked quietly, Scorpius was sitting next to him and his gaze flew to him.
"Because they're complete idiots."
Albus nodded, then he moved, stretched out a little on the sofa and laid his head on Scorpius' lap.
This gave Scorpius butterflies in his stomach and he swallowed briefly before letting his left hand wander into Albus' hair and placing his right hand on Albus' arm.
Both were worried. They were afraid of losing each other.
It had always been just the two of them and they couldn't live without each other. They didn't want to either.
But it will probably become more difficult.