It is a truth universally acknowledged that Malfoys and Potters don’t mix well together, much like cinnamon and apricots, sleepiness and driving, George Weasley and seriousness. Albus Potter knew it well, the thing was, as Scorpius Malfoy, asleep in bed, held him close, Albus didn’t care much.
They’d known each other for ten years, give or take a few months, since they’d first spoken at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall, under a ceiling full of stars. They’d both been so young, neither of them would have imagined they’d get engaged. Or married. In secret. Because they were both afraid of their families.
“Stop thinking,” Scorpius mumbled, his breath fanning over Albus’ ear.
Albus shivered. “Your breath smells.”
Scorpius opened his eyes and smiled, then breathed right in Albus’ face.
“Was I drunk when we got married?” Albus asked, hiding a smile. The thought of being married got him all giggly, even after four days.
“Nope, completely sober.”
“Not so sure.”
“Not so sure,” Scorpius mocked him, faking a high-pitched voice. “C’mon, what were you thinking about?”
“Telling the families.”
Scorpius tensed. “You don’t want to?”
“Of course I do! That’s the thing, I don’t know how.”
“You know what? Leave it to me. I’ll gather them and do something elaborate yet very clever, that will show them exactly what you mean to me.”
Albus thought about it for a moment. There would be a mess, but then again he’d signed himself up to a life of messes by marrying Scorpius. “Alright you can tell them,” he said. “But nothing too elaborate.”
“Oh, honey. It’ll be fantastic.”
And so they gathered the families, Weasleys and Potters and two Malfoys - and two Potter-Malfoys - and that was it. The dinner was awkward at first, then extremely awkward, then even worse. Nobody talked if not to ask to pass this or that, except Aunt Hermione and Hugo, who really tried to make some conversation.
When it was over, Draco and Narcissa stood quickly to gather their robes. Scorpius stood, too.
“Not so fast!” Scorpius exclaimed, taking out his wand. His hands had a slight tremble. “There’s something I want to show you. All of you.”
Someone groaned, but it only gave Scorpius more courage. He was a Slytherin, through and through, and if he could annoy someone, then he would.
“And it’s a MagiPoint,” Scorpius continued.
Albus’ shoulders sagged with disappointment, then he laughed. He tried to cover it with a cough, and Scorpius winked in his direction. They hadn’t been able to sit next to each other, so Albus was sandwiched between his parents, with James in front of him.
Scorpius moved his wand, and the first slide of the MagiPoint appeared at the centre of the table. It was a picture of Scorpius and Albus as first years at Hogwarts.
“You may remember this moment,” Scorpius said. “Because it was right after Rose and James tried to put cockroaches in our shirts, but we’d already put snakes in theirs, so that was it. That was the moment I knew I had found my best friend.”
There was a pause, and the slide changed. It was another picture, this time Albus and Scorpius running from the Quidditch field.
“This was second year. It was when my father came to visit me, and Mr Potter came to see James’ first match. My father and Mr Potter got into a screaming match right on the stands, and that was very awkward. Cue me and Albus running away. Anyway, that was when I knew our parents would never truly accept our friendship.
“This was the following year, after a Summer in which our parents didn’t let us owl each other a single letter. Still, when we went back to school, it was like we’d never been parted. So, I knew our parents didn’t like each other, and you have your reasons!, but I also knew that Albus and I didn’t care one bit.
“As everybody knows, on the first of every month I would ask Rose to go out with me. And then she accepted, and I didn’t show. What you don’t know, is that I didn’t show because Albus got all pissy at me, and wouldn’t tell me which shirt looked better. So, basically, I didn’t go out with the girl I thought I’d liked for seven years because my best friend got jealous.”
“Sounds gay,” James said.
Scorpius clasped his hands. “Thank you, James. And it sounds gay, because it is. In fact, I then proceeded to kiss Albus.”
Aunt Angelina gasped, while her husband shouted, “I knew it! Ron, you owe me twenty galleons!”
“The what!” Exclaimed Dominique, covering her mouth with her hands.
“On the cheeks?” Asked Grandma Molly.
“I don’t think so, dear,” replied Grandpa Arthur, putting a calloused hand on her shoulder. Grandma nodded, like it made perfect sense after being clarified.
Albus covered his face with his hands, as his parents both turned to look at him.
“You’ve been with him all this time?” Ginny asked.
Albus gave the tiniest nod.
“Anyway!” Scorpius exclaimed, winning back the attention. His neck was red, but he was keeping the composure that characterised his family. “What is fun, is that we aren’t just together!” And then the last slide.
A photo of their hands with their wedding rings.
“Ta-da!” And with that, Scorpius threw Albus’ ring right at him. Well, he tried to, he hit Harry in the face. “Ops, bad aim. Sorry Mr Potter.”
“You’re married,” Harry said, speaking for the first time in the whole night.
Albus nodded, then cleared his throat. “I’m happy with Scorpius, by the way. Not that anybody seems to care.”
Roxanne shrugged. “They’ve been basically married since they were eleven.”
Albus couldn’t say his cousin was wrong.
Scorpius cleared his throat, then sat down. His father put a hand on his shoulder.
“Well done, son,” Draco said. “I’m happy for you.” He then gave Albus a tiny smile. “It’s good to enlarge the family with you, Albus.”
Albus turned to his father, anger bubbling under his skin. “So? Aren’t you going to say something nice?”
“We’re happy for you,” Ginny said. “Scorpius has grown into such a nice man, Draco, I’m sure you’re very proud of him.”
But Albus kept his eyes on Harry, until his father finally opened his mouth.
“I’m sorry to know of it so late. I wish we’d been there during the ceremony.”
Albus shrugged.
“We’ll have a second one!” Scorpius exclaimed. Albus threw him a betrayed glance. “Of course we will, I’m grandma’s only grandchild, she can’t not be invited to my wedding.”
“Are we invited, too?” Rose asked.
“You’ll be best woman, if Albus hadn’t gotten to jealous over you, we wouldn’t even be here!” Scorpius said.
Rose clapped her hands.
“I’ll take care of the flowers!” Victorie exclaimed. Her brother, Louis, joined in on helping her.
In the general chaos that followed, Albus didn’t notice Narcissa behind him, until she said, “Welcome to the family, dear.”