Scorpius somehow always knew how to cheer Albus up. He always had a plan, and although they were always weird and oftentimes incredibly convoluted, they worked.
Albus didn't know what the plan was today, but he knew there was one when Scorpius abruptly left the room after he saw Albus in tears because of a bad grade.
“It’s not just the grade-” Albus had said through tears, his test paper on the desk in front of him. Scorpius was hugging him, and he didn't have the energy to hug back. “It's- my dad is gonna-” Albus’ voice broke, and he started to sob. “He's gonna be so mad.”
“I'm sure he won't be mad,” Scorpius tried to make Albus feel better, but he only cried harder.
"He's gonna be," Albus' voice was quiet as he cried, barely audible. "He- he's gonna hate me." Scorpius ran his fingers through Albus’ hair, holding him close as Albus cried into his shoulder. Albus felt his fingers stop moving once he'd calmed down a bit, and Albus pulled away, staring intently at him.
Scorpius cupped Albus’ face, wiping his boyfriend's tears and kissing his forehead. “I'll be right back,” Scorpius suddenly announced, standing up and placing one last kiss in Albus’ hair before running out of the dorm room.
“Huh…?” Albus watched as he left, his eyebrows furrowed and nose runny.
He didn't have to wait long, as Scorpius came running back after just about a minute. He entered the dorm breathlessly with a plastic bag in his hand. Albus tilted his head, squinting at him.
“What… is that?” Albus asked. Scorpius shut the door, pushing everything on the desk aside and placing the bag down. He removed a box from the bag, revealing his plan to be… a gingerbread house. Albus laughed, and then quickly covered his mouth.
“A gingerbread house?” Albus asked. “Really?”
“I thought it would be fun!” Scorpius argued. “Come on.”
Albus couldn't help but smile despite how bad he wanted to sit in his sorrow. “Alright, fine.” He exhaled, watching as a wide grin grew on Scorpius’ face. Scorpius giggled excitedly, pulling up a chair to sit next to Albus. He opened the box to the gingerbread house, practically bouncing as the two of them started to work.
They'd started two hours ago.
The gingerbread house was a mess.
The walls were falling apart, icing was everywhere, there was candy all over the floor and somehow stuck to Albus’ hair, and crumbs littered the desk.
“Get away from me!” Albus laughed loudly, shoving Scorpius’ hands away as he tried to squeeze out icing onto Albus. He had already successfully gotten a glob in Albus’ hair, and Albus wouldn't stand for any more of this abuse. He grabbed a bag of small colorful hard sweets, opening it and throwing a handful of them at Scorpius.
“Ow!” Scorpius yelped, giggling as he shut his eyes and covered his face to protect himself from the candy ambush. Albus laughed, snatching the icing from Scorpius and holding it up triumphantly.
“Stop!” Scorpius whined, throwing a pack of gummies at Albus. “I wanna finish our house.”
Albus looked back at the gingerbread house, letting out a snort and covering his face.
“This is so fucking ugly,” Albus stifled his laughter, tearing up from laughing so hard. Scorpius started to laugh as well, putting his head in his hands.
“It's atrocious,” Scorpius laughed breathlessly.
Albus broke off a piece of the roof, biting into the cookie. “At least it tastes good.” He smiled.
Scorpius looked to Albus, quickly placing a kiss on the tip of his nose. Albus’ cheeks flushed, and he giggled softly, furrowing his eyebrows.
“What was that for?” He laughed.
“I dunno,” Scorpius raised his eyebrows. “I just think you're cute. Also there's icing in your hair.”
“Wow. I didn't realize.”
“Do you feel better?” Scorpius asked, breaking off another piece of the roof.
Albus smiled, nodding quickly. “Yeah. I do. Thank you for- this. Even though our house looks like it was made by two infants in a dark room.”
Scorpius cackled. “It's not that bad.”
They looked back at the gingerbread house.
“Okay. It's pretty bad. Shut up. It has… charm.”
“Yeah, that's what it is,” Albus scoffed lightheartedly. Scorpius rolled his eyes, eating a piece of candy off of the house.
“I think our house is perfect,” Scorpius smiled with pride. Albus smiled softly, leaning forward to kiss Scorpius on the lips.
“You're a dweeb and I love you,” Albus smirked, watching Scorpius' face light up.
“I know you do,” Scorpius smiled. He then tilted his head up and poured icing in his mouth.
“You're gross,” Albus smiled, watching him with admiration. Of course, another one of Scorpius’ insanely stupid plans worked out again. Scorpius always made him feel better.