Albus never really was ashamed of things he liked. He enjoyed his toast folded like a hot dog bun; he liked it when his brother hugged him, out of nowhere; he liked cold nights by a warm fire with his best friend; he liked his best friend, quite a lot, almost too much, though he hadn’t told him yet.
But one thing he always felt quite secretive of was his love of muggle video games. James had gotten him hooked as a kid, but he was always a bit awkward about talking about it to other people, so nobody tended to know. He was fond of most of the Mario games, and he’d hundred-percented a few games on his laptop, like Hitman and Grand Theft Auto. But his absolute favorite, and what he’d call his guilty pleasure, was Animal Crossing.
The night it came out for the Nintendo Switch (a Christmas gift from his Uncle Charlie, under the table so his parents couldn’t complain) he stayed up until midnight so he could play it when it first came out. He’d dipped out on a study night with Scorpius for this, and the guilt was weighing him down, but his excitement was too great to let him wait. He named his island “Endofworld” as an homage, so he could claim Scorpius had a part in the game. And then he played.
He played for hours, past Scorpius coming in, taking one of his hour-long showers, reading for a while, and going to sleep. His Switch was plugged in and ready to keep going, so...he did. He preferred to cheat his way into the future, skipping days at a time, and progressing like crazy so he could keep his interest and village going. He was jarred when he heard Scorpius’s alarm going off, and he decided he’d play a bit longer and take a nap before going back to it. He’d never been more thankful for Saturdays.
Scorpius, however, had other ideas. Albus heard the tell-tale sign of him getting up and padding over to Albus’s bed and he panicked; he didn’t have time to hide his Switch and still save everything, and Scorpius would be so upset that he lied--
But it was too late. Scorpius pulled back the curtain, and the disappointment on his face said it all.
“What are you doing?”
“Uhhhhh,” Albus said smartly. He half expected the Animal Crossing voice to come out instead of words.
“What’s that?”
“Animal Crossing,” Albus said finally, saving his game and putting the console down gently. “It was released last night, I’m sorry…”
“I...I don’t understand?”
Scorpius sounded so disappointed and Albus heaved a sigh, scooting over and patting the space next to him. Scorpius sat down gently.
“It’s--it’s a game, it’s really quite fun, and I preordered it months ago, so…”
“You said you weren’t feeling well.”
“Well…”
“Albus, you look like hell.”
Albus laughed at Scorpius’s deadpan, and Scorpius started laughing too. Albus rested his head on Scorpius’s shoulder lightly, and it was then that the weight of his sleep deprivation started to hit him. It was only a few seconds before he was nodding off, not even listening to Scorpius’s jokes.
Next thing he knew, he was lying on Scorpius’s chest while his best friend read a book. He sat up sleepily and Scorpius bookmarked his spot quickly, smiling.
“You alright?”
“Sorry…”
“You stayed up all night, it’s okay.”
They laughed softly and Albus laid back down, basking in the warmth. Scorpius rested his cheek on top of Albus’s head lightly.
“I didn’t realize I was so tired.”
“It’s okay.”
They settled into a soft silence before Scorpius shifted slightly.
“Will you show it to me? If you love it so much, maybe I can convince my dad to get it too.”
Albus grinned and shot up, grabbing his console and opening up his village.
Scorpius did love it. He was fascinated by every part of it and took the console from Albus to explore every corner of the museum. He was quite fond of Blathers, to no one’s surprise. Every weekend Scorpius would watch him play, laughing and smiling at the sheer brilliance of it. And that summer, Albus got a very short letter with very exciting news.
Al,
Dad got me the Switch! Send me your Animal Crossing code
Scorp
The first time Scorpius came to Albus’s island, he wasn’t paying attention to the screen. He had gotten up to get some water and when he came back Scorpius was there, running around the museum yet again. It was a few days later when Albus finally got to visit Scorpius’s village.
“You want to visit ‘Iwantokissalbuspotteronthelips Isle’?”
He spat his drink out onto the screen. “What?”
James threw something at him from across the room. “Shut up, I’m reading.”
Albus got up and ran over to James, shoving the Switch into his face. “Does that say what I think it does?”
James was silent, then grabbed the Switch and pulled it closer to him. “Whose island is this?”
“Scorpius’s.”
The world swam in front of Albus as he realized the implications. James stared up at him, then back at the screen, then started nodding.
“Good. Good good good. It’s about time one of you confessed.”
“Do I--do I mention it? When I go in?”
“Sure!”
“I don’t think I can.”
“Albie, come on.”
“Oh god.”
James pulled him down and handed the Switch back to him. “Albus. He likes you. You like him. Just tell him.”
But Albus didn’t tell him. He didn’t mention the island name that visit, or the next one, or the one after that. In fact, he went all summer without saying a word about it.
But every time he saw it, his heart flipped a little more and his head spun a little faster. He started having dreams where he did confess, where their Animal Crossing characters embraced, where Albus and Scorpius embraced back at school, at Malfoy Manor, at the Potter house. The dreams went from gentle and kind to dirty and hot almost overnight, because Albus couldn’t stop thinking about it. But he couldn’t decide what he was going to say when he saw Scorpius next.
As it turns out, Scorpius avoided him for the first week of school. It was awkward, certainly, but that didn’t stop him. Albus felt hollow, abandoned; he missed his best friend, and more importantly, he wanted some answers.
The first Saturday back to school, Albus finally caught Scorpius. He had just gotten out of the shower and changed into his pajamas as Albus walked in from dinner. Scorpius looked up, caught like a deer in headlights.
“Hey!” Albus said enthusiastically, nearly tripping over his bag.
“...hey!”
Scorpius sounded ill, but he wasn’t moving. Albus stared at him, and Scorpius stared back, and suddenly Albus lost control of himself and was kissing Scorpius hard on the mouth.
When he pulled away, Scorpius gasped.
“What--”
“Your island. I just--I just assumed. Cause I wanted to--you. As well.”
Scorpius stood there, frozen for a moment, before he broke out into a big smile.
“I thought you…you never said anything…”
“I was waiting. For this.”
Albus smiled back, then Scorpius kissed him again, and the world was right.