Think of Me - Scorbus
“For someone who hasn’t shown an interest in Quidditch until now, you’re surprisingly good at it,” Albus said as he walked with Scorpius back to the castle.
The two of them had just finished up their Quidditch trials for the year and Albus had been very impressed by Scorpius’ skill. Truthfully, Scorpius was a little impressed with his own skill as well.
“Maybe it’s genetic. My dad says he was rather good at Quidditch,” Scorpius said and Albus let out a laugh.
“My dad says that every time he and your dad played one another, your dad always lost,” Albus said.
“When it comes to one another, I don’t know if we should ever believe what they say,” Scorpius added with a laugh of his own.
“Fair point,” Albus agreed.
Albus stopped walking when he realized that Scorpius was no longer walking next to him. “Scorpius?” Albus turned around and saw Scorpius standing ten feet back, his face paler than usual, and staring up in the sky with horror. “Scorpius? What is it? What’s wrong?”
Before Scorpius had time to answer him, Albus saw what was wrong. A dementor swooped down in front of Scorpius, making the boy fall to his knees.
“What are you doing?!” Albus shouted at the dementor. “Get away from him!”
Albus ran forward, withdrew his wand, and pointed it at the dementor.
“Expecto Patronum!”
A silver lion sprang forth from Albus’ wand and ran at the dementor. The dementor quickly scattered, leaving Scorpius lying on the ground, only half conscious.
“Scorpius!” Albus said as he ran to his friend’s side. Albus knelt down and put his hand to Scorpius’ forehead. He felt clammy, as if he were sick. “Are you okay?”
“You…you conjured a patronus,” Scorpius said weakly, his eyelids struggling to stay open.
“I…I did,” Albus said, now only realizing himself the magnitude of what he did.
“How?” Scorpius asked.
“I don’t know,” Albus admitted. “I knew what to say in case of dementor attack, but that’s about it. Come on, let’s get you to Madame Pomfrey.”
Albus helped Scorpius stand and helped him walk to the hospital wing. Albus sat on the bed next to Scorpius as Madame Pomfrey tended to him.
When Madame Pomfrey left, Scorpius broke off a piece of the chocolate she had given him and gave it to Albus.
“Mr. Malfoy! Are you okay?” Professor McGonagall asked as she rushed into the hospital wing and towards Scorpius’ bed.
“I feel much better now, yes,” Scorpius said, gesturing to the chocolate he was eating.
“I cannot believe there was a dementor here on the grounds,” McGonagall said. “That’s unheard of. I will have a serious talk with the Minister for Magic about this.”
“Aunt Hermione will be thrilled,” Albus said.
McGonagall turned to Albus, who thought he was about to be chastised for giving the Headmistress sass, but McGonagall looked at him with admiration.
“It was very brave what you did, Mr. Potter. Not many wizards of your age could produce a patronus of that magnitude. A corporeal one, at that,” McGonagall said. “Whoever taught you to conjure one? By fifth year a student usually isn’t this successful in the art.”
“No one taught me. I knew the words from my dad, he told me them sometime. But I didn’t know what else to do, so I pointed my wand at the thing, said the words, and out came this lion,” Albus said.
“Well,” McGonagall said, “that’s even more impressive. You should tell Teddy about this. I know that he will be very impressed, as well. It was, after all, his father who taught your father all about patronuses.”
“Professor, how does one conjure a patronus?” Scorpius asked.
“Well, you have to have very strong, happy thoughts. It must be so intense and filled with happiness, or love, that the force of it can drive away the dementor. Now, you rest Mr. Malfoy. And Mr. Potter, fifty points to Slytherin for your heroics,” McGonagall said. She gave them both a small smile before exiting the hospital wing.
“Why is your patronus a lion?” Scorpius asked when McGonagall was gone.
“I don’t know,” Albus said. “Maybe that’s the bit of Gryffindor in me. And, I mean, a lion is cool and all.”
“Leader of the pack,” Scorpius said with a smile.
“Guess so,” Albus said with a chuckle.
“How did you do it? What happy thoughts were you thinking?” Scorpius asked, looking at Albus curiously.
“I don’t remember thinking of anything that was happy. I just remember thinking that you were in trouble and I needed to help you,” Albus said.
“So, you were thinking of me?” Scorpius asked quietly.
“Yeah, I guess I was,” Albus replied, not looking Scorpius in the eye.
“So that means, I make you happy? Me lying unconscious on the ground makes you happy?” Scorpius said with a smirk.
“Yeah, Scor, you being unconscious makes me happy,” Albus said, chuckling as he nudged Scorpius’ arm with his foot.
“Then what?” Scorpius asked, serious this time.
“What?” Albus asked. “What do you mean?”
“Just thinking about me made you conjure a patronus?” Scorpius asked.
“I guess, yeah. I mean, you heard McGonagall. Love can help conjure it,” Albus said, avoiding Scorpius’ eyes again. “You know I love you.”
“Albus,” Scorpius said. “Look at me.”
Albus looked at Scorpius, meeting his eyes to find that his cheeks were tinged pink.
“You love me?” Scorpius asked.
“You know I do. You’re my best friend,” Albus said with a shrug, trying to make it seem like it wasn’t a big deal. “You went back in time to save me. You think I’m not going to love someone who did that for me?”
“I love you, too,” Scorpius said. Albus’ eyes met with Scorpius’ and Albus felt his stomach flip. There was something about the way Scorpius said it that made Albus feel like they both knew what they were talking about, without actually talking about it.
“I know,” Albus finally said.
“No, Albus,” Scorpius said, shaking his head. “I mean, I-,”
“I know,” Albus said again. “I know what you meant. And I mean, I love you, too.”
Scorpius moved to sit up, but Albus stood up and gently pressed his shoulder back down.
“Don’t get up,” Albus said.
“But, I was going to-,” Scorpius started to say.
“I know,” Albus said. “But let me.”
Albus leaned down and softly pressed his lips against Scorpius’. Albus heard Scorpius inhale sharply before he started kissing him back.
Albus pulled back and rested his forehead against Scorpius’.
“That’s what you were going to do, right?” Albus whispered.
“Yeah,” Scorpius answered. He was still trying to catch his breath. His face felt flush but he knew it wasn’t from the dementor attack. He smiled a little as he looked up at Albus. “You taste like chocolate.”
“Now whose fault it that?” Albus said with a smirk.
Scorpius grinned before pulling Albus back in for another kiss.