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“What did you order from Owlazon?” Scorpius curiously placed a small package on the duvet in front of Albus.
He stared at it blankly for a second. What had he ordered? He thought back to the last time he’d shopped on the iPumpkin and smiled. “Actually, that’s for you to open.”
A grin took over Scorpius’ face. “You got something for me?”
Albus nodded. “For today.”
Scorpius frowned. “It’s not going to be another of those vulgar t-shirts like the one James bought you is it?”
“No, but it is something you can wear.”
Like an excited puppy, Scorpius bounced onto the bed with his legs crossed, managing to keep his limbs somewhat under control in the process. He excitedly unwrapped the parcel, sliding out a shoebox and turning it over in his hands.
“You bought me shoes?”
“Open it,” Albus urged, anticipating his boyfriend’s reaction.
Scorpius eased the hinged lid off the box and pulled back a layer of tissue paper to reveal a pair of muggle converse trainers.
“They’re just like yours,” Scorpius commented. “Only cleaner.”
“Do you like them?” Albus asked nervously. It had seemed like a good idea at the time; Scorpius had been complaining his favourite Italian leather shoes were too hot for the summer. “They’ll go with everything, that’s why I got you the white ones.”
“Do you think… Albus, can I pull these off? I’m not… you.” He looked incredibly vulnerable all of a sudden and Albus was overcome with an overwhelming desire to wrap Scorpius into a hug.
“You’ll look adorable. Why do you think I bought you them? They’re very in fashion. They were featured three times in last week’s issue of Pride.”
Scorpius chuckled. “Two of those three features were pictures of you.”
Albus shrugged. “Still featured. Will you just try them on?”
“I love them. Thank you, Albus.” Scorpius leant forward and placed a hand behind Albus’ head, pressing their lips gently together. He pulled away much too soon and cupped Albus’ face in both his hands. Albus couldn’t help but pout a little bit and Scorpius grazed his thumb against Albus’ lips, teasing him.
“Hey, I won’t get you presents anymore.”
Scorpius continued to caress his chin curiously, running his hands over the light stubble Albus hadn’t shaved yet. “This is different. I like it.”
Knowing Scorpius would be unable to resist, Albus gazed up at him through the hair that was falling into his eyes. “Kiss me again.”
He obliged, connecting their lips for a proper kiss this time.
“Really, I like it,” Scorpius said after a bit, stroking Albus’ jawline again.
Albus pulled a face. “I know I need a shave.”
“Keep it, it suits you.” Scorpius turned back to his new shoes and started taking all of the paper stuffing out of them. Albus stared at him.
“Keep it? Really?”
He climbed out of bed and padded across the room, pulling open the wardrobe door and peering into the mirror inside. What had been a bit of five o’clock shadow the night before was now the very beginnings of a light beard. Albus ran his hand across it experimentally.
“Doesn’t it make me look like my dad?”
Albus was distracted from his question when he turned back to find Scorpius had unwrapped both converse and put them on, lacing them up and swinging his feet over the side of the bed. They were bright white in comparison to his charcoal grey pyjama bottoms and Scorpius was watching his own feet swing back and forth like an enraptured toddler.
“They fit,” he proclaimed happily, clapping his hands twice and looking up at Albus in a way so adorable it made Albus very glad they were alone in their bedroom and not out in public.
“You’re adorable,” he settled for affirming, pressing a kiss to the side of Scorpius’ hair.
“Oh and no,” Scorpius said randomly, still staring at his new shoes.
“No?” Albus sat down beside him on the bed.
“No, the beard doesn’t make you look like your dad.” Scorpius picked his feet up and crossed them beneath him with an angelic smile. “You look like your dad without the beard too.”
Albus tackled him backwards onto the pillows as he laughed and Albus cut him off with a kiss. Scorpius wrapped his arm around Albus’ shoulder and he rested his head against Scorpius’ bare chest, sighing appreciatively as he felt Scorpius kiss his hair.
He glanced down at his boyfriend’s odd outfit: no top, pyjama bottoms, brand new muggle shoes. “You know, when James said we could wear anything today, this wasn’t what I expected from you.”
“Have I exceeded your expectations? Do I get an E?”
“You get an O every time, love,” Albus sighed against his chest.
“Aw,” Scorpius replied sleepily. “I’ll get dressed in a minute though. Did James really just say anything ? I could do with more guidelines to be honest. This is our first pride parade, Al, we don’t want to get it wrong.”
“From the sounds of it, there isn’t a way to get it wrong. The whole point is being proud to be ourselves, isn’t it? Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy.”
Scorpius shrugged. “We should have had t-shirts made. Mine could say my dad used to be a death eater and all I got was this lousy t-shirt .” He snorted at his own joke.
“What would mine have said?”
Scorpius thought for a second. “ The Slytherin Potter?”
“Catchy. Would make zero sense at a muggle parade, but nice idea.” Albus peeled himself away from Scorpius’ chest and threw open the wardrobe door again. “No, I bought this.”
He selected a dark grey top and threw it onto the bed beside Scorpius who picked it up suspiciously.
“Shouldn’t you wear something more… rainbow-y?”
Albus laughed and ran his hand along the rail of his clothes; the brightest colour there was a single, orange Chudley Cannons jumper, a gift from Uncle Ron which he’d never worn. The rest of the clothes were in various muted shades. “I don’t wear rainbow. But turn it over.”
Scorpius did and chuckled fondly when he saw the front of the top had the word equality in rainbow font.
“That’s as much colour as you will ever see me wear.” Albus laughed and selected his favourite grey jeans.
“And your flag, that’s colourful.” Scorpius got up from the bed and plucked the little rainbow striped flag from the bedside table, tucking it sweetly behind Albus’ ear. It fell off seconds later and Albus laughed as he picked it up. When he straightened up, Scorpius was holding a pale purple button down shirt which he knew was one of Albus’ favourites.
“I love that shirt,” he told him unnecessarily as Scorpius slid his arms into the sleeves. He approached Albus and smiled sweetly, allowing Albus to fasten the buttons from the bottom to the top, leaving just the very top button undone. He brushed his hands over the tops of Scorpius’ shoulders and kissed him on the forehead. “You’re lovely.”
“You’re lovelier,” Scorpius smiled, passing Albus his own t-shirt.
Albus was just finishing rolling up the ankles of his jeans when he glanced over and saw Scorpius had done the same thing to his own black jeans.
“You know I only do this because they’re too long for me otherwise?” Albus gestured to his ankles. “You don’t have that problem, Mr Legs-for-days.”
“Quite the opposite,” Scorpius chuckled, looking at his now-exposed calves. “This is how I should wear them with the shoes though, yes?”
Albus couldn’t deny that Scorpius looked completely adorable. For someone who spent most of his time in Healer robes, it was always that extra bit attractive to see Scorpius in muggle clothes.
“Exactly, yes.” He took Scorpius’ hands in his and kissed him sweetly. It didn’t take long for Scorpius’ hand to snake its way into Albus’ hair until they were locked in an embrace. A distant noise distracted them for a second.
“Was that the floo?”
They were quiet for a second, listening for the chimes which indicated that somebody wanted to floo in. When they didn’t sound, Albus leant in to kiss Scorpius again and assumed he’d been hearing things. Until a few minutes later:
“ALBUS, WHERE DO YOU KEEP YOUR COCONUT SUGAR?”
“Bloody hell,” he muttered under his breath, breaking apart from Scorpius. “LILY, STOP FLOOING IN WITHOUT ASKING.”
He stomped across the hallway of the flat into the kitchen where his sister was rooting in one of his cupboards, the coffee machine whirring with life and Albus’ favourite mug set beneath it.
“Hello, dearest little sister, come over, take a look in all my kitchen cupboards why don’t you,” he said dryly. “We don’t own any coconut sugar.”
“Yes we do,” Scorpius’ voice came from the doorway. “Top left cupboard above the oven, Lily.”
Lily shot him a thumbs up and clambered up onto the counter-top to search in the mentioned cupboard.
“Did James break Mum and Dad’s coffee machine again?”
“Yep,” Lily replied, clutching a small bag of what must have been the elusive coconut sugar.
She removed the mug of fresh coffee from the machine and, to Albus’ surprise, handed it over to him with a smile. He held it bemusedly.
“What? You didn’t think I was going to come over and use your favourite mug, did you?” She pulled another, more generic mug down and started brewing another cup for herself. “Made you tea, Scorp.”
Albus took a sip of coffee and eyed his sister suspiciously. “How long have you been here?”
Scorpius found the tea on the table. He took an appreciative gulp and sighed.
“A while,” Lily replied with a shrug. “I brought you both presents.”
“Are they thank you for letting me use your coffee machine, oh dear brother of mine presents?”
Lily smiled, stirring coconut sugar into her coffee. “No, they’re happy paint your face with rainbows because it’s muggle pride day presents.”
“Wizard pride day too,” Scorpius amended then went back to his tea.
“Close your eyes,” Lily commanded and Albus frowned.
“Why do we have to close our eyes?”
“Not Scorp, just you.” Lily winked over at Scorpius who grinned back. “Trust me.”
Albus sighed and put his coffee down, obediently closing his eyes and standing still. He heard rustling from Lily’s direction and then nothing for a while.
“Can I look yet?”
“No,” Lily’s voice came from near his ear. He felt her fingers brush against the top of his hair and then something rest lightly against his forehead. “Now you can look.”
Albus opened his eyes to see Scorpius watching him delightedly with his hands clasped together. “Come and see!” He stood up and took Albus’ hand, leading him to the mirror in the hallway.
On top of Albus’ not-yet-styled hair was a ring of pale blue flowers, not too flashy like some of Lily’s past flower crowns. He touched it in amusement. “Thanks, Lil.”
“You’re welcome. Scorp, here’s yours.” She reached out and placed a similar ring of purple roses onto Scorpius’ light hair. He looked even more angelic than usual.
“Thank you, Lily.” Scorpius hugged her and looked at his reflection in delight. “If only I still had my pink hair, this would go perfectly.”
“Now, of course you don’t have to wear them today.”
Albus knew Lily was only really talking to him; Scorpius was unlikely to take the flower crown off now until it started wilting right there on his head.
“But if I don’t, you’ll promote James back to Favourite Brother again?”
“Precisely.” Lily grinned, sipping her coffee.
“Did you make him one too?”
“Of course!” She looked momentarily offended. “It’s a mixture of pink, purple and blue flowers to match his flag. I was going to make yours rainbow but I knew you wouldn’t like it. Although it would have matched your top.” She poked him in the chest, right over the Q in equality.
Albus chuckled. It was true that he wasn’t one for wearing bright colours, although today seemed like a good time to make an exception. He was glad Lily hadn’t made his like a rainbow though; Scorpius, who hadn’t found any sort of label he identified with, might have felt left out.
Lily had left him gazing at himself in the hallway mirror and he went back to the kitchen to find her and Scorpius both leant over Scorpius’ tea mug.
“I think it’s rosemary,” Lily was saying. “With a few sprigs of mint.”
“Is that it? It tastes like magic,” Scorpius took another contented sip.
“Well,” Lily downed her coffee, “I’ll see you two later. Love you both!”
“Thanks for the flowers, Lil,” Albus accepted her fleeting hug as she waved from the fireplace.
“That was nice of her,” Scorpius said quietly. “Your sister is a good egg.”
“Yeah, she is.” Albus distractedly untangled the flower crown from his hair and inspected it, removing a lopsided petal and watching it flutter to the floor.
“Albus, you have to wear it!”
“I will!” he retorted indignantly, walking into the bathroom. “I just haven’t done my hair yet.”
Scorpius laughed and followed behind Albus, wrapping his arms around him when he stopped in front of the mirror. “Remember when we were in fifth year and you didn’t even bring a hairbrush to school with you? I never thought I’d hear you say that.”
“Still don’t use a hairbrush now,” Albus leant back into Scorpius’ torso. Scorpius’ long fingers found his hair and traced patterns across his scalp. He closed his eyes in appreciation. “Mmm, that feels nice.”
“Your hair feels nice,” Scorpius replied, running his fingers through it. “So soft. Did you get a new conditioner?”
Scorpius was good at noticing things like that; sometimes Albus worried he didn’t pay enough attention to his boyfriend in return.
“Yeah, some coconut and papaya thing Teddy sold to me. Do you like it?”
“Yes. It’s very,” Scorpius paused, casting around for the right word, “swooshy.”
“ Swooshy? What does swooshy mean?” Albus turned to give him a look.
“You know,” Scorpius gestured vaguely at his hair. “Your hair, it swooshes. It’s swooshy.”
Albus ran a hand through his hair and messed it up in the process. “Swooshy,” he echoed in amusement, reaching for his hair potion; one of his own invention he’d co-created with Teddy.
Scorpius rested his chin in his hands dreamily. “Look at it swooshing. Doesn’t even sound like a real word anymore, swoosh . Swoosh.”
Albus laughed. “Did it ever sound like a real word?” He tipped a few drops of Fleamont’s Hair Taming Tonic into his hand and rubbed it through his fringe so it was messy in just the way he liked it.
“Done?” Scorpius asked expectantly as Albus styled his hair. When Albus nodded, he placed the flower crown back on his head with a flourish. “Perfect.”
Albus looked at himself in the mirror. “Are you sure I shouldn’t shave?”
Scorpius glanced over from where he was putting his shoes on. “Positive. You look wonderful and I can’t wait to show off that you’re my boyfriend.”
Albus beamed; sometimes, he couldn’t quite believe he was lucky enough to have Scorpius in his life.
“Now, I think I’m going to...” Scorpius pointed his wand at the white shoes and mumbled a spell. They turned purple, an identical shade to the flower crown Lily had given him. “How does that look?”
“Very coordinated. You look lovely.”
“I have one more thing to add.” Scorpius made his way over to the wardrobe again and pulled something small out of it, keeping it concealed in his fist.
“What’s that?”
Scorpius swallowed. “I have something to tell you.” He unrolled a tiny flag: purple, grey and white with a black triangle at one end. “You know how I’ve always joked that if anything, I’m an Albussexual?”
Albus laughed at the word Scorpius had coined about a year ago. “Yes?”
“Turns out there’s a word for that. Demisexual . It means I need a deeper emotional connection with someone before I can be sexually attracted to them, and it’s always been you. I’m most definitely demisexual for you, Albus. Look, it has its own flag and everything.”
For a second, Albus didn’t know what to say. It had never mattered in the slightest that Scorpius hadn’t labelled himself as anything, they were happy together and Scorpius wasn’t worried, he just told people he had a boyfriend and left it at that. But seeing the pride and pleasure with which he was examining his little flag, Albus realised how much this meant to Scorpius. And how much it meant to him to know the depth of Scorpius’ feelings.
“Scor,” he breathed, taking his boyfriend in his arms and grinning at him. “That’s amazing. I’m so happy for you. I love you so much and this is so great and I’m waffling now but that’s really, really wonderful and-”
“I love you too, Albus.” Scorpius cut him off with a beaming smile before kissing him.
Albus linked their fingers together so the matching friendship bracelets on their wrists brushed together. They were green braided cord and they’d had them since fourth year and their first trip to Hogsmeade. Of course they’d only bought them to be ironic, to make fun of Lily and Poppy who had some too. But here they were five years later still wearing them and Albus knew he would never take his off.
“Ready to go?” Albus whispered, resting his forehead against Scorpius’.
Scorpius nodded and kissed Albus one more time on the cheek. “Ready.”
Their flat was on the third floor of a smaller building in Covent Garden (chosen for its proximity to both St Mungo’s and Diagon Alley) and the road outside was quiet and sunny.
“We could just apparate and meet James there?” Albus suggested for the fourth time, his hand swinging in Scorpius’ as they walked down the street.
“It’s a muggle event, I want to get there like a muggle,” Scorpius replied excitedly.
“You just love taking the tube.” Albus smiled fondly, remembering back in school and Scorpius excitedly reading him his Muggle Studies homework on the subject.
“It’s a train under the ground ,” Scorpius stared down at his feet as they walked. “ Under . And no magic! How did they put it there?”
“Er,” Albus wasn’t sure if Scorpius was hoping for an actual answer.
“I’ll tell you how.” Scorpius was in full geek mode now and there was no stopping him. “So, the muggles have these things called escalators which they used to dig big holes in the ground.”
“Um, Scor? I think you mean excavators.”
Scorpius thought for a second and raised one finger in excitement. “Oh yes! Escalators are the muggle moving staircases, aren’t they? They have those in the underground too, and lifts, which is a good thing at this station because the alternative is 193 steps.”
Albus shook his head fondly as Scorpius rambled on a bit more about everything he knew to do with Covent Garden station. He watched his boyfriend talk passionately, his free hand moving emphatically so his little flag waved in the breeze, and Albus thought in that moment that he quite possibly had never loved Scorpius more.
