Chapter Text
There were several things Albus was irritated about in the car ride to London Heathrow Airport. One of them was the frightening idea that he would be hurdling across the Atlantic in a rather large scrap of metal for eight hours. Another was the fact that his parents would not stop bothering him about every single detail of the trip, especially now, minutes before they had to say their final goodbyes.
“You’re sure you have enough sunscreen?” Ginny asked, with the concerned, slightly worried face she had worn for the past forty-eight hours.
“Yes, mum,” Albus rolled his eyes, something that he found himself doing a lot in the past few hours. “You’ve asked me that question three times already.”
“And you’re positive you’ve got your wand, Al?” Harry added from the front seat, with an expression that almost fully matched his wife’s.
Albus scoffed. “Do I have my wand, Dad? Seriously! It’s like you think I—” Wait, do I have it? Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Suddenly wide-eyed in a burst of intense panic, Albus slapped his hand against his right pocket and sighed in relief when he felt the familiar shape. He was glad to know that his parents didn’t notice this, as it would probably only cause them further worry. His boyfriend, however, noticed the whole thing and tried his best not to laugh at him.
“Not to worry, Mrs. Potter! I’ve already checked all of his stuff with my own list and made sure that he didn’t forget anything,” Scorpius grinned over at Ginny. As different Scorpius could be from Albus in some ways (especially in the areas of organization), Albus was certain he would have no idea what he would do without him. If he had to go on this trip, Albus was glad it was with his best friend, who also happened to be his boyfriend.
“I’ve always wanted to travel via airplane,” Scorpius beamed. I read that muggles even have their own sort of Trolley Witch that give you full meals and drinks!”
Harry chuckled from the front seat. “I think you mean flight attendants, Scorpius.”
“And while they may be a little easier to get past than the Trolley Witch, you better not let Albus talk you into any escapes” Ginny warned. Albus rolled his eyes. Ginny turned her head to look directly at Albus now.
“Albus—don’t roll your eyes at me and maybe listen to your mother for once—you know if you try anything on this trip, I will ground the shit out of you before you can even say ‘exploding snap’,” Ginny continued, “And don’t think you’re too old to be grounded now that you’re graduated. I still ground James. Hell, I ground your father sometimes when he pisses me off.”
Albus couldn’t help but smile at his mom’s ferocity. It was one of his favorite things about her and he was very happy to have inherited some of that trait as well. “You really don’t need to worry, mum,” Albus reassured. He really meant it too. After the events that took place in their fourth year, Albus’s motivation to do anything as remotely as rebellious diminished. In fact, Albus was hardly the reason they were in the car heading to the airport in the first place.
It was Scorpius’s idea to go on an extravagant, Trans-American trip, with support of course from both Albus’s parents and Draco. It is sort of a rite of passage for all Hogwarts students to go on a summer trip following their graduation and while it’s always been Albus trying to convince a reluctant Scorpius to go on their adventures, this time was different.
The fact that this was a rite of passage was what scared Albus the most. It was hard for Albus to not view this trip as just the inevitable launchpad into the mystery of the rest of his life. The truth was, he was very scared about starting a new chapter—especially when his boyfriend has known that he wanted to be a healer for years now, and already had plans to start his Healer training in the fall. And Albus? He wasn’t as privileged enough to see so clearly into the future. Right now, his most obvious choice would be to begin Auror training, but it always seemed like a safe choice for him especially considering who his father was. While Albus still loves his father, he’s always felt like he has never truly stepped out the enormous shadow cast by Harry Potter.
Stemming back from the constant rumors about Scorpius being the “Son of Voldemort” and him getting called the “Slytherin Squib” constantly, he never felt completely at home at Hogwarts. But at least he had distinct paths set for him for the past seven years. Now, he felt like a train at the end of the tracks that needed to learn to steer itself.
Scorpius promised him this trip could help him find answers. Albus wasn’t sure if he really believed this, but it didn’t really matter. Scorpius was excited for this, and Albus was excited to be with Scorpius, wherever that may take him. If anything, this trip was a nice celebration of them being involved for three years this summer.
After a little more questioning from his parents and some long hugs (and maybe a tear or two shed by his dad), Albus and Scorpius were officially on their own, approaching the security checkpoint. Scorpius came to an abrupt halt, with an expression somewhere (adorably) between shocked realization and excitement.
“Wait, I almost forgot!”
“What’s up, Scorp?” Albus questioned, confused.
Scorpius reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out two small cards and two small books, handing one of each to Albus. “Muggle IDs and passports,” Scorpius explained. Albus examined these new things, paying special attention to the rather unflattering photo of him, the origins of which he really has no idea.
“Hey, these both have the year of my birthday wrong. It says I am twenty-one here,” Albus said with a confused expression.
“That’s on purpose, Al. You have to be 21 to drink anything with alcohol in it there. It’s very odd if you ask me, considering you can vote at 18 but can’t enjoy a glass of fire whiskey or even wine,” Scorpius said, “I figured I’d modify that just in case we’re in the event that we may want to be a few years older.” Albus looked over at Scorpius and smiled. Scorpius reciprocated with a mischievous grin of his own.
Maybe this trip wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all. If anything, it gave the pair some much-needed alone time, something they lacked greatly at Hogwarts. They were moving in with each other later in the summer, but Albus was happy to start the newfound time together a little earlier.
They really did try their best to make it through security without it being too much of an ordeal. However, being wizards who have never seen such inventions by muggles, at least a little bit of a spectacle was in line, and this came all too soon right after they presented their passports when Scorpius asked one of the security agents if he could try operating the large device muggles used to see through bags.
“Sir, I’m going to need you to step over here for a pat-down,” the security agent said as he motioned for Scorpius into a separate roped-off area. Scorpius shot a worried look over at Albus. Albus felt the instinctual worry for his boyfriend, especially when he watched the security agent pat Scorpius in areas he really preferred to be the only person to be able to pat. He almost began striding over there with a determined glare on his face when Scorpius quickly shook his head.
Shortly after, Scorpius was given the clear and both of them watched their bags go through the security machines, sincerely hoping that their undetectable extension charms held up. After they were all clear, they proceeded into the very unfamiliar terminal of the airport. It really was something unlike anything they had ever seen before, with large glass windows and long tubes that connected the building to the aircrafts.
Albus tried his best to follow what Scorpius was saying as he enthusiastically explained all the different inter-workings of a muggle airport, but he really just enjoyed how Scorpius’s face lit up when he was talking about something that fascinated him.
After around two hours of finding ways to pass the time (Scorpius insisted on getting there three hours before their flight even boarded “just to be safe”), they were on the airplane in their seats, slowly but surely figuring out how to latch their seatbelts.
“Is this your first time flying?” A middle-aged woman across the aisle asked as she watched them fumbling with the buckles.
“No, but it’s our first time flying on an airplane. We usually just take br—” Scorpius cut off with a very shocked expression at what he was about to say. The woman looked very confused.
“What he means to say is that we have a friend that has a helicopter,” Albus finished for him. The woman nodded as Albus watched Scorpius grimace at his own lack of filter.
They continued to work on their seatbelts, and Scorpius made an excited squeak when they heard the latch click into place, and then he helped Albus with his. Once they were settled, it was only a matter of time before they were speeding down the runway at a speed that both Albus and Scorpius had never experienced before, even on brooms.
Their first stop was New York City, which apparently is a ‘must’ for wizards traveling to America for the first time. Ever since they decided to go on this trip, Scorpius had been doing extensive research on all of the places they were planning to visit, and from what Scorpius had told him, New York was one of the places Albus was most excited for. After that, they would travel with a set of Portkeys in Scorpius’ suitcase assigned to all of their desired destinations that they had the ministry set up for them.
As they gained altitude, Albus watched the shadows of the passing clouds rush across Scorpius’ absolutely elated face as he peered out the window. He rarely sees Scorpius this excited (which is saying something), and the intense happiness he always seemed to radiate in these moments made Albus love him that much more.
Scorpius looked over, noticing Albus staring at him. He smiled widely at Albus, a smile that never failed to give him that fluttering feeling in his chest.
“Are you ready, Al?”
Albus beamed back at his boyfriend and took Scorpius’s hand. “Of course.”