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It should have been a normal Friday, but from the moment Albus’ alarm went off, he knew something was wrong. Whereas normally his best friend would be his wake-up call, bouncing at the side of his bed, ripping open his curtains and talking rapidly about that mornings History of Magic lesson. This morning, Albus could still hear Scorpius sleeping soundly in the bed next to him. He switched off his alarm, concern taking over as to why Scorpius was still asleep. There was a chance he’d had a bad night – they come quite frequently – and had simply slept through his alarm, but Albus was still worried.
He did, however, leave the other boy a few extra moments of rest whilst he changed, the rest of the dorm slowly waking and going about their morning. When Albus had changed for the day and attempted to tame his hair to the best of his ability, he decided it was time to wake Scorpius.
Albus opened Scorpius curtains, revealing the boy with bright blond hair fast asleep. Asleep like this, Scorpius looked more relaxed than Albus had seen him in a very long time. He looked like a child again, like all those hardships when he was younger hadn’t made him grow up too fast. Albus almost didn’t want to wake him. However, time was ticking and Albus still wanted to make sure they had a decent amount of time for breakfast.
“Scor?” he muttered, shaking the other boys shoulder lightly. “You have to get up, mate.”
Scorpius stirred, letting out a little groan as he did. He rubbed his eyes before opening them, looking at Albus and turning back over, pulling the duvet over his shoulder. “Not today,” he mumbled.
Albus furrowed his brows. “We have to go to class,” Albus reminded, wondering why Scorpius was acting so out of sorts.
“We can skip, it’s fine,” he muttered again, blindly reaching out to close the curtains but not finding his target.
“But it’s History of Magic first thing, you love that,” Albus protested, discombobulated.
At that, Scorpius turned back over and shot Albus a look of sheer confusion. “Who likes History of Magic?” he asked genuinely, knitting his eyebrows together. Albus thought his brain was about to explode.
“You do?” he said, but even now he was questioning just how well he knew his own best friend. “Can we just go, I’m starving.”
Scorpius reluctantly agreed and Albus went ahead and began packing his bag whilst he waited for Scorpius to get ready. He seemed to take longer than usual in the bathroom and stunned Albus completely when he emerged with his hair styled into a quiff and his uniform slightly askew, his tie in a pathetic excuse of a knot. He picked up his bag (which he’d packed the night before) and frowned, before opening it and taking out a few books and throwing them carelessly onto his bed. Once satisfied, Scorpius smiled and threw it over his shoulder and looked at Albus.
“Ready?”
Stunned, Albus could only nod.
They walked to the Great Hall talking as normal, and Albus just simply concluded that Scorpius was having an off day, hence the very strange morning. Albus didn’t see any of his siblings as they entered and so chose to sit at the Slytherin table and allow them to join him if they wished.
Albus sat down, throwing his bag under the table and Scorpius sat next to him - a completely normal thing for Scorpius to do, if he wasn’t sitting so close . Their thighs were touching under the table and it took all of Albus’ strength to continue breathing like a normal person. Albus felt his cheeks heat up and he scrambled for the coffee to pour himself a mug, if only to distract his shaking hands.
“Did you do something different with your hair?” Scorpius asked as he held his mug up to Albus. Albus furrowed his brows and looked at the pot of coffee in his hand and back at Scorpius questioningly. Scorpius nodded and Albus reluctantly poured the coffee into his mug, waiting for Scorpius to say this was some practical joke. Scorpius hated coffee, much to Albus’ dismay.
“I - er, did not,” he stuttered out, just remembering Scorpius asked him a question.
Scorpius half-smiled as he titled his head to the side, reaching up to move one of Albus’ curls that had fallen out of place, twirling it around his finger before letting it go. “Hm, well it looks really good.” Scorpius’ eyes were twinkling as he watched Albus, whose cheeks flushed under his intense gaze. “I love your hair.”
Then he turned back to his breakfast (and coffee) before Albus could respond, as though that was just a normal part of their daily conversation. Albus turned back to his own bowl, feeling confused and flustered, wondering why Scorpius was acting so different.
However, Scorpius was nothing compared to his brother James, who sat down opposite them a few moments later. Albus gaped, his spoon stopping halfway to his mouth. James’ uniform was pristine, his tie done correctly, his shirt tucked in and not sticking out of his jumper like it usually was. He was carrying some books rather than a broom and his Quidditch kit, which was probably the most confusing thing. The Gryffindor Quidditch team trained at lunch on Fridays, so James always had his uniform and gear with him.
But the most confusing part was when James made himself a cup of tea.
“Jamie,” Albus said, catching James’ attention. He wasn’t wearing his glasses this morning, another thing very out of place. He hummed in response. “You’re a Potter, Potters drink coffee,” Albus reminded, holding his cup in show.
James scrunched up his nose. “Coffee is disgusting, Albus, I don’t know how you and Scorpius drink that stuff,” and just like that, Albus was reminded that Scorpius was, in fact, drinking a beverage that before now he had creatively coined, ‘the drink made in the pits of hell by the Devil himself’.
“Okay, what's going on?” Albus asked, dropping his spoon into his cereal and causing milk to fly about the place.
“What are you talking about, Albie?”
“This - all of this - wait, what did you just call me?”
“Albie… do you not like that? I thought it was kind of cute, just like you.” And Scorpius booped him on the nose.
Albus shook his head, if only to try and rid his cheeks of this apparent permanent flush that had appeared since Scorpius started flirting with him. Or at least, Albus thought he was flirting with him.
Albus was prevented from answering when a herd of owls swooped in above their heads, dropping packages everywhere. Albus waited in anticipation as he tried to spot the owl carrying his daily delivery of The Daily Prophet. A brown speckled owl dropped the paper right into his bowl of cereal and splashed milk everywhere before flying off. He had begun subscribing to the Prophet a couple of months ago, wanting to be able to read his mother's articles the moment they came out, it was his favourite part of the day. His mum may write about sport and Albus wasn’t all that interested, but he still loved to read her work.
He pulled the paper out and dried it briefly with his wand before opening it, turning automatically to the sports pages and seeking out his mothers name. He searched through three different pages three separate times and never found her name. Albus scrunched up his nose and rubbed his eyes, looking one last time before giving up. Maybe his mum never wrote anything for the paper that day?
As if this day couldn’t get any weirder.
Albus shrugged it off as a simple mistake and carried on eating his cereal, trying not to think too much into why today seemed like the exact opposite of how it would normally go. He tried not to think about James and Scorpius acting weird, which was hard when his little sister sat down opposite him, her red hair in one perfect bun and a pair of thick-rimmed glasses on her face. Albus scrunched his nose.
“Since when do you wear glasses?” he said by way of greeting.
Lily looked at him like he’d grown a second head. “Every day since second year,” she shook her head and went about making her own tea . Seriously, what is up with the Potters today?
“Excited for double herbology today, Lilybug?” Scorpius asked, raising his eyebrows at Lily knowingly. Lilybug, at least that’s something familiar, Albus thought.
“No,” Lily responded. “Worst day of the week, Fridays are meant to be fun and the Professors go and give me the worst subject on that day of the week, twice!” she moaned, confusing Albus even more. Lily loved herbology, she wasn’t very good, but she loved it anyway.
Albus was about to respond when someone else spoke over him. “Scorpius?” Albus looked to see Polly Chapman making her way over. “Are you still free for me to help you with potions tomorrow?”
“If you could that'd be great,” Scorpius said. Polly nodded in agreement.
“Shame you can’t ask Al, huh?” she winked at him before waving goodbye and heading over to the Gryffindor table. Albus looked at Scorpius, seeing his cheeks glow a beautiful shade of red. Scorpius only briefly looked at him, his cheeks somehow darkening as he just shrugged it off like she said nothing.
Albus opened his mouth, but all the questions died on his tongue as Scorpius placed a hand on his thigh. “If you’re insisting we have to go to class, shall we?”
Albus’ breath caught in his throat, heat rising in his cheeks as he realised just how close Scorpius was sitting. He could feel his warmth wrapping around him like the fire on a cold winters day. Albus was worried he could feel his heart beating fast in his chest and Scorpius smirked - almost like he knew exactly what he was doing to Albus. Albus nodded slowly, not trusting himself to make any further action.
Scorpius patted his thigh a couple of times before standing up and throwing his bag over his shoulder. It was strange to see him stand up straight properly without the weight of a thousand books weighing him down. Albus stood, saying a quick goodbye to his siblings as he followed Scorpius out the Great Hall, struggling to keep up with his best friends long strides.
“I can’t believe you made me get up for this class,” Scorpius whined as Albus caught up to him and he threw an arm around Albus’ shoulders. Not that Albus was complaining, but since when did Scorpius touch him this much? He was sure that if this kept up, Albus would have a heart attack by the end of the day.
“Scor, what is going on? I thought you loved History of Magic? And since when do you need Polly Chapman to tutor you in Potions?”
Scorpius frowned down at him with a scrunched nose and detangled his arm from his shoulders. “Did you hit your head in the middle of the night? Do you need me to take you to the hospital wing?” Scorpius stepped closer, causing them both to come to a stop, as he placed the back of his hand on Albus’ forehead. “Hm, you feel a little hot, but then again, that could just be because you are hot ,” he said with a suggestive smirk before pulling away and continuing their walk.
Albus stood stunned for a moment, the words swirling around his head that Scorpius Malfoy - his best friend and life-long crush - had just called him hot. Albus took the deepest breath he could and fanned his face a little because it really was hot in here. He recovered when Scorpius looked back at him and he jogged to catch up, his mind running at a hundred miles per hour.
It was almost a relief to reach the History of Magic classroom and have a little bit of fresh air from the open windows. He went to go take their usual seat at the front of the classroom when Scorpius’ hand was pulling on his robes, sending him a strange look as he tugged him to a table at the back. Albus had chosen to simply stop questioning this strange day, they would no doubt get told to move once the two who usually sat at the back arrived.
However, no such thing happened. Instead, they took Albus and Scorpius’ usual seat at the front and the class continued almost as normal. Except today Albus was the one taking notes as Scorpius drifted softly into sleep, but Albus knew that whenever Scorpius returned back to normal, he would want those notes.
He almost hoped that when Scorpius woke at the end of class that things would be how they were supposed to be, but Albus had no such luck. Albus thought he would walk Scorpius to his Ancient Runes class - as he did every week - but today they were intercepted by Rose as they left the classroom.
“Want to go to the lake, it’s a nice day?” Rose asked. She was wearing her wild curly brown hair down today, styled far too perfectly for someone who had a lesson before now. She wasn’t carrying books as she normally did and her broom also wasn’t on her person, just as James’ wasn’t that morning either. Maybe they moved the Quidditch training time.
“You both have Ancient Runes now,” Albus said, raising his eyebrow at Rose.
Rose let out a loud laugh like the words Albus had just spoken were absolutely absurd. “Scorpius and I haven’t gone to Ancient Runes in weeks, Albus,” she said. “So, the lake? I was thinking we could try and get the Giant Squid to the surface again?”
“Anything but Ancient Runes,” Scorpius said, then rested a hand on Albus’ shoulder. “Coming, Al?”
“I’ll catch up, I have to see Professor Flitwick about the homework,” he said and Scorpius nodded before pulling him in for a bone-crushing hug as though they hadn’t seen each other in months. Hugging was not exactly unusual between the two boys now, but it certainly didn’t happen when they were simply parting ways for a short period of time. Albus was so shocked he barely had time to respond before Scorpius was pulling away and walking off with Rose, already in deep conversation.
Confused, Albus practically ran to the charms classroom, hoping beyond all hope that maybe Professor Flitwick would have some answers that Albus didn’t.
By some miracle, the Professor wasn’t teaching like Albus thought he might be. Instead, he was sat at his desk quietly marking students essays. He didn’t look up until Albus had almost reached the desk, jumping slightly.
“I did knock,” Albus responded, sending him an apologetic smile.
“I have no doubt, how can I help, Albus?”
Albus put his bag down and pulled himself up onto one of the desks. “I was wondering if I could ask you something quite… strange?”
“Strange is my specialty,” he smiled, putting his quill down.
“Have you ever come across a type of magic that could maybe make everything… opposite to how it normally is?”
Albus took Professor Flitwick scrunching his nose as a bad sign.
“Like, is there a way to make people act differently to how they normally would? Maybe for like a day?” Albus expanded.
He fiddled with his glasses before answering. “There are, of course, theories and conspiracies on something like this, especially in the muggle world, theories like Groundhog Day or where people switch bodies or even opposite days, I suppose, but I can’t say I’ve ever come across anything like that myself.”
“So, would you say it’s impossible?”
“Well,” he said in that squeaky voice of his, “certainly not. Nothing is impossible, especially in a world of magic. The mind and the universe have very little limitations. Is there a reason for this peculiar questioning?”
Albus shrugged and hopped off the desk. “Not at all, just feeding my curious mind.”
“You’d have done well in Ravenclaw, Mr. Potter,” Flitwick said before Albus exited the classroom, confused as to that last statement. Professor Flitwick had never suggested anything of the sort before now. Today really was the strangest day of Albus’ life.
Albus decided - mainly for his own sanity - not to join Scorpius and Rose down at the lake. Instead, he spent the rest of his free period in the library, browsing through books to try and find some kind of explanation as to why his friends and family were acting like the world had turned upside down. He avoided James who was sitting at the back of the library looking like he was hard at work. He didn’t know James cared so much about his studies - in fact, he was almost certain that James didn’t care so much about his studies.
Coming up blank on any sort of theory, Albus left the library in a huff when lunch approached. Rose decided to join Albus and Scorpius and Albus sat listening to them talk on and on about some prank that Rose - yes, Rose - was thinking about pulling. The entire period of lunch Scorpius’ hands never left Albus, whether they were on his thigh, his shoulder, in his hair or one time even laced with his own hand. He kept making suggestive comments and winking at him, but the Scorpius he knew didn’t - or probably couldn’t - wink.
And Rose barely batted an eyelid at how flirty Scorpius was being with Albus, in fact she seemed almost far too used to it. Like it was… normal. Albus wasn’t sure if his heart would handle much more of it.
But as much as this Scorpius was making his heart pound and his breath cut short, Albus missed the Scorpius he knew. This Scorpius didn’t play with the ends of his cardigan or chew his lip when he got anxious, this Scorpius didn’t flush when Albus complimented him, this Scorpius didn’t get so excited about homework that he wouldn’t be able to sit still. All the things Albus loved about Scorpius wasn’t this Scorpius at all and even though he was sitting right next to him, Albus missed his best friend.
By the time the final lesson of the day - potions - had rolled around, Albus was exhausted. His usual Friday nights were spent playing chess or exploding snap with Scorpius, but Albus doubted that would be how this particular night went. But before he tackled the evening, he had to get through potions.
Albus was fairly good at potions. He liked it, it calmed him. There was something about having to focus so hard on one particular task, whether it be cutting up an ingredient correctly or stirring it the correct amount of times, that seemed to calm his mind. There was no room for other thoughts to cloud his mind whilst brewing a potion, not even when Scorpius Malfoy was standing far too close and touching his hand whenever they reached for the same ingredient.
Scorpius mostly sat back and let Albus work (another thing that seemed wrong, they usually worked in perfect sync), but in a way Albus didn’t mind getting to showcase his talent. He had just finished adding the final ingredient when Scorpius stepped up to admire his handy work.
“Since when did you get so good at potions?” he asked, a small proud smile on his face. Albus’ heart sank a little. He’d always been good at it, it was the one subject he was good at. The Scorpius he knew always recognised that in him. “This looks great,” he complimented, lightening his spirits a little. “Maybe you could teach me a thing or two.”
“Better me than Polly Chapman, right?” Albus said with a strange bout of confidence. Maybe this Scorpius was rubbing off on him.
Scorpius smiled widely. “Have I ever told you I was enchanted to meet you, Albus Potter?”
Then Scorpius leaned down and kissed him on the cheek .
Albus thought his legs would give way, his cheeks would explode and his heart was just going to stop.
Albus smiled shyly and looked up at Scorpius. He was going to say something nice, something about his feelings, something that would maybe push them that one step closer to more than friends. Instead, all that came out of Albus’ mouth was, “you’re such a dork.”
As mad at himself as he wanted to be, Scorpius’ laugh filled his heart with joy.
“I don’t think anyone’s ever called me a dork before,” Scorpius said and Albus came crashing back to reality and remembered that this Scorpius - or whatever the hell was actually going on - was so different to the Scorpius he knew.
When potions ended and classes finished for the day, Albus thought maybe he’d finally be able to breathe. Just dinner left and then he could retreat to bed and pretend that nothing weird is going on at all. Sadly, he had to endure dinner at the Gryffindor table as James waved him over. Scorpius happily pulled him along, saying hello to Polly, Yann and Karl as he passed them, who all responded just as enthusiastically. Albus, just because he felt like he had to, greeted them also.
“James, how was Wizards Chess club?” Scorpius asked as they sat down, already piling food onto his plate. Albus desperately wished they served coffee now and not just with desert, he could really do with one. Albus didn’t even know James went to Wizards Chess club. Was that what he was doing instead of Quidditch at lunch?
“Great, I finally beat Nelly,” he said proudly. Nelly was one of James’ best friends - or so, Albus thought they were friends. He was rather surprised when she sat next to him and planted a firm kiss on his lips.
Albus gaped. “Wait… you two?” he asked, pointing between them rapidly, face scrunched into confusion. He could have sworn James was single right now, not long breaking up with his last boyfriend. James was a bit of a hopeless romantic, he falls in love far too easily and Albus has been trying to tell him to protect his heart, but so far he’s failed to listen to him. He’s an innocent.
James pulled his own face of confusion that mirrored Albus’. “We’ve been dating for eight months now,” he said. “Keep up, Al,” he laughed, fondly knocking his leg with his foot under the table. This emitted a giggle from Scorpius as well, who wrapped an arm around Albus’ shoulder and pulled him close.
Albus’ head was beginning to hurt, the day finally taking its toll. He ate his food as quickly as possible, not bothering to engage in any more conversation. He could barely stand hearing James talk about N.E.W.Ts rather than Quidditch like usual. He’d do anything to hear James talk about Quidditch.
Once he’d finished, Albus quickly excused himself with the excuse of a bad headache and almost sprinted out of the Great Hall. It was a relief when he could collapse on his own bed, finally having something familiar surrounding him. He took a deep breath, his mind whirring, desperate to find some kind of answer or solution to whatever the hell is going on.
Nothing made even a little bit of sense. The only solution Albus could come up with is that Lily, James, Scorpius, Rose and apparently a few others had decided to pull a gigantic practical joke on him. Albus wouldn’t put this past his siblings, but that was possibly even more out of character for Scorpius than how he’d been acting all day.
Albus turned over, pulling the duvet up to his chin and wished for a blissful sleep, hoping and praying that when he woke up, it’ll all be a terrible dream.
He had no such luck.
He must have only closed his eyes for the better half of an hour when Scorpius came back from dinner. Albus woke when he opened the door, but Scorpius still creeped over to his bed.
“Sorry, I tried to be quiet in case you were sleeping,” he whispered, sitting on the end of his bed. Scorpius reached over and ran a hand through Albus’ hair. “Are you feeling better?”
Albus nodded slightly as he sat up, feeling his cheeks heat up under Scorpius’ touch. “Much, thank you.”
“Great, so you’re still coming tonight?” Scorpius jumped up, going over to the chest of drawers by his bed and pulling out a comb.
"Tonight? Where are we going?" Albus asked, that familiar pit of anxiety growing in his stomach.
"The party," Scorpius replied. "At Hufflepuff."
Albus chewed on his bottom lip. "Can't we just… stay here instead?"
Scorpius stopped combing his hair to look at him, eyes wide with confusion. "But we always go."
"I thought tonight could be different? Please? I'm not really feeling a party."
Scorpius instantly softened and nodded his head, kicking his shoes off and grabbing the nearest hoodie to pull on. He came over to Albus' bed and sat cross legged opposite him.
"Anything for you, Al."
Albus let out a sigh of relief, smiling at the boy in front of him who owned his entire heart. Scorpius smiled back at him and ran his fingers through his hair.
“So, what’d you want to do?” Scorpius asked.
“Wizards Chess?” Albus asked hopefully, sending him a forced grin.
“Okay, I’m not very good though so go easy on me,” he said and Albus nodded, reaching under his bed for the Chess set. Scorpius pulled the curtains around the bed so they were isolated from the rest of the dorm and lit his wand for some light.
They only played a couple of games - Albus winning both - before Scorpius asked if they could do something else. That something else resulted in them lying shoulder to shoulder and Scorpius listening to Albus read a book, his head resting on his chest, until they both fell peacefully into sleep.
#
Albus woke with a start when he felt Scorpius next to him sit up rapidly, letting out a small gasp of surprise. It was still dark outside, the night creeping into the very early hours of the morning.
“Are you okay?” Albus asked as he turned around to face him.
Scorpius nodded, his hand over his chest. “You just startled me,” he mumbled. “Did I fall asleep here?”
Albus rubbed his eyes as he sat up, placing a hand on Scorpius’ shoulder. “Yes, you did. You don’t remember?”
Scorpius shook his head slightly, looking around the small space in confusion. He eventually looked at Albus, his eyes softening as he saw him. He lay back down, which was a small relief to Albus. They’d shared a bed before, plenty of times. It helps to keep the nightmares at bay.
“I could have sworn I went to sleep in my own bed,” was all he said whilst shrugging slightly. “Do you mind if I stay, though?”
Albus lay back down, realising that this was his Scorpius. This was the Scorpius who got nervous and came to Albus for comfort, who didn’t know how to flirt and loved History of Magic, or at least, that’s what Albus hoped. There was a look in his eye that the other Scorpius never had, a look that belonged to his Scorpius and his Scorpius only.
“Of course not,” Albus mumbled. “Are you tired?”
“Not so much,” he replied, turning onto his side to face Albus.
“Tell me about your day,” Albus said as he turned to mirror him. If Scorpius was surprised by the question, he didn’t show it.
“Well, we had History of Magic first, you know that. But Ancient Runes was really interesting. Rose and I were partnered up and had to translate an old play and it was quite fun really,” he said, his eyes lighting up.
Albus furrowed his brow. “See for me, today, you didn’t go to Ancient Runes.”
Maybe it was crazy to tell Scorpius that his day had been particularly wild, but there was something else he was building up to. He was always so nervous to tell Scorpius how he felt, always too scared he wouldn’t reciprocate his feelings, but yesterday proved that he did. Or at least, Albus hoped. But right now, Albus was going to take a leaf out of that Scorpius’ book and be the confident one for once.
So, Albus told him all that happened, how he had never been so confused in his entire life. How he went to Professor Flitwick for help and how James and Rose didn’t like Quidditch. And most importantly, how Scorpius was flirting with him pretty much all day and didn’t like History of Magic. By the end, Scorpius had a small smile on his face and actually looked like he believed him.
"So, I was flirting with you?" was the first thing he asked, very shyly, when Albus had finished up his story.
"Quite a lot," Albus responded.
Scorpius scrunched his nose and let out an adorable giggle. “But, I don't even know how to flirt."
"Believe me," Albus said, a little exasperated, "you had more than enough experience in that department."
Scorpius let out a snort before erupting into a full-blown laugh, leaning on Albus’ chest to muffle the giggles. Albus couldn’t help the smile on his face, he finally had his Scorpius back. He didn’t know what strange otherworldly events happened to make Scorpius act weird (and not remember any of it!) but he didn’t care as long as he had him back.
“Scorpius?” Albus asked, hearing the nerves in his voice. Scorpius pulled back and looked at him, eyes wide and earnest, ready to listen to him no matter what. “I… I really like you.”
His mouth parted slightly before he bit down on his bottom lip. “Me too,” was all he could reply. “And I would quite like to… I mean, if you want to that is - maybe, hopefully, k- kiss you.”
“I want that too,” Albus responded, feeling a little more confident now that Scorpius had admitted it as well as him. Scorpius liked him, really liked him. For months, Albus had been convinced he had fallen for a boy who was destined to never like him back, yet here he was, telling Albus he wanted to kiss him. “I’ve wanted to for a while.”
“Me too,” he mumbled. Scorpius took a deep breath and leaned slightly closer. The space was still lit up from Scorpius’ wand, and under the bright light, Albus could see pink creeping across his cheeks. He stopped moving closer and bit down on his lip again. “I’m maybe - I don’t mind admitting - a little bit nervous.”
“I - me too,” Albus said. “Do you still want to?”
Scorpius nodded. Albus decided to be brave. He reached up and placed his hand on Scorpius’ cheek. Slowly, Albus leaned in closer and closer, his heart pounding as he did so but far too determined to chicken out.
When their lips finally connected, Albus felt his stomach explode with butterflies, feeling every single beat of their wings fluttering inside of him. Scorpius’ lips were soft and gentle and perfect, just like him. Albus felt on top of the world as Scorpius’ hands found their way onto Albus’ waist, holding him the way he always craved to be held by Scorpius.
It may have been the most confusing day of his life, it may not have been his best day ever, but Albus could accept the opposite day for what it was because it brought Scorpius to him in the best possible way. Maybe it was the universe's way of telling Albus to make a move, maybe it was a really long dream, or maybe he'll never know what caused the strange event. But he found himself not really caring all that much. He had his Scorpius back, the boy he loved so fondly. The kind, nervous boy who he loved so dearly. The boy whose arms were around him and holding him close, the boy who kissed him for the first time even though he was nervous, the boy who loved him back.