Chapter Text
***
"Don't make this weird." Rose tapped Albus on the shoulder and made him jump slightly, his body recoiling at her touch. Her tone was light, which made him feel even more un-nervy because Rose Granger-Weasley was never nice to Albus unless something had gone horrifically wrong, or her parents had been asked by his for her to befriend them.
Scorpius also jumped back, his heart pounding too. He held onto Albus’ robe, his grip loose as he ran his fingers up and down the fabric.
Interaction with other students, it wasn't their specialty and they both knew it. In fact, they’d both come to accept it. Rose scrunched her face up in confusion and held her hands up to admit defeat - even if she never was on the offence.
"Hello Rose." Scorpius steadied himself and bounced forwards, his energy almost knocking Albus over. He looked at Scorpius sheepishly, unsure of what his cousin could be wanting to say. “You look nice!”
Rose ignored the comment, not wanting a repeat of the bread fiasco, and stared at the Malfoy boy before turning to Albus.
"Okay." She forced a smile onto her face, one that looked pained and unplanned. The smile she received back from the Malfoy boy was pleasant and full, his eyes sparkling as if she hadn’t just ignored what he said. Albus did not smile at all. "Albus, my mum has asked me to let you know that you are spending the Summer at our holiday home in North Berwick."
Albus froze, his heart dropping. So, his week off from school and from people wasn't going to be a week off at all. He was going to have to engage with his cousins and his aunt and his uncle.
"Uncle George and our grandparents will be there too." She continued, which just made Albus' heart sink even more. He could feel Scorpius holding back the laughter and he wanted to turn to him and tell him to stop laughing but he decided against it. He shot him a warning glance, his hair falling in front of his eyes as he darted his face twowards him. Scorpius bit his lip, forcing his hand up to his mouth to hold back the laughter. "Don't make this weird now - but I said that you wouldn't be happy coming to stay with your whole family and your dad agreed." She said. "So - um - and your dad says you can invite Scorpius to come and keep you company so long as his dad is okay with it." She looked at Scorpius with a straight expression. "I'm not sure where you'll be sleeping but-"
Albus felt his shoulders relax at hearing those words. Scorpius would be there too. So, everything would be okay.
"Thank you, Rose!" Scorpius leapt forward and pulled her into a hug, which made the Gryffindor stiffen. She pulled out of the hug, and Albus tugged him back beside him.
"You made it weird-"
"We're not going to have to spend a week apart!" Scorpius cut in, still bouncing with adrenaline as he wrapped Albus up into a hug. Unlike Rose, Albus reciprocated it, despite his wide-eyed startled expression. "So, now, you can stop worrying." Scorpius pulled away, pressing his finger into Albus' nose.
"You two really are inseparable, aren't you?"
"Did my dad say why he was allowing Scorpius to stay with me?" Albus propositioned. Rose stared at him with a blank expression.
"He didn't."
"Don't lie to me, Rose. You said not to make it weird, so I'm not. But it is weird."
"Fine." Rose sighed, never being able to hold back the truth. She was much like her mother that way, Ginny had always told Albus. Rose, like Hermione, wore her heart on her sleeve. It was the one thing that Albus enjoyed about having her at the school with him - he wouldn't have to tell his parents anything because Rose would tell her parents and they would tell his. "He's worried about you still."
"Of course he is." Albus pouted, folding his arms across himself and digging them into his robes. Scorpius watched as Rose let out a hefty sigh, her eyes rolling.
"Don't be like that, Albus." She said. "You've both had a difficult year and he's trying to-"
"He's still trying to control me, I get it."
"He thought it was a nice thing to let you invite Scorpius."
"It was - er - it was very nice." Scorpius interjected, his finger pointing to the air. He turned to the other Slytherin boy with wide eyes. "Albus - tell Rose it was a nice thing." He said, through gritted teeth.
"I don't understand how letting you invite your-" She looked between the two of them, noticing the unspoken tension between them, "-friend up for Summer is your dad trying to control you."
Albus didn't either, but he did know that his dad was probably up to something. He usually was.
"Your dad and my parents spent Summers together all the time, maybe he just thought you'd want Scorpius there." Rose offered, as an explanation. "James has Fred there to keep him company, and I have Lily, so he just thought you'd want Scorpius. You are always together, aren’t you? I’ve never seen you spend more than a minute apart."
"Yes." Albus said, finally. "And of course I want Scorpius - of course I want you there." He turned to his best friend and placed his hand on his shoulder, trying not to give away the game to his cousin. "I'm just confused about why-"
"Does it matter?" Rose asked. "You won't be alone with our family. That's what you always complain about, isn't it? You don't like spending time with the family, or time away from your friend, so your dad fixed it. What’s the problem?"
"Playing the hero, once again."
"Albus! You did tell your dad that-" Albus shoved his hand into Scorpius’ face. There was no way Rose was going to hear that he had come out to his dad, or that he had told him that Scorpius meant more to him than anything in the world. Absolutely not.
"Thank you, Rose." The brunette said.
"You'll have to ask your dad yourself because our parents are already away but tell him that Uncle Harry says it's okay." Rose said, giving Scorpius as simple instructions as she could manage. He nodded, still smiling wide. "My mum will be meeting us off of the Hogwarts Express when we get to London and we will travel by Floo Powder from there."
"Okay." Scorpius nodded. "Oh, this is going to be such fun!" He clapped his hands together, which made Albus smile slightly. Rose furrowed her eyebrows; Draco hadn’t even said yes to him yet.
"Bye then." She waltzed away. "And Albus - try not to be so bloody miserable, okay?"
Scorpius gave a little giggle at the comment, which made him receive a jab from Albus in his ribcage. He pulled a face, sticking his tongue out at him and grinning.
"You are a little miser-" He tried to tease, before being knocked back into the wall by Albus.
"Oh, shut up. You love my angst." He put his hand up to Scorpius' mouth and laughed, pulling his waist closer to him. "Besides, I don't think I could ever be miserable when you're with me."
"That's nice." Scorpius pushed his hand away, his smile widening. “If a little cheesy.” He pressed his finger into Albus’ nose and flushed a light pink tone that made Albus’ heart flutter.
"Come on, we best go and pack before we miss the train." He grinned. "And you need to ask your dad if you can come with us.”
***
"You don't think the Trolley Lady will moan at us, do you?" Scorpius held onto Albus' hand tight, looking around the busy platform to see if she was anywhere to be seen. This was their first time travelling on the Hogwarts Express since jumping off of it and angering her, and he was genuinely quite terrified of her.
"She isn't Myrtle." Albus jested, pulling Scorpius behind him. Scorpius didn't understand the joke initially, until he went back to what he said and tried to decipher what he could be referring to.
"Oh, right, yeah." He sniggered, after a minute break in the conversation. "But really - you don't think she holds a grudge, do you?" He stopped walking, which made Albus stop too.
"You're genuinely quite afraid of her, aren't you?"
"I haven't been able to look at a Chocolate Frog the same since. And I used to really like them."
"I'll protect you from her Fudge Flies or Exploding Bon Bons if she attempts to attack you." Albus laughed, which made Scorpius smile sheepishly. Albus gave his hand a little squeeze. "You ready?"
"Ready." Scorpius gave him a little smirk, before being pulled forwards by Albus again.
Draco had agreed to let Scorpius stay with Albus on the condition that he send him an owl every day to say he was doing okay. Albus had told Scorpius that owls struggled to get to North Berwick because of the high winds in the area, but the Malfoy had shrugged it off and agreed with the term anyway because he wanted to be there for his boyfriend. Scorpius was supposed to be spending the Summer with his grandparents, and Draco knew he would much rather spend it with Albus.
"Albus, there you are!" His brother's voice made his skin prickle. Scorpius dropped Albus' hand immediately at the greeting, but Albus picked his back up. He wasn't ashamed of their relationship, and he didn't want to force Scorpius to hide it from his family either. Scorpius began to fidget under their laced fingers, his nails digging into Albus' skin. "We were starting to think you'd planned an elaborate escape off of the Hogwarts Express again to get out of this trip-"
"Not funny, James." Lily reprimanded her brother, pulling Albus - and Scorpius by accidental extension - into a tight hug. "Hi!" She beamed.
James turned back to Fred and squeezed up to him, making room for Albus and Scorpius to sit down beside him. The Potter family very rarely shared a carriage on the train, so they were all finding it equally weird. Lily sat down beside Rose, pulling out her wand and helping to place Scorpius and Albus' cases up onto the shelf with a quick 'Wingardium Leviosa' charm.
"Wow, your magic is coming on amazingly." Rose clapped, which Albus thought would come across as patronising. But his little sister grinned widely, her eyes sparkling at the compliment.
"Thank you." Scorpius said, awkwardly. Rose stared at him with furrowed eyebrows, she wasn't meaning him. "Um - thank you, Lily, I mean.” He clarified, his voice quivering. “For putting our cases away – I mean. It was very kind of you to – to put them away-" Albus gently pulled Scorpius down into his seat, telling him - without saying anything - that he was saying too much.
"Don't be so nervous, Malfoy." Fred Weasley said, making Albus' head turn. Scorpius was paler than usual, his grey eyes averted to the floor as he curled his toes up in his shoes. Albus wrapped his arm around his waist, discreetly, and gave his hip a light stroke with his fingers.
"That's really quite an unhelpful thing to say to someone when they're nervous." Rose stated. She looked up to Scorpius, who was avoiding her eye contact.
"Do you think it'll be warm in North Berwick?" James changed the subject, feeling the burning tension flaming from his little brother.
"No." Rose replied, simply. "It is never warm in North Berwick."
Albus shuffled a little closer to Scorpius, pressing his body against him so that Scorpius was pressed against the wall of the carriage. It was a discreet hug, but he knew Scorpius appreciated it because he felt the tension collapse from his posture. The journey was uneventful from there on in, until the Trolley Lady came round and gave both Albus and Scorpius a glare that was - Scorpius swore - deadly. If Albus and Scorpius had sat in their usual compartment alone, he would certainly have been murdered at the hands of the Trolley Witch. He shuddered at the thought.
"You'll have to tell us all about your exploits on the roof of this thing." James had said, laughing, after she had left, breaking Scorpius from his trance. Albus rolled his eyes in response, and Lily had told James to stop being so irritating. “Only, you’re the only two people that have ever managed it. I remember dad telling me that James and Sirius attempted it but didn’t manage the mischief. And Uncle George told Fred about the time they tried to get off of it but – but you actually managed it.” It was said with excitement, and Rose knew he didn’t mean to bring any of the mess up but she still sighed.
"Dad said not to bring it up-" Lily’s eyes widened, stopping herself from saying more as Rose gave her a nudge, hard, in the arm. Albus' face dropped at hearing that, his temper boiling.
"Ha - isn't that a funny cloud?" The other Gryffindor girl had gulped, her eyes darting around the carriage for the others to join in.
"What did dad say exactly, Lily?"
"Oh - Albus - it doesn't matter." She said, twiddling her curls in her hand, which was shaking slightly. Scorpius could feel the anger threatening to bubble over in the other Slytherin.
"Tell me." He demanded, quietly.
"He just said we weren't to bring up anything relating to your little adventure, is all." Rose answered. "It wasn't anything serious. It doesn't matter."
James and Fred gave each other a sly grin, but James decided against making a middle name joke in this moment.
"It matters to me." Albus spat. "This is all so ridiculous."
"Albus-" Scorpius' voice was mousy as he tried to keep Albus sat down.
"Is he ever going to let any of it go?"
"You did kind of make him watch his mum and dad be murdered. I think it's a bit hard to just - let go." James gritted his teeth, awkwardly. There was no malice there, but the words did make Albus tense up. "That would upset anyone."
Rose and Lily dropped their gaze from the two brothers. Nobody dared say anything more.
Albus stood up, pulling his hand out of Scorpius', and storming out of the carriage. Scorpius watched him go through doe eyes, his heart racing. Did he want him to follow? He didn’t say anything and he wasn’t good at non-verbal cues, but he felt he should be following him. The Malfoy boy hated confrontation at the best of times, but he hated it especially when it led to Albus walking out or getting upset. And he hated this one particularly because he was now left alone to pick up the pieces.
He shuffled a little, frozen where he was sat as all of Albus' family laid their gaze on him.
"Shouldn't you go after him?" Rose said, her tone cold.
"Right - um." Scorpius nodded, scuffling over his feet and falling into the door.
"Scorpius - I meant James."
"Oh." He blinked, his mind racing and spinning. He gripped hold of his sleeve, tugging at the fabric to try and calm himself down. But everything was hurting now - the sun that was beaming into the carriage was burning his eyes and the motion of the train was making him feel queasy. He needed to be the one to go after Albus, he knew that. He stammered back into his seat, trying to think of an excuse to go after him, before James said:
"I'll just say the wrong thing again."
"Then I'll go." Rose stood up, shaking her head. James was supposed to be the oldest. Scorpius stood up too, standing in front of the door to block her exit. He blinked quickly, biting his lip and rocking on his feet. "Can I get passed, please?"
"Um - I think I should - I should go." He retorted, stammering a little. So much for Scorpius the Unanxious. He knew it was what Albus would want; he knew Albus needed him in moments like this but he found himself worrying about the glares of Albus’ family, their eyes boring into him as he stood up. "Yeah, I should go." He said, surer this time. "He's my best friend so - so I should go."
"None of us are judging you for what you did." James said, trying to be helpful. "I hope you know that."
"Right." Scorpius avoided his gaze and exited the carriage, fumbling over his own feet as he shut the door.
"Nice going, James." Lily spat, lightly.
"I didn't mean to-"
"You never do."
"Hey, it was your fault too." James pointed at her.
"Blame won't help now, will it? None of us were thinking. We need to be more careful with him this holiday." Rose bit the bullet and cursed her cousins. "Let's just hope Scorpius can say the right thing to him so he knows you're sorry."
"Is Scorpius capable of saying anything at all?" Fred asked, trying to make a joke. "What?" He said when they all glared at him. "He can barely string a sentence together."
"Scorpius Malfoy can talk for the Ministry." Rose stated, as a matter of fact. "Especially when he's with Albus."
***