Archive of Our Own ^beta

"You know, you two have your own flat where you can do that," James said, his voice muffled behind his hand. This was the second time he had walked in on Teddy and Victoire in the last two days. "This is meant to be a family camping trip."

"We were kissing! It wasn't even that involved," Victoire protested. There was a rustle of clothing and James felt comfortable in taking his hand away from his face.

"Anything more than a peck on the cheek is too involved. I prefer not thinking about the two of you doing anything else." He gestured wildly to the two of them and they both rolled their eyes at him. Simultaneously. It was a little freaky. Did all bonded couples do that?

"James, why did you come in?" Teddy seemed more amused than displeased now, his scent was calm and relaxed as he leaned against the bed. When he was younger, James had had such a crush on Teddy and even now, when he thought of him more as an older brother, it was still easy to see what Victoire saw in him.

"Louis and Fred are trying to kill each other about who gets to cook lunch and Molly looks like she's about to beat them to death with her book. Since you're the better cook, I figured it would be best for you to do it." He smiled sunnily at Teddy, who narrowed his eyes at James before huffing.

"Guess I have no choice, I don't want to be down two cousins." He stood up and stretched before heading out of the tent.

"I don't know why Molly even comes along all the time since all she does is read," James remarked absently to Victoire as she straightened up the bedspread, the neat freak that she was. Molly had been reading the same book since the group had set up camp for the annual Potter-Weasley-Lupin-Delacour-and-whoever-else camping trip. Anyone over the age of fourteen could come if they wanted - although Lorcan and Lysander were on their own trip with their parents - but none of the parents could come as decreed years ago by fourteen year old Dominique when she was faced with the prospect of her grown-up camping trip being ruined by her mother.

James tried not to think about what his parents were up to. He knew they always scheduled Lily's overnight stays with friends during the camping trip, partly to stop Lily from sulking but partly to get some alone time for themselves. He could just about handle Teddy and Victoire; his brain would break if he had to consider his parents as well.

Victoire sent him a look. "Molly likes to spend time with us. She just sometimes feels awkward because she's quieter and less outdoorsy than the rest of us. When she was younger, I know she used to feel left out all the time and coming on these camping trips made her feel like she belonged."

"She's Molly. Of course she belongs," James replied. His cousin was confusing and weird at times but she was still his cousin. She was probably trying to take advantage of the quiet of this camping trip before all the younger ones joined them next year. His mind sparked ideas about what Lily would get up to next year and he shuddered before following Victoire out of the tent.

It was eerily quiet when he stepped out; everyone was still and staring at Teddy and Victoire as they stared out into the forest, wands raised. James froze and slowly pulled his wand out as well. He didn't aim it at anything but kept it up. It was comforting, if nothing else. Teddy and Victoire were tense and their and Louis' scents were showcasing their agitation, Louis' noticeably fluctuating more.

"What happened?" He asked Molly, who also had her wand out but with a terrified look on her face.

"Someone Apparated over there and they didn't answer when Teddy called out. The animals have all gone silent," Molly breathed. Her hand was shaking slightly and James moved a little closer. It was probably nothing to worry about but years of paranoia from his parents and at least one attempt on his life as the Boy-Who-Lived's son stopped James from putting his wand away. Teddy and Victoire were obviously of the same mind.

"Okay," Teddy said quietly but in the quiet of the camp James was easily able to hear it. "Vee and I are going to check it out. Dominique, I want you to check the protection wards with Molly. James, you're in charge of the camp until we get back. Anyone gets into trouble, send up red sparks." James nodded, hardly daring to believe it. He caught sight of Al's doubtful look but he felt buoyed by Teddy's trust in him. He watched the rest of them go and tried not to let his eagerness show. It helped when he looked back at his younger brother and his younger cousins; the responsibility started to overtake the want to prove himself.

"It's going to be fine, okay?" James projected calm just like his mum taught him, especially for Louis. Omega noses were always better than beta noses, especially in picking up alpha moods. "We'll wait here for everyone to come back. They won't be long." There were a few nods and Fred started to talk about working in the joke shop with his dad. His voice was just a little too loud to be normal but he was trying and James was grateful. The others turned to listen to him, even if they didn't quite believe it either, although Al kept sending him looks.

James tried to listen to Fred but his attention kept wandering and he kept looking around as subtly as he could, thinking he was seeing movement out of the corner of his eye. The forest was silent and it put James on edge. He could see Louis fidgeting, obviously picking up on James' unrest but he couldn't make himself calm down.

"Why don't we go inside the tent," Albus said suddenly. James looked up to see Al looking at him with one raised eyebrow, an expression he had perfected when he was nine years old. He felt like he was a stupid eleven year old under that look and nodded in agreement. Al was always the smarter of the two of them, he had long accepted that. There was a moment where no one moved and then Rose stood up, closely followed by Louis and Fred. Al hung back and some instinct had James doing the same.

"You need to calm down," Al whispered as soon as everyone was inside the tent. "I can't tell what scents you're putting off but it's freaking Louis out and that's putting everyone on edge."

James shook his head. "It was a good idea to go into the tent, I was just feeling very exposed in the open." He paused and then opened his mouth. He wasn't quite sure what he was going to say but it didn't matter anyway, they were interrupted by a loud crack off to the left - the opposite direction to which Teddy and Victoire had gone. It was the sound of a wizard Apparating; James would recognise that sound anywhere after spending a summer job in the Apparation Stations at the Ministry.

His wand was out again, he couldn't remember why he had put it away in the first place. "Stay here," he said to Al.

"Wait, James- " Al protested and he looked scared for the first time since everything had started.

"Al," James said, reaching deep inside him to find the commanding alpha voice that he had only heard his mum use once before. Al halted in his tracks. "I will be fine. I need you and the others to be on your guard and let Teddy know if he comes back before me." Truthfully, he didn't know whether he was doing the right thing. It could be the same wizard Disapparating, or it could be reinforcements. The main worry was that the camp was in between the possible reinforcements and Teddy and Victoire. James couldn’t sit here and wait for the wizards to stumble across the camp or running into a surprised Dominique and Molly. "I won't be long." The sky was darkening fast and there was a fine line between bravery and stupidity.

"Okay." Al nodded, resolute. He may be a Ravenclaw but James was prepared to say that he had the heart of a Gryffindor any day. "I'll keep the others calm."

"Thanks, Al." He grinned at his brother before turning around and heading into the forest. As soon as there was a line of trees between James and the camp, he felt so much more isolated. He stepped forward, looking around cautiously, gripping his wand tightly. All the advice in the world didn't prepare him for the actual situation.

He had only gotten a few steps into the forest when he caught the smell of something wonderful- something that drew him off his path for a few steps before he caught himself. If his mum knew that he had given into instincts like that, there would be hell to pay.

"I am more than just my hormones," James muttered quietly to himself. The smell was so good, like home and comfort and warmth all in one. He brought his wand up an inch more and started to walk as slowly as he could toward the smell. As he got closer, underneath the enticing scent, he caught the undertones of an omega in distress; designed to bring out the caretaking instincts of every alpha around. Whether they listened to the instincts was another matter.

James walked around a cluster of gorse bushes and then halted in surprise at the pale, naked body on the forest floor. He pulled his gaze away for just a moment to scan the rest of the forest around but then the body shifted and a wave of scent flooded the air and made him dizzy. He had never been tested like this but he was proud of himself when he noticed that his wand was still up. Maybe Uncle Ron's impersonation of Mad-Eye Moody had left an impression after all.

"Hey," he said quietly. The omega jerked in surprise and then let out a moan of pain, his whole body shaking. If this was a wounded omega trap, then it was a really good one. James took a step closer and bent down but didn't touch the omega. His head was already crowded enough. The omega shivered. "My name is James. Can you tell me where you're hurt?" James asked, not quite sure of what to do in this situation. His Dad had covered a lot of scenarios, a few of which James had lived in real life, but finding an injured omega in the forest while on the family camping trip wasn't one of them.

The omega turned onto his side and James saw his face for the first time, covered as it was by strands of white-blond hair. He froze in shock for a moment, not expecting this particular omega all the way out here. There was a resigned look on his face and a hint of fear in his scent. It was not a nice smell and James wrinkled his nose.

"Come on, Scorpius, we need to get you out of this cold. Where are you hurt?" Knowing the omega made it both easier and harder. With only a moment of hesitation, James unbuttoned his cloak and swung it off. They had worn Muggle clothes on this camping trip but nothing beat a cloak for warmth. The wind bit through him without the cloak and he had renewed sympathy for Scorpius who must be freezing.

"Potter, what are you doing here?" Scorpius sounded exhausted and defeated. James tried to focus on that rather than the weird lurch in his stomach when Scorpius called him by his last name.

"Family camping trip. Where we have food, clothes and a warm place to sleep." Scorpius' scent was making him itchy. He really wanted to just pick Scorpius up and take him back to camp but he had a feeling that would make Scorpius feel worse than he already did.

James waved his cloak in Scorpius' direction and Scorpius reached for it before a strange look crossed his face and he halted his hand in mid-air. It was really weird, but then again, James was used to Lily being much weirder. He lay the cloak on top of Scorpius, careful not to touch his skin. Probably the last thing a distressed omega wanted was some alpha pawing at them. It soothed something inside him to see Scorpius in his cloak though and he didn't mind when Scorpius ignored the offered hand to get up on his own.

A thought came to him and he almost smacked himself. He lifted his wand again and Scorpius stiffened. "Hey, I'm just going to cast a warming charm, okay?" He waited until Scorpius nodded before doing so and after a moment's thought, a small shielding spell on his feet. After he had finished, Scorpius was noticeably more relaxed. James grinned. "You're welcome."

That had probably been the wrong thing to say judging by the withering glare Scorpius sent his way. His grin died and he silently started to lead the way back to camp.

When they got back to camp, James could see that the rest of them had returned. Uh oh.

"James!" Teddy was normally calm and relaxed so to hear him sounding so angry was really odd. It didn't mean that James hadn't heard it before.

"Sorry I took so long," he called. Scorpius had halted at the sight of so many people and James could see his grip tighten on the cloak he was holding closed. "Come on, let's get you inside the tent." Scorpius nodded, although he seemed reluctant, and took a tiny step closer to James before following him. James tried not to look as pleased as he felt; it would very hard to convince Teddy he was sorry if he was beaming.

"Scorpius?" Al asked, sounding gobsmacked and Scorpius gave him a weak smile but said nothing.

"What are you doing here?" Rose sounded just as surprised as Al did, but far more suspicious.

"Come on, guys, lay off. Let him get warm first," James said loudly in order to save Scorpius from answering. He opened the tent flap and stepped to one side so Scorpius could climb in.

"He's right," James could hear Teddy say to the others. His voice sounded weird but James didn't think too hard on it, just glad that Teddy was on his side in this. "Everyone inside the tent. Vee, can you come with me and just check the protection spells?"

"You don't think we did a good job?" Domi sounded mad and James was glad to let the tent flap fall closed, muffling the sound of Teddy reassuring her that wasn't what he meant at all. Scorpius was standing in the middle of the tent, looking around, and James could only describe him as lost.

"Hey, Scorpius, do you want me to get you some clothes?" James asked. He heard the tent flap open and shut behind him but found it hard to tear his eyes away as Scorpius turned to look back at him. His pale hair and skin seemed to glow inside the tent and the sight left James speechless.

Scorpius looked behind James at whoever had come into the tent and shook his head. His grip tightened on the edge of James' cloak, his knuckles white.

"You can't stay in a cloak the whole night," Al said from behind James, his voice quiet. Scorpius looked defiant but said nothing, which only made James want to speak up and protest Al's idea. His instincts made no sense, Al's idea was completely logical. Al stepped forward so he was level with James and when James looked at him, his brother was giving that odd smile he had whenever he knew something that James didn't. "I'm sure James has a pair of trousers and a shirt that would fit you. They're Muggle, but you can move without worrying about flashing the whole camp." Maybe Al's ideas were much more clever than he gave him credit for.

Scorpius looked at James, his expression hesitant and James nodded his agreement. He would be more than happy to see Scorpius wearing his clothes- more than happy to see Scorpius comfortable.

"Come on, let's get you dressed." James scrambled for his clothes before handing them to Scorpius, careful not to let their skin brush even if the warmth flooding his body was making him question why he was being so careful.

"Er, James?" Al said and James jerked out of staring at Scorpius, once again, to look at Al in confusion. His brother had one eyebrow raised and it turned out that expression was even more annoying than the one earlier. "Can the omega have a little privacy, oh Alpha?" Al asked sarcastically, causing James to flush red. Merlin, he felt so clumsy in front of Scorpius, like he was a first year all over again. Yeah, he thought Scorpius was pretty but he wasn't normally this bad.

"Yeah, sorry." He hastily made his way out of the tent, thanking Merlin that he managed not to trip on the way. That would have been the cherry on top of the awkward, embarrassing cake.

Everyone looked up when he came out. "He's just changing," James said. He hoped that he looked a lot more cool and collected than he was feeling. Teddy and Victoire were back and dousing the fire with a quick wave of their wands.

Teddy raised his eyebrow at James, making it obvious where Al had learned it from, but said nothing about James' lack of attention.

"We'll all be sleeping in the same tent tonight," he said instead. There was no question about it when Teddy spoke in that tone. "It may be a crush but I would prefer if we all stayed together. It's too dark and just inviting trouble if we tried to pack up camp now, so we'll stay until the morning. James, I would like if you told us everything about finding Scorpius."

There wasn't much so it didn't take long to tell. Teddy didn't look happy at the information but said nothing more. Al stuck his head out of the tent and said it was fine for everyone to come back in.

James was the first one back in and allowed himself to give into the urge to smile dopily at Scorpius when he saw him dressed in James' clothes. Scorpius blushed, the first time James had ever seen that, and it was hard to pull his gaze away from his pink cheeks.

"Are you going to keep on staring, Potter or are you going to come in and let the others through?" His voice was soft, but had none of the sarcastic edge James was used to hearing.

"Hey, you're talking again." James stepped forward and threw himself down onto a cushion next to Scorpius. He didn't stop grinning while he did so and Scorpius didn't take his eyes off James even though the others were filing in. “How are you feeling?”

"I talked in the forest, Potter. I know you don't pay attention to anything that isn't Quidditch, but you seemed like you were listening." There was no bite in Scorpius' tone but despite his words, James thought he sounded ten times better than how he had in the forest.

"Settle down you two,” Teddy said, which did nothing to repress James’ smile. “Scorpius, is it okay if Domi heals your injuries?” James should have known that Teddy wouldn’t miss the hesitant way Scorpius was walking when he came into camp.

Scorpius didn't look happy at Teddy's words but he nodded in agreement anyway. Domi gestured to one of the bedrooms where they could get a little privacy and Victoire followed them in after a nod from Teddy. James could hear them talking in the bedroom but their voices were too muffled to hear the words properly.

“What’s that about?” James asked Teddy quietly, only to receive a silencing look.

“Vee is finding out what happened. If he wants to stay, Scorpius will be staying with her and Louis tonight. No sneaking in, alright?” James crossed his arms, feeling defensive even when he knew Teddy was doing all the right things. He got ready for bed without any more questions but was unable to sleep until late into the night.

James woke up suddenly as if Al had set off an alarm right by his ear but the tent was quiet and dark when he opened his eyes. He sat up only to notice that there was no one around him, or at least no one awake. He climbed over his sleeping cousins and stepped out of their tent bedroom into the main area. Teddy was right, it was a tight fit, but James couldn't help feel glad that everyone was close by. Whatever was happening with Scorpius, it was better if the family was all together.

"James?" Teddy's voice made him jump and he spun around to face the opening of the tent. Teddy was a dark shadow in the slowly dawning light and there was a movement beside him to show James were Victoire was, instead of in her bed. "You okay?"

"Yeah. I just... I couldn't sleep." In fact he felt jumpy and nervous, as if he had downed a cup of his mother's coffee again.

"That's to be expected," Victoire said, so quietly that James wondered if she meant for him to hear it. He wanted to ask but had a feeling that he wouldn't get an answer even if he did.

"Come on, you might as well help me with breakfast if you're awake." Teddy stood up properly from where he had been leaning against Victoire. "I'm going to wake the others soon and I think it'll go down a lot better if I have food ready."

Even with the food prepared, there was still a lot of complaints and groans about the earliness of the hour and Al was scowling and silent as he sat down at the table. Scorpius seemed quiet again but he came to help James move things from work surface to table without even being asked.

"You said this was a family camping trip?" Scorpius asked as he re-joined James in the kitchen to pick up the platter of bacon. "Do hordes of Potters and Weasleys descend on the countryside every year?"

"Don't forget the Lupins as well." James put his plate of scrambled eggs down in front of Louis, whose eyes lit up at the sight.

"It's a bonding trip," Fred spoke up. His grin was flecked with bits of egg and Rose made a sound of disgust. Scorpius froze and his face went a shade paler but he shook his head when James gave him a questioning look. It seemed to be more than Fred’s questioning sense of humour getting to him but there seemed to be no chance of him talking at the noisy breakfast table.

"That is revolting," she said. She pulled the orange juice out of Fred's reach and poured herself a large glass, spilling some over the table at the same time. Teddy vanished the spill without a word and Victoire pulled up a chair for Scorpius to sit in. He hesitated but as soon as he sat down, he was bombarded by dishes that everyone seemed to want to hand to him.

"James, you need to get everything packed up after breakfast," Teddy said to him quietly as he sat down. James nodded, still not understanding.

"Why?"

"I need to talk to Scorpius alone. He didn’t really want to talk to Victoire last night." As if he could hear his name being said, Scorpius looked up from his plate and made eye contact with James. He could smell Scorpius over the breakfast table and still managed to find his smell better even than the bacon in front of him. This wasn't normal. "And I need to do it fast."

It was probably a good thing that Teddy had given James the task of packing up the camp in the cold morning. It meant that he couldn't freak out and worry so much about whatever Teddy and Scorpius were talking about at the edge of the camp, especially not when he had a little brother to boss around.

He was still more than a little relieved when Teddy came back over with Scorpius, and gave his wand a too enthusiastic flick which had the tent jumping up and knocking Molly to the ground. "Sorry, Mols!" He called, feeling a little embarrassed even as Fred roared in laughter.

"Shut up, Fred!" Rose yelled, irritated. "Just because James is terrible at spells. You okay, Molly?" She reached out a hand to help her cousin up but Molly shook her head, her pale cheeks flaming red. It didn't seem to go quite as well for her as it had for Scorpius in James' opinion. It could be the hair.

Molly stood up by herself and, thanks to Lily, James was familiar enough with the fragile dignity and pride that she was holding up as a shield to press too hard. Rose looked confused and James set her to work on the other tent before she could say anything in her usual blunt fashion.

It didn't take long after that to finish the packing up and they all gathered around as Teddy dropped the Portkey out of the sack they had been carrying it in. "Everyone gather around, make sure you all can reach." James made sure Scorpius was beside him with his hand outstretched as well. "On three, one - two - three!" James put his finger down and there was the familiar hook behind his navel as they were transported back home.

They landed in Grimmauld Place's small garden, most of them on the floor. James heard his mother's voice before he saw her.

"I swear, this family can never have a normal camping trip." Ginny Weasley was standing at the back door, arms crossed, with her wand sticking out from one of her hands. "What happened? You're back early."

Lily poked her head from around Mum's back and James could see the instant she caught sight of Scorpius by the way her eyes widened. He supposed the pale skin and hair made him stand out amongst the dark Potters and the red-haired Weasleys but he could smell just how uncomfortable Scorpius was right now, even with his mother's comforting alpha scent wafting over them.

"Hey, Ginny, I don't suppose you know Scorpius Malfoy?" Teddy was one of the group that had kept his feet and as the eldest he had obviously taken on the role of explaining to Mum. James didn't envy him that responsibility at all. It was bad enough when he had to do it after looking after Lily and Al for the day, let alone why they had picked up a wounded omega Malfoy on their camping trip.

"I can't say we've had the pleasure of meeting," his Mum said dryly. "Come on in, let's not have this conversation on the doorstep." They all shuffled inside, grabbing what bags they could. Scorpius looked frozen for a moment and even though James couldn't see the expression on his face properly, he was sure it was close to terror. He nudged Scorpius gently when he passed him.

"Her bark is worse than her bite," he said teasingly. Scorpius didn't look any better. "Come on, Scorp."

That did it. Scorpius' eyes flew to his. "My name is Scorpius. Scorp is not an acceptable nickname."

"Sure it is. It's short for your actual name, isn't it?"

"Like James' nickname is Jamie," Al chimed in and reminded James why he had tried to lose Al in Diagon Alley when they were younger.

"No, it really isn't. I don't need a nickname." He could only thank Merlin that Lily wasn't there. She had earned her place in Slytherin and had only improved her skills in the actual House, which she practiced on Al and James.

"Sure. Jamie." Scorpius gave him a sly smile before following Domi inside.

Inside the kitchen was chaos as James' mum tried to direct everyone at the same time. Lily was sitting on the kitchen counter and swinging her legs, looking more delighted at the chaos than anything else. Scorpius looked put out again and James shifted himself so he was in front of Scorpius, giving him a little privacy and space in the mess of James' family.

"Mum, when is Dad getting home?" Al demanded and Ginny looked up from where she helping Molly out of the fireplace which Fred had knocked her into.

"Soon. Al, why don't you take Scorpius upstairs and dump your stuff? James, I need you and Lily to start lunch." James, who had been about to follow Al and Scorpius upstairs, made a face at this. Mum gave him a look and he turned around without any complaint. His mum was always trying to get him to practice making food with magic now he was seventeen, but he still had a tendency to make things explode rather than turn out edible food. He heard Al telling Scorpius this as they left the kitchen and he rolled his eyes and longed to be able to chuck a carrot at Al's head.

"Who's staying for lunch?" Ginny called.

"I need to go and check my potions. I left them under Mildred's care and she can be forgetful at times," Victoire said, pulling a face at the name 'Mildred' that let everyone know how she felt about her co-worker.

"I've got practice in an hour, I was going to have to come back early anyway." Dominique shook her head. "Louis, you want to come back with me or do you want to stay?"

"Stay, please." Louis had drifted over and was peeling carrots under Lily's watchful eye. He always had a soft spot for Lily, even when she was a baby he found her cute when really she was just a screaming pink ball of rage.

"Fred, your mum has discovered what you did to the bathroom and so she asked me to send you straight home as soon as you got back." James raised his eyebrows at his cousin who looked sheepish.

"I didn't mean to explode the shower!" He protested but picked up his bag anyway. Molly looked pleased from where she was cleansing soot from her clothes. James rolled his eyes. Sometime Molly would get over Fred tying her Dumbledore doll to his broomstick and diving into the lake with it when he was ten.

"I don't think it was exploding the shower that did it, more the fact that you exploded it in such a way that no one can figure out how to fix it," Mum replied dryly. Fred pouted but didn't seem too put off. Knowing him, he probably did it on purpose.

After Victoire, Dominique and Fred had left, the kitchen seemed much emptier. Without the distraction, James' mind wandered back to the omega upstairs. This time he wasn't thinking about how he wanted to be up there with Scorpius and preferably no Al, but rather about how Scorpius came to be in the forest in the first place.

James frowned at the potatoes he was peeling with his wand and his motions slowed. Domi had healed up Scorpius’ injuries last night but the fact that he had been naked as well spoke to a far more sinister reason. When he looked over, Teddy was talking to his mum, both of them with serious looks on their faces. If seemed like James wasn't the only one disturbed by the implications. Angry at some nameless foe, he went back to peeling the potatoes with renewed vigour, waving his wand so wildly that the peel shot off the potatoes and landed in the carrot saucepan.

"James!" His mother barked and he jumped, mouth already open to apologise. Mum looked displeased and it was only when she gave a pointed look sideways that James understood the anger.

Louis was staring at the carrots but his wand hung limply in his hand and his stare was too fixed. Lily was rolling her eyes and Rose was looking between Mum and James in confusion but Molly was avoiding James' eyes as well.

An alpha had to be aware of his surroundings at all times and must never lose control. Some betas weren't sensitive to the pheromones that alphas and omegas gave off but some picked it up far more easily and omegas like Louis could pick up even the slightest change in scent or tone, long thought to be a survival tactic. Alphas had to be in control of themselves.

"Sorry," James said to the entire room but more directed towards Louis and Molly who had been the most affected by his anger.

Louis gave him a small smile. "It's okay." The slamming of the front door interrupted whatever Molly had been about to say.

"Dad's home!" Lily said, hopping off the kitchen counter and tearing out of the kitchen to give Dad her usual tackle-hug.

Ginny stood up as well. "You keep cooking," she said to the rest of them but James couldn't help but feel the words were directed at him in particular. His mum's scent spiking with anxiety didn't help and James stared after her, not disobedient enough to move but not wanting to get back to work without a fuss.

"James," Teddy warned and James turned to look at his brother in all but blood.

"They're keeping us out of it. Me in particular. Why?" Teddy's scent shifted, minutely enough that if James hadn't known him since he first presented, he would have missed it. It meant that he was right.

"Because it's Scorpius' business, that's why." Teddy was firm in this. James examined him carefully. Teddy was a good actor but James had grown up with Lily, who actually wanted to be an actress when she grew up.

"Then why are they okay with Lily hearing? And Al going upstairs with Scorpius? But it's like Mum singled me out, to stay as far away from this as possible." Molly and Louis had stopped cooking now and were looking between James and Teddy. Rose was listening as well but James was sure she wasn't picking up the changes in scent like the other two were. "It can't be because I'm an alpha because you and Mum- wait." James narrowed his eyes at Teddy. There was no way of mistaking that and a quick glance at Louis showed he had picked up on the same spike of scent as James had. "It has something to with the fact that I'm an alpha."

"No, it doesn't," Teddy lied and James blinked because that was a little hurtful.

"They're worried about you and Scorpius bonding," Molly said suddenly and both Teddy and James turned to her. She looked sure of herself, apart from where her arms were tightly crossed in front of her body.

"Bonding? We're too young to bond, Scorpius especially." James had had fantasies, sure, and he did want what both his mother and Teddy had but he was only seventeen and hadn't even left school. This wasn't war time anymore, bonding young was no longer needed.

Still, it was Scorpius.

"Someone obviously didn't think so," Teddy replied seriously. James stared at him, utterly confused for a moment before all the pieces tumbled into place.

"Wait a minute."

"Looks like we don't need to tell them, Scorpius." James' Dad did not sound pleased from where he had appeared at the kitchen door. James didn't know how he missed his Dad's scent or Scorpius' for that matter.

"That's fine, it saves me the trouble." Scorpius looked pale and strained but he was still wearing James' clothes and something in James relaxed at the sight.

"What is going on?" Rose burst out. She had been unusually quiet up until this point and James had been quite enjoying it. "What's this about bonding and James being an alpha and why are you still wearing James' clothes, Malfoy?"

Scorpius went a blotchy red, one that seemed to be a mix of embarrassment and anger judging by his scent and James thought it best to step in before Scorpius and Rose's tempers collided. At school they were known for their epic duels but James didn't think the kitchen would stand the strain.

"So, do you want to tell us or do you want Dad to tell us?" He asked Scorpius, ignoring Rose's questions for now. He really didn't want to watch Scorpius get defensive about wearing James' clothes, not when it was something he enjoyed and Scorpius obviously felt comfortable with.

"I can tell them," his dad said quietly and Scorpius nodded, disappearing out the kitchen again and leaving behind a cloud of scent. It was distracting but James wrenched his focus back to the conversation at hand. Dad stepped inside and closed the door behind him. "Everyone sit down, I need to update you on everything." They all moved to the table without question. James didn't know about anyone else but he was burning with curiosity.

"Ginny and I talked with Scorpius. We've decided that he can stay here for the summer as if he's visiting Al." His dad looked tired and worn, very like the pictures James had seen in the history books right after the Final Battle. It was a disturbing enough look on its own, let alone if he thought about the cause of it.

"Why?" Rose asked, the only one to dare to do so. James supposed there was a reason she was a Gryffindor.

His dad sighed. "Old friends of Scorpius' grandfather, Lucius, came to visit. Well, not so much friends because they only came when they found out he was weakened by his recent illness to see how they could take advantage of it. But then they discovered his omega grandson, as Scorpius had presented just a little while before."

James felt himself go cold. There were still a lot of stereotypes about alphas and omegas going around but they had been fading out of popularity recently; James had found several articles that had attributed the cause to the omega Boy-Who-Lived, saviour of the wizarding world from a beta Dark Lord.

Nevertheless the old prejudices could still be found. When James had become a Beater on the Quidditch team, he had heard more than one person wonder whether it was in his nature as an alpha. But that was never quite as disturbing as the history he had read about how omegas were treated.

Louis and Rose were looking confused but Teddy had a disgusted look on his face and Molly had covered her mouth with her hands in shock. James' dad looked around at them all. "Yes," he answered the unspoken question. "They tried to force a bond with Scorpius. From what he told me, his father, Draco, protested when it was first brought up due to Scorpius' age and wants not being taken into account but when they came to Scorpius' room later, Draco was not around and his parents didn't answer his calls. One of the house-elves was able to get him away and hide him in the forest. Scorpius said she went back to get clothes and then never returned." James really didn't want to think about what those wizards had almost certainly done to the house elf. At least he knew Scorpius was here and safe.

"Are his parents okay?" James asked, sure that would be on Scorpius' mind. His dad looked surprised at the question but it soon faded into concern.

"We don't know. This house is highly protected - apart from Hogwarts, it is probably the safest place for Scorpius to be at the moment. The yearly inspection for the Malfoys is coming up next month, I'm going to try and pull it forward so it happens as soon as possible. It will be a good way to gain access to the Malfoy home and see if they're alright and what they want us to do about Scorpius."

"So, Scorpius will be staying here?" James asked, trying not to sound too eager, and immediately held up his hands in defence as both Teddy and his dad sent him warning looks. "Okay, now I have another question. What's this about me and Scorpius bonding?"

"You like him," Louis said when it looked like James' dad and Teddy were having a stare contest about who would end up answering James' question. "And he likes you."

"What, really?" He knew he liked Scorpius; that was obvious even before this summer when he found his put-downs to Al's arguments hilarious, even more so than they should be. "He likes me?" He would like to stop grinning like someone had cast a Cheering Charm on him but he couldn't help it.

"James, he's still wearing your clothes," Louis replied dryly. "He reeks of you." James was well aware that he looked like a love-struck idiot but even his cousins' amused looks couldn't stifle it.

"Anyway," his dad said loudly, "I've told you all this so you understand and Scorpius said it was okay. I haven't told the younger ones, all Ginny is telling Lily is that Scorpius has come to stay with Al for a few weeks. It goes without saying that this is all private. It stays in the family. You can tell people that Scorpius is here visiting Al but nothing else. That's Scorpius' business." Everyone nodded and James found himself able to stop grinning long enough to look serious. "And James?"

"Yes, Dad?" He asked, trying to look as innocent as possible. It was hard, his parents hadn't believed he was innocent in years.

His dad looked more relaxed now. "You remember that talk your mum and I had with you?"

"Merlin, yes," James blurted out, "We really don't need to have that again." His dad's scent spiked in amusement.

"No bonding. You're right, you're both too young."

"Yes, all right. Fine. Can I go and see Scorpius now?"

"You can, after you finish making lunch." His dad nodded to where the potatoes were lying abandoned on the counter. James got back to work, outwardly grumbling. At least he knew what was going on now.

That evening, James climbed up to Al's bedroom at the top of the house. He found his brother lying on the bed reading old Marvin Miggs comics. When he caught sight of James, he jerked his head at the open window.

"He's on the roof."

"Thanks, Al," James said before climbing out himself. The part of the roof outside Al's window was flat and it had become a regular perch for the three of them. Now it was Scorpius sitting on the edge with his legs hanging over the side.

James pushed the window shut and walked over to Scorpius. His scent was stronger now than earlier, but he could tell what Louis meant. His own scent entwined with Scorpius' made his mouth water and he swallowed before sitting down next to Scorpius. The other boy still didn't look at him even though he obviously knew James was here, instead choosing to stare out onto the roofs of London.

"You were quiet at lunch. And dinner," James said. His mum had kept James busy the whole afternoon in a completely transparent attempt to stop him going to join Scorpius upstairs, until his dad had made a comment about having fond memories of James' grandmother doing the same. James had escaped when his parents' scents had changed into something way too intimate to smell from your parents.

Scorpius was silent and still. James bit his lip and looked at Scorpius, hunched up beside him. He hadn't moved away though and James leaned closer. It was tempting to close the distance between them, make Scorpius really smell of James, but James held himself still. He had meant what he had said earlier to his dad.

"What did you hear?" He asked. Scorpius seemed to understand exactly what he meant because he turned his face away.

"It's stupid," he muttered, sounding unlike the eloquent Malfoy James knew him as.

"No it isn't. It's bothering you." James' desire to go and smother whatever it was that was causing Scorpius to feel like this was stupid but he didn't mention that part.

"After lunch, I heard you saying to your dad that you didn't want to bond with me." Scorpius turned his head and looked straight into James' eyes, his face a lot closer than James had expected. They both froze and even the street noises below seemed further away.

There was a loud knock on the window that caused both of them to jump. James looked behind to see Teddy smiling obnoxiously and waving at him, with Victoire laughing behind him. James made a face at them both and turned away. "Trust me, wanting isn't the problem," he replied. This time it was him who stared out at London, he didn't want to risk looking at Scorpius again. "We're way too young to bond, no matter what those arseholes at your parents' house thought."

There was silence for a moment. "I hope they're okay." Scorpius' voice was quiet and when James glanced at him, he was staring down at his knees.

"The arseholes?" He was pretty sure that Scorpius hadn't met them before they tried to force a bond on him.

Scorpius threw him a look. "My parents," he said, the 'you moron' completely implied in his tone. James smiled sheepishly. Oh, right.

"They'll be fine. They're probably just really worried about you and Dad will go and let them know that you're safe and okay and we'll go from there." James looked to his left to find Scorpius staring at him. His scent had grown stronger and as good as it was, James didn't know Scorpius that well to know what it meant.

"You are as relaxed as Al says. It's both annoying and endearing," Scorpius said and James couldn't help the sly grin.

"Endearing huh?"

"And annoying," Scorpius shot straight back. There was another knock on the window and even though James didn't turn to look, Scorpius did and rolled his eyes at what he saw there. "I have to go back in apparently. What do they think we're doing out here anyway?"

"Bonding," James replied easily. Scorpius' eyes were wide as he stared at James. "I told you, wanting isn't the problem. I really want to bond with you. I think my whole family is just making sure my hormones don't override the sensible part of my brain."

"You're kidding." Scorpius' scent rippled in what James could only think was confusion but that didn't explain the sudden wave of scent that hit him like a brick. He tried to make his sniff as subtle as possible but he was pretty sure he failed when Scorpius' cheeks went pink.

James scrubbed a hand over his face. "Nope. It would be so easy to let my hormones take over as well." Scorpius smelled really, really good. There was another knock on the window and James waved a hand back in acknowledgement. "I better get back before they actually damage the glass." He shuffled back, preparing to stand and walk back over to the window.

"James?" Scorpius asked, his voice strange but James turned all the same. Scorpius' hand was on his cheek, guiding him down into a kiss. James leaned in instinctively, returning the kiss without deepening it and pulled back when he heard the window open.

"Okay, that's enough," Victoire's voice was amused but James didn't look at her to see what kind of reaction Teddy was having as well. Scorpius' eyes were pale blue and with his blond hair and pink cheeks, he looked like something out of a fairy tale.

"So easy," James echoed his earlier words and Scorpius smirked at him.

"Just a reminder." He glanced at the window. "It looks like we broke your cousin. You probably should get back inside."

James stared at him. He could smell Scorpius' desire and his whole body was urging to kiss Scorpius again and he could tell from Scorpius' expression that he knew all this. "Merlin, you've evil," he said, completely stunned. Scorpius' smirk turned into a full blown grin. "So evil." James couldn't help but smile too.

"Yes, you're both ridiculous. Come on, James, it's cold and I would like to be taking Teddy home without him having a heart attack," Victoire said loudly, breaking the spell. James turned away from Scorpius, Merlin that was hard, and started to move towards the window on his knees.

"You and Teddy are moment ruiners," he said as he climbed in.

"That's the plan," Victoire said cheerfully. "You did it enough to us when you were younger." Teddy's hair was a mess where he had been running his hands through it too much.

"You're not supposed to bond," was all he said.

"That was not bonding, that was kissing," James pointed out. "I worry about you if you can't tell the difference."

"Looks like Scorpius' sarcasm is already rubbing off on you," Al commented from the bed where he still appeared to be reading the old comics.

"Are you getting involved?" James asked. "Because I can tell you all about Scorpius rubbing off on me if you want." His tone was perfectly innocent but Al made the most hilarious face- James wished he had a Pensieve just so he could watch that memory over and over again.

"I can still hear you!" Scorpius' voice drifted in through the window.

"I know," James shouted back. He was about to say something else that would make Al squirm but Teddy could obviously read minds and started shoving James towards the door before he could.

"And that's enough," he said loudly. "I swear, next time I agree to do a favour for Harry I’m seeing what it is first."

"Bye, Scorpius!" James yelled again before letting Teddy push him out the room. Oh this was definitely going well.

The next day James' mum had sent Al and Scorpius to visit Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron before James woke up. His mum’s expression was way too knowing when James tried to suppress the spike of disappointment at the news. Teddy was sipping his tea smugly at the kitchen table, his face blank but James could smell the amusement in his scent.

"I have some things to do if you're bored," his mum said innocently. James knew better than to fall into that trap.

"I’m going to see if Louis wants to go flying." He grabbed his broom before flooing to Louis' house. The garden at Grimmauld Place was nothing special, a small box of green lawn but Louis' parents had set up a makeshift Quidditch pitch in their back garden, the trees providing a perfect screen from the Muggle village nearby.

"Hi, Aunt Fleur," James said. He made sure that he brushed the ash off his shoes and robe; he remembered last Christmas when Charlie had trekked dirt all through Fleur's sitting room. There was a reason Fleur vied with Hermione for scariest aunt in James' family.

"Good morning, James. I heard from Louis that everyone had an eventful camping trip." Fleur's voice was pleasant but as always with his aunt, James felt like he was missing some hidden meaning.

"Yeah, it was really unexpected. How's Louis?" James couldn't hear Louis anywhere and Fleur was focused on her magazine, one of the shiny fashion magazines that played music every time you opened the pages.

"Oh, he's doing okay." Fleur tapped her wand on the page and there was a small beep as the item of clothing was ordered for her. "He's a little concerned though. Apparently Mr Malfoy has some unpleasant individuals that want to force a bond with him. As an omega, Louis was worried about this as well." Fleur's voice remained pleasant but it wasn't hard to pick up on the undercurrent of anger underneath it, especially as her scent suddenly deepened. James froze and his mind went blank on the right thing to say.

However Fleur was an omega herself and had picked up on James' complete unsubtle changes of scent. "Did you not think that Louis might be concerned when he was faced with the unpleasant reminder of how he could be seen, as an omega?" She put the magazine down with a bang and pulled herself up. She was smaller than James but the bitter anger of her scent had James off-balance and cowering back from her, both as his aunt and an angry omega. Stereotypes about omegas were that they were slow to anger and when they did, it wasn't worth mentioning. James wanted to introduce the people who believed that to his dad and his aunt; they would soon correct them.

"I didn't- " James was ashamed to realise that he hadn't thought about how Louis would be worried about Scorpius but also about himself and how he fit in with all this. The wizards after Scorpius had obviously shown they weren't concerned about consent at all, it wasn't a hard leap to make that there were others out there like that. And an omega with Veela blood would be even more desirable in their eyes.

"No, you didn't think! What is happening with Scorpius is terrible, but he is not the only omega in the world. He's not even the only omega in the world that this has happened to, the only difference is that quite a lot of those omegas are not as lucky as him to get away." Fleur took a deep breath and her scent retreated a little. "I'm sorry, James, the way of the world is not your fault."

"Maman." Both of them jumped, neither of them expecting Louis to appear at the kitchen door. His scent was milder than both of theirs and he tended to move very quietly as well but now it was obviously angry. He said something to her in rapid French and Fleur responded in kind. James stood in awkward silence as they continued their argument, their scents rolling over him in a wave. After they finished, Louis turned to him and gave a quick glance down to the broomstick in James' hand. "I could do with some flying." The anger had vanished from his scent and James wasted no hesitation in giving an easy smile at his cousin.

They trudged outside, Louis picking up his broomstick on the way. "I'm sorry about Maman," he said as they walked down towards the pitch. "I think it was really hard for her growing up as a quarter-Veela and an omega and she projects onto me a bit. Victoire bonded with Teddy quite young, like Maman with Papa, and Domi is a beta so now she can focus all her worry on me."

James shrugged. He was uncomfortable talking about this, but Louis had brought it up so obviously he did want to say something. "I saw some of the crap your Mum got in old articles from the Triwizard Tournament." He didn't know how else to follow up, he wasn't an omega or a Veela so he couldn't say anything about either of those things. "Is she right though? Have you been worrying about it?"

Louis hummed thoughtfully but didn't look upset at the question. "A little, but more from Scorpius' point of view. If these guys are old 'friends' of his grandfather and his home isn't safe, then he doesn't have the support that I have. I mean, Victoire taught me some great curses to use on anyone that tried to do that to me not to mention that I have a whole army of family that can back me up." Louis smiled at James. "It's different for me, don't worry."

"Not going to stop me, but I'm glad you're okay." He held up his broomstick at Louis. "Are we going to fly or what?"

"Just a second." And there came the smirk that meant Louis had the troublesome Weasley blood just like the rest of them. "How are things going with Scorpius?"

There was an unguarded moment where James' scent careened wildly and he blushed, something he was pretty sure he hadn't done since he was twelve. "Well- er, I think they're going well."

"Yeah, alright, I won't push." Louis' eyes were dancing in amusement but at least he didn't laugh hysterically at James' predicament like Fred surely would have done. He sobered for a minute. "Just be aware that we're Scorpius' only support at the moment and he may feel- pressured to accept something he doesn't want." James instantly clicked to what Louis was trying to say and felt a wave of hurt. Did his cousin really think he could do something like that? Louis saw his expression and waved his free hand frantically. "No, no, no. I don't mean that you'll pressure him. I just mean, well, that you've always liked Scorpius and that it's obvious that you're considering a bond in the future so he may go along with it because he thinks he has to, to repay what your family did for him or something."

"That's crap," James said, completely shocked but in the back of his mind, he was turning over how Scorpius was acting with him. Were there any signs of reluctance, or like he didn't want what James wanted? He couldn't think of any but he might have missed it.

"Possibly. But up until a few days ago, I would have said an omega Malfoy running away from a forced bond was crap, or at least extremely unlikely but here we are." Louis gestured around them. "Just think about it, okay, and don't commit to anything big until this whole mess is sorted out."

"Sure." James' voice was gruffer than he liked but Louis said nothing about it. "Still want to play?"

"Definitely." They mounted their brooms and soared up into the air. James put their conversation to the back of his mind and focused on flying.

***

Lying in bed later that night, James didn't have the distraction of Quidditch to take his mind off the issues that Louis had brought up. Scorpius feeling like he was being forced into a bond with James right after escaping from another forced bond was pretty much James' worst nightmare and he couldn't see a way of making sure that it definitely wasn't true. He could ask Scorpius but he might not even be doing it consciously; the expectation of bonding with the alpha who rescued him might get to Scorpius in the end.

His thoughts were chasing each other round in circles and James got himself out of bed with a sigh. He would get himself a drink and maybe read downstairs since it didn't seem like he would be able to sleep for a while. The hall was lit by the gas lamp on the wall and it was the only reason James saw the dark figure a moment before he would have walked into him. A second later, he recognised the scent.

"Scorpius?" He asked. "What are you doing up?"

"I could ask you the same question." It sounded like Scorpius was trying for amused but it came out more tired than anything else. "I couldn't sleep," he admitted. "You?"

"Same." And the reason why was standing right in front of him, still smelling good enough that James wanted to forget his morals and upbringing and take Scorpius away somewhere where they could be together forever.

It was a good thing that Scorpius couldn't read minds otherwise James was fucked.

"James," Scorpius said before pausing. James waited patiently as Scorpius took a deep breath and continued. "Can we talk? In private, with no interruptions?"

James was pleased that Scorpius suggested it first. With Louis' words echoing round his head, James couldn't have asked first no matter how much he wanted to. He nodded and then realised that Scorpius couldn't see him properly in the darkened hall. "Sure. Al's a deep sleeper, we could go out on the roof again?"

"Let's go." Soon enough, the two of them were situated on the roof, this time with blankets around them both that James had remembered to grab since he had left his wand back in his room. It also meant that he could huddle closer to Scorpius under the pretence of warmth and Scorpius leaned in closer to James as well. After they settled, neither of them said anything for a few minutes. It was August, but the summer night still had a chill to it and James pulled the blanket around him tighter. As much as he liked sitting here with Scorpius, it didn't look like the other man was going to start a conversation any time soon.

"Why couldn't you sleep?" James asked. "You don't have to tell me or anything," he added hastily, not wanting Scorpius to feel pressured. "Only if you want to. Like to unburden yourself or something." The moonlight meant that he could see Scorpius had raised an eyebrow at his babble. Merlin, James already got that expression way too much from Al- and he really needed to stop thinking about his brother when he was with Scorpius.

"I know, James." Scorpius looked away, down at his knees. He was in Al's Ravenclaw blue pyjamas, a fact that made something inside of James squirm in unhappiness, and the bright red blanket made Scorpius' hair and skin look even paler under the moonlight. James thought briefly about how his hands would look on Scorpius, his dark skin contrasting against the milk pale skin, before hastily banishing the thought. That wasn't a good road to go down. Scorpius made an angry sound, bringing James back to the present. "I just, I hate being an omega." Scorpius' voice sounded truly unhappy and James instantly wanted to go and fix whatever was making him sad. That made it pretty hard when it seemed it was his own body that was making him sad.

"What? Why?" Of all the omegas in James' life, he had never heard one say that they hated being an omega before. Hated the stereotypes and prejudices about being an omega, definitely, but actually being an omega- not so much.

"Oh, I don't know," Scorpius said sarcastically. "Maybe it's because I've had to run away from home because some maniacs wanted to force a bond on me. Or maybe because my parents are in danger because of me being an omega."

"They're not in danger because you're an omega," James said, trying to go for as soothing a voice as possible. Scorpius was tired and acting irrational because of it, James was sure he could help calm him down. That was what alphas were supposed to do, although with his parents it was normally his dad calming down his mum.

"Oh, what do you know, you're not an omega," Scorpius snapped. He drew the blanket in tighter around him and leaned a little away from James. James drew back himself, stung. "If I hadn't been an omega and presented right at the time, this whole mess wouldn't have happened. You're an alpha, you wouldn't understand what it's like not being listened to, to have your opinion ignored as if it was worthless." Scorpius' voice rose as did his obvious frustration.

James wanted to ask why Scorpius was angry at him when he was the one that helped him but he bit his tongue. Alphas who lost control were reviled, he needed to remember that. He turned his head away.

"What did you want to say?" Scorpius asked, his voice tight. "You were going to say something then, I know it. Why are you holding back?"

"Because what I wanted to say was irrational so I didn't say it," James said in as controlled a voice he could muster. It was still the wrong thing to say.

"The implication here being that I'm irrational." Scorpius' tone was low but he was, if possible, even angrier than before. His scent soured in James' nose, the waves of anger, bitterness and hurt mingling together until he couldn't distinguish one from the other. All it did was let James know that he was failing as an alpha. Scorpius kept talking. "I should just keep my mouth shut right? Be a good little omega and keep my irrational concerns to myself."

"I never said that." And not just because he learned that was a nasty thing to do.

"It's obvious that is what you meant though. The only thing you say in response is that? Tell me what you think, James." It was the mocking, sarcastic tone that did it. James had learnt long ago that if he didn't have control of his emotions, then he needed to stay quiet and out of the way until he got control again.

"And what happens then?" James asked, his voice loud in the quiet night. He spared a quick thought for how he was glad that they shut the window behind them so Al couldn't interrupt. "I tell you how angry I am at the wizards that tried to force any omega into a bond, and the fact that it's you makes it ten times worse. How does that help? They're still going to be after you and I'm powerless to stop it. Or maybe I can talk about how angry I am that my family doesn't trust me to control myself around you, to know that we're too young to bond without their interference. Or maybe we could talk about how angry I am at you because you make me lose control which an alpha is never meant to do- shit." He shut his mouth with a snap and turned his head away from Scorpius. The shame threatened to choke him and he wondered whether it would be better to leave or to stay and listen to Scorpius' judgement.

The night was silent once more and James focused on taking steady breaths and willed himself to stop shaking. He lost his temper, something his mother had said alphas were never to do. Rightly or wrongly, it scared people. James still remembered the looks that he had received when he lost his temper one Quidditch practice in second year.

"You're scared." Scorpius sounded surprised and James glanced at him quickly. Scorpius seemed to be getting good at reading his scent. "Why?"

"Alphas are not supposed to lose control." James figured Scorpius deserved the answer as to why James had lost it like that. "It makes people scared and it makes the alphas the worst kind of alphas." Like the ones who came after Scorpius: alphas that took what wasn't theirs to take.

"Like the ones back home?" Scorpius asked incredulously, echoing James' thoughts to an uncanny degree. "You've got to be joking. James, you are nothing like them for snapping at me when I'm goading you."

"It's a slippery slope," James muttered. There was a moment of silence.

"James, I like it when you lose control," Scorpius confessed and James turned to stare at him. "It's not like you get violent or try to force me when you lose control. It's just good to see that I affect you as much as you affect me."

James hesitated before speaking this time. Scorpius had seemed to like him, but that was different to 'want to be bonded someday'. James had made the mistake with his first girlfriend and she hadn't even had the hormone cocktail of an omega. "Scorpius, you have no idea how much you affect me."

Scorpius' mouth twisted in what seemed to be self-mockery. "Well, how am I supposed to know?" Unlike before, his voice was level, more weary than angry. "I liked you well enough before all this but I didn't know you that well. I still don't know you but I find myself comfortable and safe around you. Harry says that is partly to do with scents between a compatible alpha and omega; they soothe each other somewhat. Just now I was angry with you but I still wanted to be touching you and near you the whole time. That's terrifying."

James tried to see it from Scorpius' view; he had never had an alpha/omega couple as parents, probably the only things he knew about alphas and omegas was in books and newspaper articles and what his parents told him. There was bound to be some misinformation there. "I guess," James said slowly, "you weren't really angry at me then. You didn't seem angry at me specifically, more angry at the situation in general." Scorpius glared at him and James managed to smile at that. "Believe me, if you wanted to be angry at me, you would and no amount of compatibility is going to change that. My parents are the most stable, compatible couple I've ever met but their fights are legendary. Mostly it's my dad being stubborn and my mum getting frustrated with that, but Uncle Ron says that my dad was a properly moody teenager but he couldn't normally let it out due to the whole Voldemort thing."

Scorpius rolled his eyes but James could see his tight grip on the blanket loosen. "The whole Voldemort thing?"

James grinned. "That's how my Uncle Ron calls it. Well, he actually calls Voldemort a whole host of nicknames which always make my aunt yell."

"Are they bonded as well?" Scorpius asked. He scooted down closer to James and James felt comfortable putting one hand on the roof behind Scorpius and leaning in, just close enough that he could feel the warmth of Scorpius' body.

"No, they're both betas but they've been with Dad long enough that they know a lot about alphas and omegas." Scorpius looked like he was digesting that and James wondered if it would be okay to kiss him. There would be no Teddy or Victoire to stop him, he could only stop if Scorpius wanted him to. If Scorpius wanted to go all the way, there was nothing to stop him.

Or maybe he should hold back so he didn't bond with Scorpius at sixteen on the roof outside the room where his brother was sleeping. "My parents are bonded, they bonded young." As a distraction, talking about his parents would work nicely. "But my Dad always says that a bond isn't a guarantee that everything is going to work out. It makes it easier because your body wants it to work but if you're incompatible in other ways and you don't work at it, then the relationship can still fail." And he just realised that he was talking about a bond between them as if it was a sure thing and cursed at himself. That assumption was probably what Scorpius was afraid of.

Scorpius nodded, looking thoughtful but said nothing else. James tightened his blanket around him as he stared out at London. The lights of the city made his mind start to drift and his head started to droop forward, causing him to start in surprise.

"I think we'll both be able to sleep now," Scorpius said, a little amused. James couldn't find it him to disagree. As much as he wanted to stay out here on the roof with Scorpius, his body was reminding him that it was three in the morning and he felt a lot calmer about everything. He looked at Scorpius and let his eyes glance down at his lips. Those same lips curved into a smirk and James glanced back up at Scorpius' eyes.

"No. No, we really can't," James said slowly. If Scorpius tried to persuade him, he would crack. He could only be so strong and judging by Scorpius' grin, he knew it.

"Don't worry, I won't make you do something you’ll regret later," Scorpius said. His voice was smug and the glee in his eyes was both annoying and attractive. "It's nice to know that I could if I wanted to though."

"Yeah, yeah, rub it in," James grumbled without any edge before moving away from Scorpius. The lack of heat almost made James reconsider but he pulled up all the self-control techniques his mum had shown him, including turning his nose away from the enticing omega. "Goodnight, Scorpius."

"Goodnight, James." James didn't need to look at Scorpius to know that he was being laughed at. He shook his head, smiling, as he climbed in through the window. Al was snoring quietly in bed and James went back to his own. This time he fell asleep easily.

***

A week later Scorpius was still staying with them and the late night chats had become a habit of theirs- even if James found it harder and harder to leave Scorpius behind each time. His dad wasn’t able to pull the inspection to that week but the Malfoy house elf had let Scorpius know that his parents were okay, if worried about him, and that had really helped to relax Scorpius. James considered that a good thing, the only problem was that now Scorpius was almost completely focused on making James lose his mind.

As much as the lack of trust rankled, he was glad that his parents were watching them so closely. Whenever James wanted to push Scorpius against a wall and kiss him senseless, normally one or both of his parents had the excellent timing to show up and set him to work on some chore or another. James didn't think the house had ever been so clean.

It was at the breakfast table when they got the news. James had been completely focused on spreading his jam on his toast and ignoring Scorpius' foot nudging his under the table- he was sitting next to his little sister for Merlin's sake- when his parents' announcement jerked him out of his thoughts.

"What?" Maybe he shouldn't have taken a bite of toast at the same time as asking that question.

"That's disgusting," Lily said, although she looked far more delighted than Al, sitting opposite James, did.

"We're going to Diagon Alley, whoever wants to come. We have to get your school stuff. Scorpius, do you have your vault key?" His mum asked and Scorpius nodded, obviously dumbfounded.

"Can I come as well?" His mum and dad exchanged looks before his mum turned back to him.

"Sure."

It was weird being in Diagon Alley with Scorpius. Up until now it had just been in the confines of Grimmauld Place and sometimes Shell Cottage and the Burrow. James hadn't been out with Scorpius since the camping trip around people other than family and it surprised him how different it was.

"Relax, James," Al said, snapping James out of glaring at the alpha that eyed Scorpius up when his back was turned. His brother was smirking at him, obviously enjoying it.

"God, this is hard," James muttered more to himself than to Al before re-joining Scorpius. The myriad of scents were confusing him- it wasn't this bad last time he came to Diagon Alley but right now he was noticing every single alpha and omega he ran into, like when he first presented.

"What's wrong?" Scorpius asked quietly. He put down the book ‘The Magic Behind Alphas and Omegas’ on the display. James opened his mouth to answer and got his first proper look at Scorpius since they arrived at The Leaky Cauldron. His back was tense and he was keeping his head down, the complete opposite to how he had been at the breakfast table.

"Nose is being weird," James said instead of the long rant about how everyone needed to stay at least ten feet away from both of them, especially Scorpius, which is what he wanted to do. "What about you? You look like you just walked in on a gang of first years armed with their first Weasleys Wheezes."

Scorpius snorted and his expression lightened. He looked up at James. "Nice comparison." He started to shrug and then thought better of it. "Like you said, my nose is being weird."

"Scorpius, what are you doing here?" The unfamiliar female voice was coming from the end of the aisle and James looked up to see a dark-haired woman with pale skin, about his mum's age, coming down the aisle. Her features were just a little too angular to be classically beautiful and the unhappy expression on her face wasn't helping matters.

"Shopping, Aunt Daphne," Scorpius replied quietly. James glanced at him. He was looking even more tense than before and seemed to be pointedly not looking at James.

Daphne's expression darkened even further when she looked at James and he realised that he had been simply looking between the two of them. "James Potter." He smiled and held out his hand for her to shake. She stared at it for a long moment before giving the quickest, lightest handshake he had had in his life.

There was another awkward silence. "I'm staying with the Potters," Scorpius said, suddenly bold. "Al invited me for part of the summer."

Daphne looked like she had bitten into a lemon. "I'm surprised Draco would agree to that. I remember how he and Potter were in school."

"Well, people change and they're not ones to continue a school grudge after their kids become friends," James answered when it seemed Scorpius wasn't going to. Daphne turned her gaze to him and her nostrils flared.

"They let you stay with an alpha on the same summer you presented as an omega?" The frown was gone, now it was just pure shock on her face.

"I'm safe with the Potters," Scorpius replied.

"Greengrass." James' dad couldn't have picked a better time to appear at the end of the row. "I didn't expect you here."

"And I didn't expect my nephew to be staying with you for the summer," Daphne shot back.

James' dad wasn't smiling but he didn't look angry either. He just looked wary. "Well, he and Al are friends. Maybe next summer Al can go and stay with Scorpius' family."

"What about the fact that you have a full grown alpha in the same house?" The implications behind the question were anything but innocent and James found himself gaping at the women. She had just met him, she hadn't even heard of him before this and she was already making assumptions.

"Aunt Daphne!" Scorpius sounded pissed off. "That's enough. Al is my friend and I like James too. Please stop insulting them in Flourish and Blotts, you're making a scene." It seemed to be the last part that got through to Daphne the most and she looked around the bookstore to see several interested faces at the end of the row. Her pale cheeks flushed pink and she bid a hasty goodbye to Scorpius before disappearing from the aisle.

The three of them stood in silence for a moment. James had no idea what to say and his dad seemed lost in thought, staring after where Daphne had disappeared.

"Let's get Al and get the rest of your things, Scorpius." They continued their shopping trip but everyone was in a much quieter mood, even Al.

That night, James felt a sense of deja vu when he got up to have a glass of water and ran into Scorpius. They stared at each other.

"Want to go out onto the roof and talk?" James decided to be the brave one this time and was rewarded by Scorpius' smile, even it was a bit shaky. He followed Scorpius back to Al's room and out the window, remembering to close it behind him again.

"What did you want to talk about?" James asked after what felt like an age sitting together quietly. It was warm enough that blankets weren't needed this time but he had still sat closer to Scorpius than was probably strictly necessary.

"Shouldn't that be my line? You invited me after all." Scorpius gave him a half-smile, which faded away before it even rooted on his face.

"You've been quiet since you ran into your Aunt." James looked at him and saw how Scorpius fiddled with the cloth of his pyjama trousers. "Do you want to talk about it? Because soon you're going to wear through your trousers." He gestured to Scorpius' hands which stilled immediately.

Scorpius sighed. "Everyone talks about us like we're planning on bonding next week and I don't even know what we are. We haven't even properly talked about it. Why haven't we talked about it?"

"I didn't want to pressure you," James answered honestly, caught off guard by Scorpius' sudden burst of chattiness. His answer stunned them both silent for a moment.

"Pressure me?" Scorpius asked. "What do you mean?"

James bit his lip and wondered what his mother would say if she was with him now. What should he do? If he talked about it, it might put the idea in Scorpius' head that it was what people were expecting and so he might do it anyway, despite James saying he didn't want that.

He shook himself. No, he had to trust Scorpius to know his mind. James would just have to be careful in how he told him. He was a Gryffindor, he could be brave. "I want to be with you." That was a good first step. Now for the follow up. "I mean, I don't want to be bonded right now but earlier in Diagon Alley, I kept freaking out at all the smells around and how unprotected you were, which was stupid because Dad was there and it's not like you're completely helpless; I saw how you taught Lily how to improve the Bat-Bogey curse which is terrifying by the way. Mum made a comment about it always being worse after you've met an omega you really like and know you want to be with. And this is scary, I know, and I want to take things slowly especially since it's going to change when we go back to school." James panted a little as he finished. He was suddenly aware of his body more than ever before, his heart pounding against his rib cage, the way his hands were shaking even though they were pressed against the roof and the warmth of Scorpius next to him even as his scent enveloped James.

"Babbling aside, I think I would like that." Scorpius' smile was so bright and James knew he was matching it. He held up his hand and Scorpius took it.

***

"James! Mum and Dad have gone to Dad's work to sort out some sort of complaint this woman had made about them and they said you have to look after us." Lily's voice was exactly the opposite of how James wanted to wake up the next morning and he cracked an eye open. His little sister was sitting on his school trunk, her arms crossed and glaring at him.

"Lily, why are you in my room?" James asked. He could be patient but he had been up a long time with Scorpius last night and he really wanted to sleep in.

"Mum said I'm not allowed to cook anymore so Al sent me up here to get you because he said the smell of anything cooking makes him feel sick right after he wakes up so you have to make me eggs and bacon," Lily said without a breath before she poked him. James flapped his hand at her, hoping that it would work to shoo her away just like it did to Arty, the family owl. His sister ignored him and poked him again.

The doorbell rang as James picked up his wand to shoot bubbles at his sister. His parents had forbid him from using any particularly annoying hexes on his siblings until they could do magic right back at him. Bubbles were allowed with the added bonus on making Lily sneeze.

"James!" Al called from downstairs.

"I'm coming, Al!" James yelled. He rolled out of bed, thankful that he had his t-shirt and tracksuit bottoms on and stretched up to the ceiling.

There was a crash from downstairs and an alarmed yell from Al that made James lift his head to stare at Lily. "Merlin's balls, what are they doing?" He stuck his wand in his pocket and jogged down the two flights of stairs before Al and Scorpius broke anything valuable. Lily trailed behind him, saying hello to all the portraits on the way down.

Al wasn't alone in the hallway, that much was obvious. "Who are you?" James asked the two men, one of whom was standing between Al and the kitchen door. They were large and menacing and James gestured behind his back for Lily to stay where she was.

"James, they're here for Scorpius," Al said, his eyes wide with panic behind his glasses. James took the next few stairs two at a time and ignored the two wands pointed at him.

"Why are you here for Scorpius? What do you want?" There was another scent he didn't recognise in the hall, it made James grimace and screw up his nose. The scent was sour and rotten to James' nose and almost covered up the panicked strains of Scorpius' scent underneath.

"James, it's the guys that were after Scorpius." Al was breathing fast and his eyes kept glancing to the kitchen door, which still had one large wizard blocking the way. James took a controlled breath in and out and tried not to think about how it was Scorpius behind that door.

"You're not allowed in until he says it's okay," the man blocking the kitchen said. His voice was deep and measured and he watched James carefully through his small eyes. He was definitely the one to watch especially compared to his partner who was now leering at James.

"Boss is going to get his pretty little omega. Make sure he knows his place," the second man said, making a vulgar gesture before bursting into laughter. James' vision faded out for a second as rage swamped him unlike anything he had ever felt before. It was only his mother's careful lessons that allowed him to keep his arms by his side and not take a swing at both men standing in front of him.

Al was staring, open mouthed in horror at the laughing man. "How could you do that? He doesn't want to go with your boss and you're forcing him." James took a deep breath and then another and forced his brain to think of a plan. At the moment his instincts were screaming at him to get inside the kitchen anyway he could, to stop the man from hurting Scorpius. He could Apparate but Al would still be at risk. If it was just the stupid, laughing guy, Al could probably handle himself but James didn't like the look in the other man's eye. He was just looking for an excuse.

The whole hallway went dark as if the lights had been cut out and judging by the cries of surprise, it wasn't only happening to James. He was so glad that George had kept old stocks of Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder for his family.

There was the sounds of a scuffle and a muffled cry of pain, thankfully not Al's and James made his way to the kitchen. He had grown up in this house, he knew it like the back of his hand and it didn't take much to shoot a spell in the direction of where the other man was muttering Lumos to himself. There was a loud thud and James hoped he had stupefied the right person.

"Al? You're alright?" James asked and there was a cold moment of silence before he heard his brother's voice.

"I'm fine! I got the guy with the umbrella stand. He’s out cold. You go and get Scorpius, I'm going to get help." He heard Al clattering up the stairs. When he didn't hear any further movement from the hall, he unlocked the kitchen door and went in, wand raised.

It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the light but as soon as he did, he aimed his wand at the man looming over Scorpius in the chair, a vial of something in his hand. The front of Scorpius' robes were wet and there was a terrified look in his eye, even worse than James had seen so far.

The man stared at him for a beat in surprise. A beat too long. "Stupefy!" James cried and the bolt of red light hit the man just as he was scrambling for his wand. A moment longer just to make sure that he wasn't going to get up again and James was scrambling around the table to Scorpius' side. "Scorpius, are you hurt?" He had to repeat the question several times before Scorpius even looked at him and the only answer he received at first was a muffled sob. James swallowed, his throat tight. "I'm here. I've stunned him. Are you hurt anywhere?"

"S-stuck me to the chair," Scorpius stuttered and James realised he was sitting bolt upright in the chair where he hadn't moved since James came in.

"Merlin, sorry." James unstuck him, taking a couple of tries to get it right since his hand was shaking so badly. As soon as he was released, Scorpius grabbed James' wand and pointed it at the bottle that had fallen onto the floor. It exploded without a word and drops of liquid splattered around the kitchen. James caught the smell of old history textbooks, broomstick polish and Scorpius before it faded away. Scorpius allowed James to take his wand back, his hand limp and both of them ended up staring at the unconscious wizard, the silence incredibly uncomfortable on James' part.

"That was Amortentia." Scorpius' voice was flat, almost lifeless.

"Amortentia- the love potion?" James asked. Potions really hadn't been his strong subject but he remembered Lily babbling about how someone could control the entire student population of Hogwarts with just a few well-placed love potions.

Scorpius nodded. "He wanted to feed me it so I would agree to go with him and he could complete the bond." James stared at Scorpius, aghast. To have his will stripped away like that, no wonder Scorpius had been so scared.

"That's awful." Scorpius nodded in agreement and another choked sob came from him. "Can I give you a hug?"

Scorpius nodded silently before stepping into James and clutching onto the front of his robes.

There was another crash in the hallway and Scorpius stiffened in James' arms. He didn't let go and neither did James, but he did raise his wand so it was pointed at the kitchen door and angled Scorpius away from direct line of fire.

His dad stepped through, his face drawn and worried. "You guys okay?"

They weren't, not by a long shot, but James didn't want to worry his dad more than he already was. "The boss guy's here. I stunned him." He nodded his head towards the unconscious wizard whose name he still didn't know.

His dad nodded, his expression still worried and James didn't doubt for a second that he had missed James evading the question. Still, he bound the unconscious man with a quick flick of his wrist. "Ginny's got the other two. I'm going to get him down to the Ministry and then come and have a talk with you two about what happened. We can call your parents, Scorpius, and let them know it's over." Scorpius nodded his head against James' chest but didn't move apart from that. "You did good, James," Harry said quietly and James felt a swelling of happiness rise up in him. Scorpius was safe, the men were captured and his dad was proud of how he had handled it all. He was feeling optimistic.

It didn't take long for the Malfoys to arrive at Grimmauld Place. James had seen the two of them before from a distance on King's Cross station but never up close and not when they looked like they had aged years in a short space of time. The two of them didn't hug Scorpius like James was sure his parents would have done if the situations were reversed but they hovered over him like he was going to break any minute.

"They were watching us constantly, trying to figure out where you had gone and they spiked our drinks with Veritaserum. We forbade Tilly to tell us where you were so we wouldn't know for sure." Astoria Malfoy tearfully explained, not just to Scorpius but the kitchen at large. She was sitting next to her son, a large cup of tea in front of her and looking at Scorpius like he was going to vanish again.

"Daphne came to the Manor," Draco Malfoy said quietly to James' father. He seemed like he didn't want Scorpius to hear over his wife's frantic explanations but James kept an ear out. "She came to yell at me for letting Scorpius stay with you, especially since you have an alpha son, but of course De Santis overheard."

"Making a move out in the open like this, attacking my children in my house, not even the Italian Ministry of Magic can protest our arresting him now," his dad said in a reassuring tone. "And you get your son back for what is left of the summer."

"That is true," Malfoy admitted. "But what I'm most interested about now is how Daphne said my son stank of your alpha son. Enough that she thought they were already about to bond." Like a rat caught in a trap, James froze as Malfoy swung his gaze to him and tightened his grip on his tea cup.

His dad looked like he wanted to roll his eyes. "Like I was going to let them bond. Scorpius isn't even of age." He took a sip of his tea.

"We want to though," James spoke up. Malfoy's gaze was a like a physical thing but he screwed up his courage enough to look him in the eye. "Not right now of course, but after Scorpius finishes school. And if he still wants to of course." He looked at Scorpius when he heard the omega boy snort and grinned. There was a smile on Scorpius' face for the first time since the attack and James rejoiced at the fact that he was the one to put it there.

"Yes," Malfoy said, not sounding happy about it but he said nothing else and after they had all finished their tea, he let James pull Scorpius close to say goodbye after Al had already stepped in.

"See you at school," he said quietly as he hugged Scorpius to him.

"You're going to write me." It sounded more like a statement than a question but James answered it all the same.

"Of course I am." He even dared to give Scorpius a quick kiss, on the cheek, with both their dads standing there and watching. "In two weeks we'll be back at school. Enjoy the rest of your summer." Scorpius nodded, and James gave him one last hug and tried to imprint his scent into memory before letting him go.

"Bye Jamie," Scorpius said quietly, the smile on his face was worth the dreaded nickname. "Thank you."

"I think it's time for us to go," Draco Malfoy said loudly, pointedly and James' dad's cough sounded suspiciously like a laugh. "Bye, Potter. Thanks for- well, everything." It looked like it physically pained Malfoy to say this and James' dad didn't miss a thing, using the same stare as he had when James was a kid and his dad was sure he had done something wrong.

"Don't mention it, I'm just glad everything worked out okay." He looked at Scorpius and his expression softened into a grin. "Bye, Scorpius. You'll have to come back and visit us for real without being in danger."

Scorpius' smile was just as sincere if not quite as big. "Thank you, Mr Potter."

There was a few more hurried goodbyes and Scorpius was giving one last look at James before stepping into the Floo. When he disappeared along with his parents, James let out a breath he had been holding. Scorpius' scent was already dimmer in the kitchen than before.

Al looked between James and their dad. "Want to go and see Louis and do some flying?"

"Merlin, yes." Sometimes Al had the best ideas.