Chapter Text
Albus had always almost enjoyed the train ride home from Hogwarts. He liked the idea of being back in his own house, in his own bed. At the same time, though, it always meant that he was facing two months without Scorpius, two months of no one but his family.
Albus had found himself leaning on his best friend more than ever in the last month (both figuratively and literally). Eyes had been on both of them as soon as rumours of their adventure had started spreading, and for once, Albus thought he might understand what his father meant about hating the attention. Albus was so used to flying more or less under the radar – he wasn't exactly disliked, but after everyone realized he wasn’t the next Harry Potter, they mostly left him alone. Hogwarts seemed to turn upside-down once people were paying attention to him, though. Suddenly people were talking to him at meals, in class, in the corridors, and it would have been nice, but Albus was pretty sure they were only doing it in hopes of hearing a story, even if they came up to him under the pretense of being friendly.
Albus had just mentioned this theory to Scorpius as the scarlet train wove through a drizzle, about two hours away from London.
“Maybe they really do just want to meet you, Albus,” Scorpius suggested.
“They’ve had four years to do that.”
“Yeah, but now you’re interesting,” said Scorpius. Albus raised an eyebrow.
“What, I wasn’t before?”
“Okay, well, now you’re the kind of interesting that other people care about. I sort of like it. We’re cool now, Albus.”
Albus laughed. “Scorpius, you’re still a nerd. I’m still a mediocre wizard still trying to figure out which way to hold a wand. We’re not that cool.”
“Maybe this is the gateway to cool… ness. Coolness? Cool-dom?”
“See what I mean, we’re still dorks.”
Scorpius laughed and tossed his friend a chocolate frog. “Yeah, maybe you’re right. I think I like that better anyway.”
The platform was, as usual, crowded with swarms of parents and siblings, scanning the train windows for their children. Albus spotted familiar faces out the window of their compartment – his parents, Scorpius’s dad, Teddy and Victoire, his grandmother and grandfather with a small gang of Weasleys. He felt his stomach sink a bit. Albus had known this moment was coming. He would have to get off the train and see a crowd of family and friends, and they would all swarm him and ask him how he was in ways that meant they wanted to know what had happened, but didn’t want to ask him outright.
“You’ll be fine,” said Scorpius quietly from over his shoulder, knowing exactly what Albus was thinking. “It all happened a month ago, they’ll be over it. And it’s the platform, you know, it’s always hectic. They’ll be focused on herding you all home.”
“I hope so,” said Albus, turning away from the window to gather up candy wrappers and stuff his things into his trunk. He knew that Scorpius was still watching him, probably concerned.
“Albus?”
“Mm-hm?”
“Do you think- I mean, er… Are you and your dad all right?”
Albus shrugged, not looking at his friend. “I think so. I guess I get him a little more now. I think he’s being easier on me, and I think... I think a lot of what he said was an accident or stress.”
“Good,” said Scorpius, taking his friend’s wrists and pulling him up. “But don't let anyone shove you around. Owl me if you need anything over the summer, all right?”
“Of course,” said Albus. “Same to you.”
Albus looked out the window over his friend’s shoulder. “People are starting to get off.”
Scorpius glanced behind him at the students spilling onto the platform, then turned back to his friend and pulled him into a tight hug. Albus squeezed back, closing his eyes and gripping Scorpius’s shoulders. He never missed much about Hogwarts, but Scorpius… he would miss Scorpius.
The boys lingered in their compartment as long as they could, and were some of the last students to leave the train. Harry and Ginny waved enthusiastically at Albus as soon as his feet were on the platform. Draco was watching them from the other direction, a small smile twisting on his lips when he spotted his son getting off the train. Albus hesitated before turning back to his family for good.
“I’ll see you,” he said to Scorpius.
“You’ll write?” His friend asked.
“Of course. As soon as I get home.”
Scorpius grinned and Albus threw his arms around him one last time.
“What, now we hug twice in one day?” Scorpius joked, but pulled Albus closer anyway. Albus didn’t answer, just let himself lean into his friend.
“I think it’s a two-hug occasion,” said Albus, reluctantly letting go after a moment. “See you in September.”
“Maybe we can do Diagon Alley on the same day?” Scorpius asked hopefully.
“Yeah, I’m sure we can work that out!”
“Good. Well. Have a nice summer.”
“You too, Scorpius.”
“Albus!” called Ginny. “Want to leave sometime before tomorrow?”
“Not really,” Albus called back.
“Well, I’ve got dinner in the oven,” said his father, coming over and putting an arm on his son’s shoulder, “and I don’t want it to burn. Hello, Scorpius.”
“Hello, Mr. Potter, sir,” Scorpius answered.
“Oh, er, you can call me Harry. Just Harry.”
“Of course, Mr, um… Mr. Harry.”
Albus smirked at Scorpius, who shot him a rather terrifying death glare in response, which worked for all of a second before his grin came back. Harry smiled and waved at him and tugged Albus gently towards the rest of the group.
“Bye, Scorpius!” Albus called over his shoulder.
“Write soon!” his friend called.
And with that, the five Potters pushed through the platform barrier and found themselves back in the muggle world for the summer.
It was all of two days before Albus got a letter from Scorpius. He woke up just after sunrise to an owl hooting and tapping against his window and let it in eagerly, opening the letter and letting the owl perch on his dresser.
Albus,
I can’t sleep. It’s three in the morning. I did a bit of homework in our library, but then dad came in and told me to go to bed, so now I’m writing you. Have you done the history essay yet? I’m having some trouble picking a topic, so I thought I’d just write a few and then turn in whichever comes out most interesting.
Anyway, home is boring. It seems a bit slow after Hogwarts, and dad’s cooking is nothing like the school’s. Although, dad’s being a little less obnoxious this year. I think a death scare really did him a lot of good. I mean, he’s trying harder, at least. It’s nice. Hope all’s well at the Potter household.
I guess I don’t really have that much to say. I just saw you two days ago. It feels like longer, but it was two days.
You know, I’m almost excited for school to start again. I feel like this year’s going to be better.
~Scorpius
Albus read the letter with an exasperated grin, wasting no time in finding a pen and paper to scribble a response.
Scorpius,
Thanks a lot, your owl woke me up. I’m not even going to ask why you decided to do homework in the dead of night, or why you’re so enthusiastic about a history essay (want to give me the one you decide not to turn in?), or why you took the time to write me about three sentences (not that I’m complaining, of course. Three sentences is better than no sentences).
I’m glad your dad is being cool. My family’s sort of let me be so far, except James, but, you know, he’s James. We’ve had Teddy over for dinner already, and I think Rose and Hugo and their parents are coming around soon, so mum and dad have been a bit distracted.
I’ve been thinking about next year too. I hope you’re right and it gets better (not that I hate Hogwarts, but, you know, it never feels quite like home). Maybe it will seem better, with everything that happened. Seeing literal hell Hogwarts sort of put regular Hogwarts into perspective, even if hell Hogwarts made no sense at all and shouldn’t really have been able to exist (Do you understand why that was possible? I sure don’t). I think I sort of get now what my dad always says about Hogwarts being special, about things happening there that don’t happen in other places. It’s not so much the school itself, more all the magic in one place.
But anyway, I’m happy to sit back and enjoy a break. I’m sure I’ll put off my homework until the last day of August.
Miss you!
~Albus
Albus sent Scorpius’s owl back with his letter and added the one he’d gotten to a stack he’d accumulated over the years. He kept a space on his bookshelf for the pile of letters that Scorpius sent him over the summer, saving them to read if he was ever bored or missed his friend. It was barely six in the morning, but at this point he’d been up too long to go back to sleep, so he slipped downstairs to the kitchen.
Half an hour later, Albus heard footsteps on the stairs and glanced up from his toast to see his father wandering into the kitchen.
“Morning, Dad,” he said, turning back to his food. Harry looked over in surprise.
“Hi, Al. You’re up early.” Harry filled a mug with water and made it steam with a wave of his wand, dropping in a tea bag.
“Yeah, letter from Scorpius. I wanted to write back.”
“Speaking of that,” said Harry, sitting across from Albus and taking a long drink of tea, “I was talking to your grandmother and she told me to make sure you know that Scorpius is welcome to visit the Burrow when we’re all there in August.”
Albus looked up from his breakfast, eyes widening at his father. “To visit the Burrow?”
“Yeah.”
“With us?”
“No, just to meet your grandmother,” Harry deadpanned. “Yes, with us. He probably couldn’t stay long, you know how crowded it gets with everyone, but she said she’d be happy to have him for a few nights.”
“Can I borrow Lucy?” said Albus, already crossing the room to the family owl’s cage.
“Sure, but tell Scorpius to send her right back, alright?”
“Yeah, okay!” Albus grabbed a pen and paper off the counter and started scribbling his note.
Scorpius,
You’ve probably just gotten my last letter, but I had to write again – I’ve just found out that my grandmother’s invited you to come stay with us for a couple of days next month! My whole family will be there and they have this cool house in the country. You could come into Diagon Alley with us and spend the night! Ask your dad, okay?
You have to come!
~Albus
P.S. - send Lucy back quick, dad wants her here. Also, I need to know if you’re coming.
Albus hastily let Lucy out to attach the letter and lifted her out the window, watching her brown wings beat against the clear blue sky.
“I hope he can come,” said Albus to his father as he sat back down.
“If his father says no, I’m sure uncle George can take you in a flying car to whisk him off anyway,” said Harry. Albus laughed at his father’s mention of the popular family story, which no one told around Mrs. Weasley because, after all these years, it could still inspire a lecture. It was a favorite in the Potter household, though.
“Well, I hope he’s not being kept with bars on his windows,” said Albus.
“I think he’s in slightly better hands than I was,” muttered Harry. “Now, what do you say we surprise your mother and clean up our own breakfast mess for once?”
Albus didn’t have to wait long for Scorpius’s reply. It came late that night, which meant Scorpius must have written a quick reply and sent Lucy straight back. His reply was hastily scrawled on the back of what looked like an old Potions homework assignment.
Albus,
Really? Your family would want me there? I’d love to come! As long as I’m not intruding or anything. I’d been planning on spending August alone in the library, which is, of course, a very worthwhile way to spend my time, but I'd rather see you. And also Rose. She’ll be there, I’m guessing? I’ve heard so much about the giant Weasley family, It would be great to finally meet everyone. My father says he’s not flying anywhere with me because he has some sort of important work, but tell me when and I’ll floo powder there!
~Scorpius
Albus grinned happily at the accepted invitation, but something about the letter bothered him. He read it over a few more times until he could pinpoint it – Rose. It was what had been bothering him at the end of the school year too; Rose, or, more accurately, Scorpius’s weird focus on her.
To Albus, it had seemed totally out of nowhere. Rose had been nothing but rude to Scorpius, ignorant and dismissing, too proud of her family to give him a chance. Scorpius was kind and sweet and smart and had plenty of other people he could go after, though Albus found himself wishing Scorpius wouldn’t go after anyone at all – it was nice being just the two of them, best friends with no one in between.
But he ignored the add-on about Rose as best he could and wrote a quick reply to his friend, telling him about the Burrow and his grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins, hoping he was making it sound fun and worth a few days. Albus had never looked forward to a visit to the Burrow as much as he was looking forward to this one.