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Albus hadn’t meant to.
Well, of course he had meant to.
He had been thinking about how much he’d like to kiss his best friend since their second year at Hogwarts. About how warm Scorpius Malfoy’s hands were whenever they touched, whenever they held hands (because that was a thing they did now, apparently). About how the blond boy’s hair fell into his eyes when he was bent over a textbook or writing an essay. About the little crease that formed between his eyebrows when he was thinking. About the way his grey eyes shone whenever he spoke about school, and magic, and potions. And about the way he loved so, so fiercely.
Albus was unequivocally in love with this boy. He hadn’t realised what the feelings were during second year and had spent all of third year trying to deny them. After the whole time-turner incident in fourth year though, denying them had become rather difficult. They had grown closer in every way, and Albus knew Scorpius felt the same way he did; they just hadn’t quite worked out how to talk about it. And now, a week into their fifth year, Albus had apparently decided that now was the perfect time to act on those feelings.
It was Friday. They were in the library. Scorpius had dragged him here as soon as their classes were over so they could get a head start on all the homework they’d been set. Albus had complained the whole time; it was their first weekend since the start of term, and no one else had been hauled to the library to do homework. Scorpius had argued that it was important to get started early; it was their O.W.L. year after all. Albus thought he was insufferable; they were still in their school robes as the other boy hadn’t deemed it necessary to return to the dormitory to change, and no one else seemed to share Scorpius’ homework enthusiasm as the library was pretty dead.
Albus had eventually given in and had taken out a piece of parchment, his ink and his quills. He’d even cracked open his potions book with every intention of at least writing the introduction to his ‘How Not to Brew the Draught of Peace’ essay for Professor Vale. But he was distracted almost immediately.
His eyes had tracked Scorpius as the blond had trawled the nearby bookshelves, pushing his hair out of his face and nibbling on his bottom lip as he trailed his hands over the book spines. His robes flared behind him, and his uniform complemented him almost unfairly well; he’d filled out a bit after spending the last year honing his Quidditch skills (he hadn’t made the team yet, but he was determined to keep trying). The silver and green prefect badge pinned to his chest gleamed whenever it caught the light. It suited him; he looked good, and it did… things to Albus.
Albus hadn’t even realised he’d been watching him until the boy had slapped a big tome down on the table beside him.
And then, Scorpius had just spent the next hour geeking out over the book, reading and retaining as much information as he could about the 1612 goblin rebellion. Professor Binns had set them homework on the subject in lesson earlier that morning. Albus, as always, had found the class extremely dull and had struggled to stay awake throughout the boring lecture. Scorpius, on the other hand, had soaked it all up like the nerd he was and was clearly excited to work on the essay.
Scorpius had written half a roll of parchment when he stopped and started theorising about the rebellion with great excitement.
Albus, who hadn’t even dipped his quill in the ink and still had a very blank parchment in front of him, barely listened to a word the blond said. But he was happy, and that made something inside Albus do a tiny little somersault.
The early evening sun shone through the window and framed Scorpius just right. Tiny motes of dust drifted through the air around him. His smile lit up his face, and his hands animated everything he was saying. There was a buzz in his voice, and his eyes shone with excitement.
Everything about him turned Albus to mush. The poor sod was besotted. He was also terribly worried he would mess up - he usually did. But his heart was so full of love for the boy in front of him who was rambling about goblins and rebellions. And he just suddenly couldn’t contain it.
He hadn’t consciously made the decision to do it; he hadn’t even realised he’d been getting close enough to do it. But one moment he’d been half-listening to the impromptu history lesson, and drinking in the sight of this boy who was his everything… and in the next, he was kissing him.
Every time they’d tried before, every time they’d gotten even remotely close, something or someone had interrupted them. But not this time.
Albus Potter was kissing Scorpius Malfoy.
It went quiet around them, the kiss having stolen Scorpius’ words. Scorpius went rigid, and for half a second, Albus had thought he’d done wrong, that he’d miscalculated and messed up.
But then the blond hummed against him, relaxed and kissed him back.
Albus forgot about absolutely everything.
He forgot that they were at Hogwarts, in the middle of the library where anyone could walk around the corner and find them. He forgot that he’d spent the last three years pining after a boy he never thought he’d be able to have. He forgot about the bullies that had teased him relentlessly since first year. He forgot that he was Harry Potter's son. He even forgot how to breathe, because while Albus had stolen Scorpius’s words, Scorpius had stolen Albus' breath.
Scorpius’ hand reached out carefully and caught in the front of Albus’ robes. He pulled him gently closer, and Albus realised that there was no turning back now. He was well and truly gone for this boy. His heart did another somersault, and he felt fireworks going off inside of him.
They pulled apart. Around them, tiny colourful sparks fizzed and popped, lighting up the space in red and yellow and blue and green. Both the boys looked up, watching the fireworks fizzle out as they caught their breath.
Albus couldn’t find the words. He couldn’t believe he’d just kissed his best friend, and that his best friend had kissed him back! He felt like a hundred galleons! But the fireworks he’d been feeling, they were so strong that his magic hadn’t been able to contain itself and had set off actual tiny fireworks around them. He was surprised that Madam Pince hadn’t come running yet. No, he was more surprised nothing had caught alight.
When the final firework popped and faded away, they both looked back down at each other. Neither said anything for a moment.
Albus wasn’t sure what to say. He opened his mouth to apologise for kissing Scorpius without asking, but the Malfoy’s face broke out into the biggest, sweetest grin.
“Wizzo!” He gushed quietly, pushing his hair back out of his face again and tilting his head back to laugh in quiet, excited disbelief.
Albus stared at him, a tiny bubble of laughter escaping him too.
“Wizzo?” He asked with a shake of his head. “I kiss you, and you say wizzo?”
“You can’t talk,” Scorpius said lightly, kicking his feet, his face beaming. He looked happier than he had when he’d been talking about his History of Magic homework, and Albus hadn’t thought that was a possibility. “You let off fireworks. In the library. While we were kissing.”
“Fuck,” Albus shook his head, the reality of what had just happened crashing back into him all at once. He looked around quickly, half-expecting to see Madam Pince bearing down on them, docking house points and putting them in detention for causing such a ruckus. “Fuck, Scorpius. I could’ve set the bloody library on fire!”
“But you didn’t.”
“That’s not the point,” Albus groaned and threw his head back. “I didn’t mean to do it - the fireworks. It was accidental. It was accidental magic. I haven’t done accidental magic since our first year!”
“Well, I thought it was rather romantic,” Scorpius chortled happily.
Albus looked back at the blond boy and sighed. Scorpius was so giddy with excitement and happiness that he could barely sit still. The mood started to rub off on Albus, erasing the concern over his accidental magic and making him feel lighter.
Until a new thought occurred to him and his stomach sank again. Because Scorpius was still smiling at him, cheeks slightly pink and eyes bright, but that didn’t change the fact that Albus had just taken a huge risk and could have fucked everything up.
“Oh, God. I’m sorry.”
The smile on Scorpius’ face faltered slightly, and the little crease appeared between his eyebrows. Albus wanted to kiss it smooth again, but chastised himself for the thought.
“What?” Scorpius suddenly sounded hurt, and the light in his eyes had dimmed.
“I’m sorry,” Albus repeated, sitting back properly and putting a little more space between them. “I shouldn’t have done that.”
Scorpius looked at him and blinked, clearly calculating his reply.
Albus cursed himself. He could practically feel himself beginning to unravel and knew that he was about to dig himself a bigger hole, but was wholly unable to stop his descent.
“I mean, I wanted to!” He blurted out half a second later, before Scorpius could even open his mouth to reply. “Obviously. I really, really wanted to. And it was good. And you were… good.”
“Good,” Scorpius parroted back.
“But I didn’t ask you, did I?” Albus continued. “I just kissed you, and I shouldn’t have. And—”
“Albus.”
“—and you froze when I did it. And I thought I’d fucked everything up. And then you kissed me back. Which was brilliant, of course! Thank you. But that doesn’t mean I should’ve just…”
Scorpius reached out, threading his fingers through Albus’. Albus’ words trailed off as he looked down at where they were now touching. It certainly wasn’t the first time they’d held hands, but it felt different this time.
He looked up at Scorpius, glad to see the blond’s smile firmly back in place and the light burning in his eyes again. He was also looking at Albus like he was an idiot.
“Albus. I kissed you back.”
“You did,” Albus nodded quickly.
“I wanted to kiss you back,” Scorpius emphasised. “I’ve wanted to kiss you for a long time.”
“Really?” Albus asked dumbly.
“Since third year,” Scorpius shrugged. “But it took going to the dark world for me to realise it.”
“Oh, well…” Albus trailed off awkwardly, the horrible knot that had formed in his stomach beginning to loosen. “Not that it’s a competition or anything, but I’ve wanted to kiss you since the beginning of 2nd year. Maybe even before then!”
Scorpius scoffed a laugh. His Albus, ever the competitor.
“Still,” Albus said softly after a moment of silence between them, bringing their moment back to his concern even though it had mostly abated. “I should’ve asked.”
“If it means that much to you,” Scorpius hummed with a tilt of his head. “You could always ask to kiss me again.”
“Again?” Albus echoed dumbfounded, like he couldn’t quite believe what this boy was suggesting.
Scorpius nodded eagerly, practically vibrating in his seat.
“Oh, um. Okay…” Albus composed himself and sat up straighter. He coughed once to clear his throat. “Scorpius. Please, can I kiss you? Again.”
Albus didn’t think Scorpius’ grin could get any bigger, but it did. He moved closer.
“You may,” he muttered, leaning forward.
Albus met him halfway, and immediately the fireworks were popping and buzzing around them again.
They broke apart quickly, Scorpius with a giggle and Albus with a groan.
“Is this going to happen every time?” Albus grumbled after the last green firework exploded with a tiny ‘pop’ above their heads.
“I don’t know.” Scorpius stood up and started packing everything into his school bag. “But I’m excited to find out!”
“What are you doing?” Albus asked, watching in confusion as Scorpius rolled up his half-written History of Magic essay. Scorpius never left homework unfinished.
“Packing up.”
“Why?”
“Because I think we should go back to the dormitory.”
“What, like, right now?” Albus stood, a little confused and started packing up his unstarted homework.
“Yes,” Scorpius nodded, putting things into his bag without his usual due care and attention. He was stuffing things into his bag the Albus Potter way - in haste and with hope that the stopper on his ink bottle was on well enough that it wouldn’t leak all over everything. “Right now.”
“But it’s almost dinner time.”
“Yes, and I’m excited for dinner too, but there’s something more important I need to do first.”
“In the dormitory?” Albus questioned, clearly not getting the hint.
“Yes.”
“What? What do you need to do?”
Scorpius finally had everything crammed into his bag. He turned to look at Albus and tilted his head.
“I want to kiss my boyfriend in my bed,” He said honestly. He wanted somewhere quieter they could kiss, in a space that was theirs. Not just the library, where anyone could stumble across them.
“Oh,” Albus nodded once before realisation dawned. “Oh!”
“Yeah, so come on!”
Albus scrambled after Scorpius full of nervous excitement. As soon as he reached Scorpius’ side, he slowed to a walk.
“So, uh… boyfriends?” Albus asked quietly as they passed by Madam Pince’s desk. She watched them leave, her eyes following them until they were gone.
“Yes,” Scorpius nodded as they left the warmth of the library and entered the chilly fourth-floor corridor. “I think so. Don’t you?”
“Uh, yeah,” Albus swallowed. They walked a few more steps, and Albus reached out for Scorpius’ hand. The blond instinctively reached back, and they intertwined their fingers together. Their hands were hidden underneath their cloaks, so any passer-by would just see Potter and Malfoy walking uncomfortably close to one another, as usual.
“Boyfriends,” Albus mused, happily a few minutes later, when they had to stop on a moving staircase. “I like the sound of that.”
Scorpius hummed in agreement, stepping down to the step below Albus, never letting go of his hand as he did so. He looked up into Albus’ green eyes and smiled.
“Me too.”