Endless
Title: Endless
Author/Artist: Dorothy Gale dorothy_in_oz
Requestor: sesheta_66 @ slashfest
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Albus Severus Potter/Scorpius Malfoy, Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Draco Malfoy/Asteria Greengrass, Albus Severus Potter/Joanna Longbottom
Rating: R
Word count: 4412
Warnings: Angst. Suggestion.
Summary: Sometimes, what we want and what we get are not the same thing.
Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction set in the Harry Potter universe - all recognisable characters and settings are the property of J. K. Rowling and her associates. No copyright infringement is intended. No profit is made from this work. Please observe your local laws with regards to the age-limit and content of this work.
A/N: Many thanks to my beta and good friend in this adventure, my Toto. I would have never finished this without your endless encouragement.
The request was… Albus Potter / Scorpius Malfoy The boys had a brief romantic relationship in school, but parent(s) (your choice which) objected and sent the one away to another school. Fast forward to five years after graduation and an article in the paper announcing the engagement of one of them to a prominent witch. The other is devastated and tries to stop the wedding from happening. Your choice whether it works out. No Albus, Scorpius, Harry or Draco death, please.
Dear sesheta_66: I hope I've covered your request successfully, and that I have skipped all of your squicks. It has been an honor to write for you!
~ Endless ~
The cover announced it widely, the biggest article on the front, three columns with a twelve-inch picture illustrating the headline.
Albus Severus Potter ties the knot this Saturday!
Scorpius blinked at the moving photograph, where a smiling Albus Potter waved to the audience of photographers while he held a beautiful petite blonde before kissing her. The September issue of Monthly Witch didn't give any space for doubts. The son of war hero Harry Potter would be marrying a witch unknown to Scorpius.
His Albus was going to become a married man.
Somehow, eight years after their debacle, it still hurt him. Scorpius rose from his chair in a hidden corner of a Muggle café and folded the magical magazine so the pictures in motion wouldn't be seen. He walked out of the place as if he owned it, head up and chin forward, as if he didn't care about anything but the pace his won feet decided to follow.
As if it didn't pain him enough to make him cry.
As the prickle of tears behind his eyes became almost unbearable, his steps grew quicker, until he reached a safe apparition point at the end of the road.
"I love you."
"I love you too."
It didn't matter that they were saying the words inside a broom closet, nor that they were sweaty and sticky, nor that their very first time had been up against the wall with the rest of the world happening less than a feet away.
They had each other, and that had been more than enough.
Albus caressed his cheek with the practiced ease of someone who knew Scorpius by heart, before gathering his belongings and preparing to get out of that closet. Scorpius took the hand his boyfriend - lover - offered and together they opened the door, giggling when it got blocked.
Applying more force, they managed to open it enough for just a body to pass through. Albus saw it as a sign, and refused to walk out hand in hand with Scorpius, alleging that someone could see them. Before Scorpius could point out that the aim of any relationship was to be public and recognized, Albus squeezed out and waved goodbye.
Sighing, Scorpius followed, wondering how long the hiding would take, making sure he had not been seen.
His apartment was as lonely and empty as he had left it before going to work. Scorpius deposited the Muggle keys on a plate by the doorway, and threw the magazine over the first surface he found - a dusty mirror by the entrance. With a soft thud, the paper hit the mirror and rebounded to the ground. Scorpius left it to rot in the dirt of his apartment's floor and closed the door.
He didn't exactly live like a recluse, he often reminded himself. The act that he had chosen a Muggle neighbourhood and a Muggle job didn't mean he had abandoned the Wizarding World.
That was what he had tried to believe, day after day, since the moment he had decided to step out of Malfoy Manor without looking back. He hadn't given up on magic, he had just pushed it back to a place not as important as other things, such as finding a job and building a life outside Hogwarts.
He flopped down on the couch, fingers twitching where he had touched the newspaper. Scorpius closed his eyes and sighed. Trying to calm down his racing pulse was useless, and telling himself off for feeling so excited after eight years was to no avail. He hadn't thought he would miss his teen years so much, but all of a sudden he could only think about Hogwarts and its secret alcoves, its hidden rooms, its warmth.
He hadn't thought he would miss Albus so much.
"I think someone has seen us."
"Don't be a spoilsport, Al. there's no one in here but us."
They were in the Slytherin Quidditch Team changing rooms, stealing some kisses before Albus had to play Seeker. Scorpius was worried about his boyfriend, because he had heard a bet between two passing Gryffindors about beating Slytherin starting from their Seeker, but Albus just wouldn't listen. He was far too much worried about anyone seeing them together. Scorpius thought he was obsessing. However, he left Albus with a quick peck on the cheek and walked towards his place in the stands.
The match developed easily for Slytherin, whose Seeker just kept flying in circles. Scorpius saw the Snitch just a second after Albus took off in its quest. Unfortunately, one of the Gryffindor Beaters saw Albus too.
The Bludger hit him strong and square in the head.
Everyone gasped as Albus lost his balance as well as his conscience and began to fall - a foot per second, fast, hard. Scorpius took his wand out and pointed it at the falling form, but Professor McGonagall was faster and managed to stop Albus, preventing him from hitting the ground.
He was taken to the Hospital Wing before Scorpius could stand up and follow.
"You have to stop wallowing in your self-pity," a friendly voice told him through his mobile phone. "I know you gave up long time ago, but seriously, Scorp, you need to come back now."
"I can't. I have everything I need here."
"You are a wizard, for Merlin's sake! Get your big ass to Hogwarts and stop that wedding!"
Scorpius sighed as Audrey Weasley, his best friend, ranted on and on for the umpteenth time in two days. Ever since the news had shown up on almost every cover, Audrey had been calling him the Muggle way - he had long since disconnected the Floo from his apartment - to try and convince him to just do something to keep Albus from making the biggest mistake of his life.
"He has chosen. He chose that day, Audrey, and he didn't choose me. That has to mean he doesn't love me, didn't then, doesn't now."
"No, Scorpius. That means he's a coward and you're blind. Have you seen the girl my cousin's marrying?"
"Of course," he spat. "She's on every bloody cover from here to Asia."
"Have you really watched her portrait closely?" Audrey pressed. "Uncle Nev's daughter, all blonde and slim! She even has small grey eyes, just like you! Albus is trying to send you a message, you ponce!"
"Joanna Longbottom?" Scorpius blinked, searching for the forgotten magazine he had discarded days before. "I didn't quite remember her like that…"
"She has changed and become not only one of the most beautiful witches in our country, but also a very important Wizarding Law expert, Scorpius. Where have you been?"
"Living life the Muggle way," he offered as an answer, while Audrey just sighed.
"Scorpius, it's been five years since you decided to forget about magic, and you know it is not fair for anyone," she tried again. "And Albus has been miserable too, of that I'm sure. When he sent the invitations to his wedding to none other than Joanna, for Slytherin's most sacred secrets, I thought he had definitely gone nuts! He is obviously attempting to make you come back and rescue him, Scorpius, and if you can't see it I'd recommend you start using those Muggle devices to see better."
"They are called glasses, and I don't need them, thank you very much." Scorpius rubbed his face with his free hand, while gripping his mobile phone harder with the other, fingers closing around the device. "You see conspirators and plans everywhere, did you know that, Audrey?"
"Well, there are conspirators around everywhere," she drawled with what Scorpius thought was a grin.
"And I wondered why the Hat sorted you into Slytherin…"
Audrey just laughed. Scorpius had always found it quite amusing that a Weasley and a Malfoy had become such good friends; even though Audrey was a few years his senior, once her cousin Rose had introduced them, his first night at Hogwarts, their friendship had started to build. Scorpius had met Rose Weasley on the Hogwarts Express, along with her cousin Albus; it had been the first time he had talked to Al. When the two boys were sorted into Slytherin, Rose had felt her duty to help them adapt to their new home.
Then, five years later, Scorpius' life had been shattered once again.
"Are you even listening to me?"
"No," he answered truthfully.
"That's what I thought. I already have a date for my cousin's wedding, but Rose doesn't, and since she's out of the country on a magic-only trip, I'm asking you on her behalf."
"I don't have elegant robes, not even robes," he protested weakly.
"Oh, haven't I told you?"He could hear her smirking. "Joanna wanted the wedding to be as Muggle as possible, for some strange reasons, so there will be Muggle etiquette at Hogwarts for the first time in centuries."
Scorpius hadn't run that fast in his entire life, the pace he had started when he had realized they were taking Albus to the infirmary.
He swung the doors open and prepared to lunge himself to the bed where Albus would be lying, only to be stopped by Madame Pomfrey in his quest to comfort Albus.
"You shouldn't be here," she admonished him.
"But Al…"
"He'll be fine," she reassured him. "But you won't be able to talk to him. He's asleep."
"Can I at least get in?" he pleaded. "I promise not to cause any trouble. I just want to be with my best friend."
She shot him what Scorpius thought was a pitying look, but allowed him entrance, pointing out that Albus was in the last bed of the left aisle. Scorpius was off before she could even tell him they would be alone.
He found Albus on the bed, eyes closed, skin pale, an ugly cut on his temple where the Bludger had knocked him out. Scorpius looked around, and then he stretched out a hand and caressed Albus' forehead with shaky hands.
"Oh, Albus," he sighed. "I don't know what I'd do if something ever happened to you."
"Don't be that bloody obvious," came the raspy reply from the bed, and Scorpius chuckled.
"Back to yourself?" he questioned. "Does it hurt too much?"
"Well, it's like I've been hit by a Bludger. No, wait, I actually got hit by one of those!" Albus joked mirthlessly. "What do you think?" But beneath his snarky tone, Scorpius could sense the soft voice Albus always talked to him with. "Did I scare you?"
"To death. Don't ever do that again."
"Deal."
Albus grasped Scorpius' fingers and intertwined them tightly. They looked into each other's eyes for what seemed an eternity, until a voice broke their magic.
"What's going on here?"
Hogwarts Great Hall was packed. Scorpius waited by the entrance while Rose went to greet some of her relatives. She had arrived in London the night before, and had stayed at Audrey's instead of her parents', deducing that it would take her less effort to Apparate to Hogwarts from there than from Ottery St. Catchpole.
Scorpius shifted his weight between his feet uncomfortably. He hadn't come back to Hogwarts in five years, and he felt a hundred pairs of eyes on him, scrutinizing his movements, figuring out their thoughts. "A Malfoy at the wedding of Albus," he could hear. "And with Rosie Weasley!" He knew his mere presence disgusted them, that he didn't have a right to be there. Rose rescued him from himself with a soft smile.
"Scorp, Albus is already inside. Joanna won't be here for a while, bride's delay and everything. It's your moment."
"I'm not sure," he admitted. "What if he does love her?"
"What if you spend your life, and mine, wondering what if?" she counteracted. "Just go on. Now!"
Scorpius entered the hall under the attentive gaze of the guests who were already sat, and walked past Audrey, who gave him a reassuring smile. The groom had a separate room beside the improvised altar, with a door ajar that Scorpius planned to trespass with no hesitation. He approached Albus, by the altar, from behind, so the other man didn't see him, but Harry Potter was talking to his son and from the look in his eyes Scorpius knew he wasn't welcome. That didn't stop him, not when he had come this far.
"May I have a word?" he asked politely, waiting for Albus to turn around.
The expression on Albus Potter's face was priceless when he finally faced the only Malfoy to ever kiss him.
When Scorpius turned around, he found not only Madame Pomfrey but also none other than Harry Potter. They both looked aghast and bewildered, but the witch's distress was soon voiced.
"Albus Severus Potter, you were supposed to rest! What are you doing awake?"
Albus managed to withdraw his fingers from Scorpius' while she talked, but from the light in Mr Potter's eyes, Scorpius knew he had seen.
And understood.
"Scorpius, right?" he asked in a cold tone. "Could you please leave me alone with my son?"
He could only obey, getting up and walking past Madame Pomfrey, who patted him on the shoulder affectionately. "You can come later," she whispered with a smile.
"Thanks," he muttered in reply, ambling through the swinging doors.
Less than an hour later, Lily Potter spread the news that would crush his world. Harry Potter had taken his son out of school and into St Mungo's to get him checked for any internal injury. That week was horrible enough without Albus, all the final exams approaching and so little time to prepare for them after thinking of a particular pair of deep green eyes. Then, by the end of that Saturday, when Scorpius was about to throw his Divination book into the dim fire in the Slytherin Common Room, an owl reached him. Better said, Rose Weasley delivered the message the owl had brought for him - after not finding the way to the dungeons, the animal had settled to find another person. It had been luck that Rose had intercepted it before Lily could get her hands on the letter.
Scorpius invited Rose to sit down with him while he avidly read the letter, written and addressed to him in the untidy handwriting Albus Potter could not conceal.
Dear Scorp,
Dad wants me to stay out of Hogwarts until I get better from my injuries. It seems the Bludger hit harder than Pomfrey thought at first, and though I can't feel anything special, Dad and Mom both think it's better for me to rest at St Mungo's. It means I won't be able to take the exams with you next week, and I'm not sure they'll allow me to have guests over the summer, or to travel, for that matter. So I don't think we will see each other this summer. What I do know is that I will miss you heaps.
See you in September. Wait for me near the third door at the Express!
Love you,
Al
Scorpius braced himself for a summer with no news from Albus. His thoughts didn't let him focus on his exams or get any sleep.
When the owl delivered his marks, he had achieved only four OWLs.
His father never said anything about that, but he pulled Scorpius into a tight embrace each time the boy's snowy owl returned from the Potter household with an unopened letter.
"Scorpius," Albus said with a quivering voice. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm glad to see you again after eight years," Scorpius said politely, as if Albus had expressed his joy in reuniting once again. "Though it's a sad event for me."
"You shouldn't be here," Harry Potter exclaimed. "Leave this instant."
"I just want to talk to Albus," Scorpius explained. "After that, he will be yours again."
"We didn't invite you," Harry retorted.
"But you invited, and I'm quoting, Ms Rose Weasley and guest. I am that guest part."
"I ask you to leave."
"What do you say, Al?" Scorpius asked forcefully, even though he felt his heart breaking into a million pieces. "Should I go?"
"I have a wedding to attend. My wedding," Albus replied, glancing at his father. "You can stay, since you came with Rosie, but I have nothing to say to you."
"Nothing?" Scorpius screeched. "You left with no word, almost ten years ago, and we have nothing to talk about?"
"I'm sorry," Albus pushed past him, and abandoned the room where they were staying, followed by his father.
Scorpius blinked, suddenly alone. Things hadn't gone how he had planned them - quite out of hand - but he had another plan to go by. He searched for a place near Rose and Audrey.
"How did things go?" asked Audrey. "Are we going to attend your bonding instead of a wedding?"
"Not yet," Scorpius swallowed.
"You mean he's marrying Joanna?" Rose sputtered. "The tight-arsed, suck-up girl? Wasn't your job to stop that?"
"We'll go with plan B. Your uncle was there," Scorpius offered as an excuse.
"We never talked about any plan B," Rose was scandalized. “Please tell me you're not improvising."
"In fact," said Scorpius as the priest entered the church and the first piano notes announced the arrival of the bride. "I am."
Scorpius hadn't spent a lonelier summer in his whole life, not even the ones he had lived through when he hadn't had a friend. He had written hundreds of letters, he had tired out the owl his mother had gifted him with before his first year at Hogwarts, but all his efforts had been in vain. His owl always returned his missives, as if they were tainted and Albus didn't want to dirty his hands with Scorpius' words.
Once, his father had found him weeping in a corner over one of the letters, which had become angrier and angrier each time. "Scorpius, you have to stop this," his father had told him. "It's not healthy," he had added.
Scorpius had shaken his head without stopping crying. His father had hugged him tight in an attempt to control the shaking when Scorpius had started to sputter words. "It's good to cry, son, to let it all out. But once you're done, you have to forget about what made you sad in the first place. There's no point in grieving over what is lost."
Scorpius just couldn't stop trembling, so his father had held him until at least the tears had dried. After that, they had sat together in front of a huge window.
"You see, Scorpius, I think I know why you're taking this too personally."
He had looked up at his father, surprised. "What?"
"I am your father, but I am not blind. You and Harry's… Potter's son are a couple, am I wrong?" His father had said it straight forward, with no preamble, startling Scorpius.
"How did…?"
"As I said, I'm your father. Listen, Scorpius, his father will tell you it's not natural, that you are sick. Believe me, you're not."
"How do you know that?"
"Because I know Potter. He thinks that everyone who's different from him is a freak. You're not, Scorpius, no matter what the mighty believe."
As he recalled that conversation while standing with his father in Platform 9 ¾, a reassuring hand on his shoulder, students started to cross the wall through the mist. He waited and waited for a signal, for anything, to tell him Albus was coming.
The Weasley clan appeared almost when the Hogwarts Express was giving its first warning, at a quarter to eleven. Scorpius watched intently, as though he could conjure Albus' presence with just wishing it, but all he earned was Rose's glare and a confused look from Hugo. He could have sworn, however, that the glances the Weasleys exchanged with his father were pitiful.
When the clock signaled eleven o'clock, Scorpius climbed up the few stairs to the train and searched for a compartment. From the window, he saw how Ginny Potter appeared with Lily and James, helping them to get on the train when it was starting to move.
He waited for Albus in vain.
Scorpius shifted uncomfortably in his seat as the priest went on and on about the good of marriage. His mind replayed those last years a Hogwarts, the loneliness even though Rose was with him, the need to escape because everything reminded him of Albus, the awkward moment when he had confessed his feelings to Rose and Audrey and they had admitted their knowledge - if small - of their short relationship. The ultimate decision of leaving Hogwarts and magic altogether.
His father hadn't said a thing, as usual, but Scorpius could tell he was hurting.
He looked around, not surprised at the lack of Weasleys - or other family friends - in the ceremony. When the news of Albus attending Beauxbatons instead of Hogwarts spread, Hermione and Ron Weasley had been the firsts to inquire about a reason. Rumor had it that, after a tense and harsh fight, the Weasleys with Molly and Arthur's exception had confronted the hero and severed any relationship with him and his wife. Later on, Rose had confessed, under threats of torture and murder, that it had been the not-so secret bond the boys had that had caused the family to split.
Albus never returned to Hogwarts, and never again spoke to Scorpius.
The blond had been devastated.
"If anyone knows a reason why this couple should not marry, please speak now or keep silent forever."
"Merlin, I wish he would just stop," Audrey complained. "He's giving me a headache."
"When are you going to work through your plan B?" Rose asked, nudging him. "At this rate, they'll be married by the time you make a decision."
"I think now's the moment," Scorpius whispered, standing up. "If I may, I do know a reason why they shouldn't marry," he announced aloud.
Rose's jaw would have hit the floor for all he could see out of the corner of his eye. Audrey placed a hand in the small of his back, protectively.
"How would that be?" the priest asked, flabbergasted, among the whispers and surprised gasps of the crowd.
"Because I am in love with the groom," Scorpius kept on, his fears forgotten as he reminded himself that, if anything went wrong, he would go back to his Muggle world. "And I am sure he is in love with me."
The stammering stopped as abruptly as it had begun. Scorpius felt strangely warm. "I don't think I understand," the priest said, while the bride only looked at her soon-to-be father-in-law. "Albus, is what this young man says true?"
"I can't know about his feelings for me," Albus said, his voice ruthless and doubtful. "But I know I am in love with Joanna."
"All you needed to forget me was to be sent to Beauxbatons?" Scorpius demanded. "All it took was another blonde?"
"What you felt was unnatural," Albus recited, like someone who had memorized a speech to repeat like a parrot.
"Was it unnatural, the way we kissed?" Scorpius cried. "Was it unnatural what we did that only time in that broom closet?"
"You lured me into believing in feelings I didn't have. You tried to have your wicked way with me."
"So basically you never felt anything for him?" Rose bit out, unable to hold in her words. "All those nights you cried yourself to sleep that summer are all lies, Albus? Is that what you mean?"
"Rose," Harry Potter intervened. "Don't cause any more mess."
"Of course, uncle," she retorted, ironically. "We don't want to tarnish such a beautiful lie with the truth."
"What truth?" Harry faced his niece while Ginny Potter sighed beside him. "He was trying to turn my son into a monster!"
"Well, then, we are all monsters," Audrey finally took part. "Because you are alone in this battle." She stood up and her date imitated her. "Have you ever stopped to think about why not even your best friends are here to witness this ceremony? This may be your triumph, uncle, but you've lost so much that it doesn't even count as a victory."
Everyone was silenced by her words, Harry Potter red in rage, Ginny Potter white in shame. When no one moved a single eyelash, Scorpius knew he was alone.
"Come on, Rose, Scorp," Audrey motioned them towards the exit, practically fuming. "You can't convince them."
"Wait," Scorpius pleaded. "Just a second. Albus, what do you feel, deep inside?"
Albus seemed dazed, but his father was by his side before he could open his mouth.
"Do you really want to tie that knot?" Scorpius asked weakly. The answer broke his heart in two.
"Yes, I do."
"Come on, Scorpius," Audrey repeated, this time actually taking his hand and pulling. "I'm sorry."
The four of them walked out the aisle as the priest pronounced in relief his speech. As they went on, all eyes on them, Scorpius wished against all odds that Albus broke free and ran after him.
When they reached the main entrance, Scorpius had lost whatever remnants of hope he had stocked.
Fifteen years later
King's Cross was crowded. The multitude around Platform 9 was even thicker that first day of September. Scorpius looked around, recalling what it was like to be a kid as he watched children trespassing one of the columns.
He was waiting.
The family approached slowly, a father, a mother, a daughter. Blond against dark, curly against slick.
The Potters.
He locked eyes with Albus Potter without even wanting to. So many years later, Albus still had that effect on him. His fingers twitched, yearning to touch those soft cheeks.
Albus stopped dead in his tracks, recognizing the man who had caused so much trouble at his wedding. A fluttery feeling passed through his gaze, but Scorpius ignored it, just like Rose had taught him.
He would never fall again. He would never hurt again. Not because of Albus, even though what he felt was love. Endless love.
Scorpius stepped forward and spoke.
"I forgive you, Albus," he said shakily, the words that Rose had taught him. "I forgive you, and I let you go."
Then he turned around and walked away, leaving the three people stunned at his back.
He was going back to his life, with the friends who loved him, to the loneliness where he belonged.
Author/Artist: Dorothy Gale dorothy_in_oz
Requestor: sesheta_66 @ slashfest
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Albus Severus Potter/Scorpius Malfoy, Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Draco Malfoy/Asteria Greengrass, Albus Severus Potter/Joanna Longbottom
Rating: R
Word count: 4412
Warnings: Angst. Suggestion.
Summary: Sometimes, what we want and what we get are not the same thing.
Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction set in the Harry Potter universe - all recognisable characters and settings are the property of J. K. Rowling and her associates. No copyright infringement is intended. No profit is made from this work. Please observe your local laws with regards to the age-limit and content of this work.
A/N: Many thanks to my beta and good friend in this adventure, my Toto. I would have never finished this without your endless encouragement.
The request was… Albus Potter / Scorpius Malfoy The boys had a brief romantic relationship in school, but parent(s) (your choice which) objected and sent the one away to another school. Fast forward to five years after graduation and an article in the paper announcing the engagement of one of them to a prominent witch. The other is devastated and tries to stop the wedding from happening. Your choice whether it works out. No Albus, Scorpius, Harry or Draco death, please.
Dear sesheta_66: I hope I've covered your request successfully, and that I have skipped all of your squicks. It has been an honor to write for you!
~ Endless ~
The cover announced it widely, the biggest article on the front, three columns with a twelve-inch picture illustrating the headline.
Albus Severus Potter ties the knot this Saturday!
Scorpius blinked at the moving photograph, where a smiling Albus Potter waved to the audience of photographers while he held a beautiful petite blonde before kissing her. The September issue of Monthly Witch didn't give any space for doubts. The son of war hero Harry Potter would be marrying a witch unknown to Scorpius.
His Albus was going to become a married man.
Somehow, eight years after their debacle, it still hurt him. Scorpius rose from his chair in a hidden corner of a Muggle café and folded the magical magazine so the pictures in motion wouldn't be seen. He walked out of the place as if he owned it, head up and chin forward, as if he didn't care about anything but the pace his won feet decided to follow.
As if it didn't pain him enough to make him cry.
As the prickle of tears behind his eyes became almost unbearable, his steps grew quicker, until he reached a safe apparition point at the end of the road.
"I love you."
"I love you too."
It didn't matter that they were saying the words inside a broom closet, nor that they were sweaty and sticky, nor that their very first time had been up against the wall with the rest of the world happening less than a feet away.
They had each other, and that had been more than enough.
Albus caressed his cheek with the practiced ease of someone who knew Scorpius by heart, before gathering his belongings and preparing to get out of that closet. Scorpius took the hand his boyfriend - lover - offered and together they opened the door, giggling when it got blocked.
Applying more force, they managed to open it enough for just a body to pass through. Albus saw it as a sign, and refused to walk out hand in hand with Scorpius, alleging that someone could see them. Before Scorpius could point out that the aim of any relationship was to be public and recognized, Albus squeezed out and waved goodbye.
Sighing, Scorpius followed, wondering how long the hiding would take, making sure he had not been seen.
His apartment was as lonely and empty as he had left it before going to work. Scorpius deposited the Muggle keys on a plate by the doorway, and threw the magazine over the first surface he found - a dusty mirror by the entrance. With a soft thud, the paper hit the mirror and rebounded to the ground. Scorpius left it to rot in the dirt of his apartment's floor and closed the door.
He didn't exactly live like a recluse, he often reminded himself. The act that he had chosen a Muggle neighbourhood and a Muggle job didn't mean he had abandoned the Wizarding World.
That was what he had tried to believe, day after day, since the moment he had decided to step out of Malfoy Manor without looking back. He hadn't given up on magic, he had just pushed it back to a place not as important as other things, such as finding a job and building a life outside Hogwarts.
He flopped down on the couch, fingers twitching where he had touched the newspaper. Scorpius closed his eyes and sighed. Trying to calm down his racing pulse was useless, and telling himself off for feeling so excited after eight years was to no avail. He hadn't thought he would miss his teen years so much, but all of a sudden he could only think about Hogwarts and its secret alcoves, its hidden rooms, its warmth.
He hadn't thought he would miss Albus so much.
"I think someone has seen us."
"Don't be a spoilsport, Al. there's no one in here but us."
They were in the Slytherin Quidditch Team changing rooms, stealing some kisses before Albus had to play Seeker. Scorpius was worried about his boyfriend, because he had heard a bet between two passing Gryffindors about beating Slytherin starting from their Seeker, but Albus just wouldn't listen. He was far too much worried about anyone seeing them together. Scorpius thought he was obsessing. However, he left Albus with a quick peck on the cheek and walked towards his place in the stands.
The match developed easily for Slytherin, whose Seeker just kept flying in circles. Scorpius saw the Snitch just a second after Albus took off in its quest. Unfortunately, one of the Gryffindor Beaters saw Albus too.
The Bludger hit him strong and square in the head.
Everyone gasped as Albus lost his balance as well as his conscience and began to fall - a foot per second, fast, hard. Scorpius took his wand out and pointed it at the falling form, but Professor McGonagall was faster and managed to stop Albus, preventing him from hitting the ground.
He was taken to the Hospital Wing before Scorpius could stand up and follow.
"You have to stop wallowing in your self-pity," a friendly voice told him through his mobile phone. "I know you gave up long time ago, but seriously, Scorp, you need to come back now."
"I can't. I have everything I need here."
"You are a wizard, for Merlin's sake! Get your big ass to Hogwarts and stop that wedding!"
Scorpius sighed as Audrey Weasley, his best friend, ranted on and on for the umpteenth time in two days. Ever since the news had shown up on almost every cover, Audrey had been calling him the Muggle way - he had long since disconnected the Floo from his apartment - to try and convince him to just do something to keep Albus from making the biggest mistake of his life.
"He has chosen. He chose that day, Audrey, and he didn't choose me. That has to mean he doesn't love me, didn't then, doesn't now."
"No, Scorpius. That means he's a coward and you're blind. Have you seen the girl my cousin's marrying?"
"Of course," he spat. "She's on every bloody cover from here to Asia."
"Have you really watched her portrait closely?" Audrey pressed. "Uncle Nev's daughter, all blonde and slim! She even has small grey eyes, just like you! Albus is trying to send you a message, you ponce!"
"Joanna Longbottom?" Scorpius blinked, searching for the forgotten magazine he had discarded days before. "I didn't quite remember her like that…"
"She has changed and become not only one of the most beautiful witches in our country, but also a very important Wizarding Law expert, Scorpius. Where have you been?"
"Living life the Muggle way," he offered as an answer, while Audrey just sighed.
"Scorpius, it's been five years since you decided to forget about magic, and you know it is not fair for anyone," she tried again. "And Albus has been miserable too, of that I'm sure. When he sent the invitations to his wedding to none other than Joanna, for Slytherin's most sacred secrets, I thought he had definitely gone nuts! He is obviously attempting to make you come back and rescue him, Scorpius, and if you can't see it I'd recommend you start using those Muggle devices to see better."
"They are called glasses, and I don't need them, thank you very much." Scorpius rubbed his face with his free hand, while gripping his mobile phone harder with the other, fingers closing around the device. "You see conspirators and plans everywhere, did you know that, Audrey?"
"Well, there are conspirators around everywhere," she drawled with what Scorpius thought was a grin.
"And I wondered why the Hat sorted you into Slytherin…"
Audrey just laughed. Scorpius had always found it quite amusing that a Weasley and a Malfoy had become such good friends; even though Audrey was a few years his senior, once her cousin Rose had introduced them, his first night at Hogwarts, their friendship had started to build. Scorpius had met Rose Weasley on the Hogwarts Express, along with her cousin Albus; it had been the first time he had talked to Al. When the two boys were sorted into Slytherin, Rose had felt her duty to help them adapt to their new home.
Then, five years later, Scorpius' life had been shattered once again.
"Are you even listening to me?"
"No," he answered truthfully.
"That's what I thought. I already have a date for my cousin's wedding, but Rose doesn't, and since she's out of the country on a magic-only trip, I'm asking you on her behalf."
"I don't have elegant robes, not even robes," he protested weakly.
"Oh, haven't I told you?"He could hear her smirking. "Joanna wanted the wedding to be as Muggle as possible, for some strange reasons, so there will be Muggle etiquette at Hogwarts for the first time in centuries."
Scorpius hadn't run that fast in his entire life, the pace he had started when he had realized they were taking Albus to the infirmary.
He swung the doors open and prepared to lunge himself to the bed where Albus would be lying, only to be stopped by Madame Pomfrey in his quest to comfort Albus.
"You shouldn't be here," she admonished him.
"But Al…"
"He'll be fine," she reassured him. "But you won't be able to talk to him. He's asleep."
"Can I at least get in?" he pleaded. "I promise not to cause any trouble. I just want to be with my best friend."
She shot him what Scorpius thought was a pitying look, but allowed him entrance, pointing out that Albus was in the last bed of the left aisle. Scorpius was off before she could even tell him they would be alone.
He found Albus on the bed, eyes closed, skin pale, an ugly cut on his temple where the Bludger had knocked him out. Scorpius looked around, and then he stretched out a hand and caressed Albus' forehead with shaky hands.
"Oh, Albus," he sighed. "I don't know what I'd do if something ever happened to you."
"Don't be that bloody obvious," came the raspy reply from the bed, and Scorpius chuckled.
"Back to yourself?" he questioned. "Does it hurt too much?"
"Well, it's like I've been hit by a Bludger. No, wait, I actually got hit by one of those!" Albus joked mirthlessly. "What do you think?" But beneath his snarky tone, Scorpius could sense the soft voice Albus always talked to him with. "Did I scare you?"
"To death. Don't ever do that again."
"Deal."
Albus grasped Scorpius' fingers and intertwined them tightly. They looked into each other's eyes for what seemed an eternity, until a voice broke their magic.
"What's going on here?"
Hogwarts Great Hall was packed. Scorpius waited by the entrance while Rose went to greet some of her relatives. She had arrived in London the night before, and had stayed at Audrey's instead of her parents', deducing that it would take her less effort to Apparate to Hogwarts from there than from Ottery St. Catchpole.
Scorpius shifted his weight between his feet uncomfortably. He hadn't come back to Hogwarts in five years, and he felt a hundred pairs of eyes on him, scrutinizing his movements, figuring out their thoughts. "A Malfoy at the wedding of Albus," he could hear. "And with Rosie Weasley!" He knew his mere presence disgusted them, that he didn't have a right to be there. Rose rescued him from himself with a soft smile.
"Scorp, Albus is already inside. Joanna won't be here for a while, bride's delay and everything. It's your moment."
"I'm not sure," he admitted. "What if he does love her?"
"What if you spend your life, and mine, wondering what if?" she counteracted. "Just go on. Now!"
Scorpius entered the hall under the attentive gaze of the guests who were already sat, and walked past Audrey, who gave him a reassuring smile. The groom had a separate room beside the improvised altar, with a door ajar that Scorpius planned to trespass with no hesitation. He approached Albus, by the altar, from behind, so the other man didn't see him, but Harry Potter was talking to his son and from the look in his eyes Scorpius knew he wasn't welcome. That didn't stop him, not when he had come this far.
"May I have a word?" he asked politely, waiting for Albus to turn around.
The expression on Albus Potter's face was priceless when he finally faced the only Malfoy to ever kiss him.
When Scorpius turned around, he found not only Madame Pomfrey but also none other than Harry Potter. They both looked aghast and bewildered, but the witch's distress was soon voiced.
"Albus Severus Potter, you were supposed to rest! What are you doing awake?"
Albus managed to withdraw his fingers from Scorpius' while she talked, but from the light in Mr Potter's eyes, Scorpius knew he had seen.
And understood.
"Scorpius, right?" he asked in a cold tone. "Could you please leave me alone with my son?"
He could only obey, getting up and walking past Madame Pomfrey, who patted him on the shoulder affectionately. "You can come later," she whispered with a smile.
"Thanks," he muttered in reply, ambling through the swinging doors.
Less than an hour later, Lily Potter spread the news that would crush his world. Harry Potter had taken his son out of school and into St Mungo's to get him checked for any internal injury. That week was horrible enough without Albus, all the final exams approaching and so little time to prepare for them after thinking of a particular pair of deep green eyes. Then, by the end of that Saturday, when Scorpius was about to throw his Divination book into the dim fire in the Slytherin Common Room, an owl reached him. Better said, Rose Weasley delivered the message the owl had brought for him - after not finding the way to the dungeons, the animal had settled to find another person. It had been luck that Rose had intercepted it before Lily could get her hands on the letter.
Scorpius invited Rose to sit down with him while he avidly read the letter, written and addressed to him in the untidy handwriting Albus Potter could not conceal.
Dear Scorp,
Dad wants me to stay out of Hogwarts until I get better from my injuries. It seems the Bludger hit harder than Pomfrey thought at first, and though I can't feel anything special, Dad and Mom both think it's better for me to rest at St Mungo's. It means I won't be able to take the exams with you next week, and I'm not sure they'll allow me to have guests over the summer, or to travel, for that matter. So I don't think we will see each other this summer. What I do know is that I will miss you heaps.
See you in September. Wait for me near the third door at the Express!
Love you,
Al
Scorpius braced himself for a summer with no news from Albus. His thoughts didn't let him focus on his exams or get any sleep.
When the owl delivered his marks, he had achieved only four OWLs.
His father never said anything about that, but he pulled Scorpius into a tight embrace each time the boy's snowy owl returned from the Potter household with an unopened letter.
"Scorpius," Albus said with a quivering voice. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm glad to see you again after eight years," Scorpius said politely, as if Albus had expressed his joy in reuniting once again. "Though it's a sad event for me."
"You shouldn't be here," Harry Potter exclaimed. "Leave this instant."
"I just want to talk to Albus," Scorpius explained. "After that, he will be yours again."
"We didn't invite you," Harry retorted.
"But you invited, and I'm quoting, Ms Rose Weasley and guest. I am that guest part."
"I ask you to leave."
"What do you say, Al?" Scorpius asked forcefully, even though he felt his heart breaking into a million pieces. "Should I go?"
"I have a wedding to attend. My wedding," Albus replied, glancing at his father. "You can stay, since you came with Rosie, but I have nothing to say to you."
"Nothing?" Scorpius screeched. "You left with no word, almost ten years ago, and we have nothing to talk about?"
"I'm sorry," Albus pushed past him, and abandoned the room where they were staying, followed by his father.
Scorpius blinked, suddenly alone. Things hadn't gone how he had planned them - quite out of hand - but he had another plan to go by. He searched for a place near Rose and Audrey.
"How did things go?" asked Audrey. "Are we going to attend your bonding instead of a wedding?"
"Not yet," Scorpius swallowed.
"You mean he's marrying Joanna?" Rose sputtered. "The tight-arsed, suck-up girl? Wasn't your job to stop that?"
"We'll go with plan B. Your uncle was there," Scorpius offered as an excuse.
"We never talked about any plan B," Rose was scandalized. “Please tell me you're not improvising."
"In fact," said Scorpius as the priest entered the church and the first piano notes announced the arrival of the bride. "I am."
Scorpius hadn't spent a lonelier summer in his whole life, not even the ones he had lived through when he hadn't had a friend. He had written hundreds of letters, he had tired out the owl his mother had gifted him with before his first year at Hogwarts, but all his efforts had been in vain. His owl always returned his missives, as if they were tainted and Albus didn't want to dirty his hands with Scorpius' words.
Once, his father had found him weeping in a corner over one of the letters, which had become angrier and angrier each time. "Scorpius, you have to stop this," his father had told him. "It's not healthy," he had added.
Scorpius had shaken his head without stopping crying. His father had hugged him tight in an attempt to control the shaking when Scorpius had started to sputter words. "It's good to cry, son, to let it all out. But once you're done, you have to forget about what made you sad in the first place. There's no point in grieving over what is lost."
Scorpius just couldn't stop trembling, so his father had held him until at least the tears had dried. After that, they had sat together in front of a huge window.
"You see, Scorpius, I think I know why you're taking this too personally."
He had looked up at his father, surprised. "What?"
"I am your father, but I am not blind. You and Harry's… Potter's son are a couple, am I wrong?" His father had said it straight forward, with no preamble, startling Scorpius.
"How did…?"
"As I said, I'm your father. Listen, Scorpius, his father will tell you it's not natural, that you are sick. Believe me, you're not."
"How do you know that?"
"Because I know Potter. He thinks that everyone who's different from him is a freak. You're not, Scorpius, no matter what the mighty believe."
As he recalled that conversation while standing with his father in Platform 9 ¾, a reassuring hand on his shoulder, students started to cross the wall through the mist. He waited and waited for a signal, for anything, to tell him Albus was coming.
The Weasley clan appeared almost when the Hogwarts Express was giving its first warning, at a quarter to eleven. Scorpius watched intently, as though he could conjure Albus' presence with just wishing it, but all he earned was Rose's glare and a confused look from Hugo. He could have sworn, however, that the glances the Weasleys exchanged with his father were pitiful.
When the clock signaled eleven o'clock, Scorpius climbed up the few stairs to the train and searched for a compartment. From the window, he saw how Ginny Potter appeared with Lily and James, helping them to get on the train when it was starting to move.
He waited for Albus in vain.
Scorpius shifted uncomfortably in his seat as the priest went on and on about the good of marriage. His mind replayed those last years a Hogwarts, the loneliness even though Rose was with him, the need to escape because everything reminded him of Albus, the awkward moment when he had confessed his feelings to Rose and Audrey and they had admitted their knowledge - if small - of their short relationship. The ultimate decision of leaving Hogwarts and magic altogether.
His father hadn't said a thing, as usual, but Scorpius could tell he was hurting.
He looked around, not surprised at the lack of Weasleys - or other family friends - in the ceremony. When the news of Albus attending Beauxbatons instead of Hogwarts spread, Hermione and Ron Weasley had been the firsts to inquire about a reason. Rumor had it that, after a tense and harsh fight, the Weasleys with Molly and Arthur's exception had confronted the hero and severed any relationship with him and his wife. Later on, Rose had confessed, under threats of torture and murder, that it had been the not-so secret bond the boys had that had caused the family to split.
Albus never returned to Hogwarts, and never again spoke to Scorpius.
The blond had been devastated.
"If anyone knows a reason why this couple should not marry, please speak now or keep silent forever."
"Merlin, I wish he would just stop," Audrey complained. "He's giving me a headache."
"When are you going to work through your plan B?" Rose asked, nudging him. "At this rate, they'll be married by the time you make a decision."
"I think now's the moment," Scorpius whispered, standing up. "If I may, I do know a reason why they shouldn't marry," he announced aloud.
Rose's jaw would have hit the floor for all he could see out of the corner of his eye. Audrey placed a hand in the small of his back, protectively.
"How would that be?" the priest asked, flabbergasted, among the whispers and surprised gasps of the crowd.
"Because I am in love with the groom," Scorpius kept on, his fears forgotten as he reminded himself that, if anything went wrong, he would go back to his Muggle world. "And I am sure he is in love with me."
The stammering stopped as abruptly as it had begun. Scorpius felt strangely warm. "I don't think I understand," the priest said, while the bride only looked at her soon-to-be father-in-law. "Albus, is what this young man says true?"
"I can't know about his feelings for me," Albus said, his voice ruthless and doubtful. "But I know I am in love with Joanna."
"All you needed to forget me was to be sent to Beauxbatons?" Scorpius demanded. "All it took was another blonde?"
"What you felt was unnatural," Albus recited, like someone who had memorized a speech to repeat like a parrot.
"Was it unnatural, the way we kissed?" Scorpius cried. "Was it unnatural what we did that only time in that broom closet?"
"You lured me into believing in feelings I didn't have. You tried to have your wicked way with me."
"So basically you never felt anything for him?" Rose bit out, unable to hold in her words. "All those nights you cried yourself to sleep that summer are all lies, Albus? Is that what you mean?"
"Rose," Harry Potter intervened. "Don't cause any more mess."
"Of course, uncle," she retorted, ironically. "We don't want to tarnish such a beautiful lie with the truth."
"What truth?" Harry faced his niece while Ginny Potter sighed beside him. "He was trying to turn my son into a monster!"
"Well, then, we are all monsters," Audrey finally took part. "Because you are alone in this battle." She stood up and her date imitated her. "Have you ever stopped to think about why not even your best friends are here to witness this ceremony? This may be your triumph, uncle, but you've lost so much that it doesn't even count as a victory."
Everyone was silenced by her words, Harry Potter red in rage, Ginny Potter white in shame. When no one moved a single eyelash, Scorpius knew he was alone.
"Come on, Rose, Scorp," Audrey motioned them towards the exit, practically fuming. "You can't convince them."
"Wait," Scorpius pleaded. "Just a second. Albus, what do you feel, deep inside?"
Albus seemed dazed, but his father was by his side before he could open his mouth.
"Do you really want to tie that knot?" Scorpius asked weakly. The answer broke his heart in two.
"Yes, I do."
"Come on, Scorpius," Audrey repeated, this time actually taking his hand and pulling. "I'm sorry."
The four of them walked out the aisle as the priest pronounced in relief his speech. As they went on, all eyes on them, Scorpius wished against all odds that Albus broke free and ran after him.
When they reached the main entrance, Scorpius had lost whatever remnants of hope he had stocked.
Fifteen years later
King's Cross was crowded. The multitude around Platform 9 was even thicker that first day of September. Scorpius looked around, recalling what it was like to be a kid as he watched children trespassing one of the columns.
He was waiting.
The family approached slowly, a father, a mother, a daughter. Blond against dark, curly against slick.
The Potters.
He locked eyes with Albus Potter without even wanting to. So many years later, Albus still had that effect on him. His fingers twitched, yearning to touch those soft cheeks.
Albus stopped dead in his tracks, recognizing the man who had caused so much trouble at his wedding. A fluttery feeling passed through his gaze, but Scorpius ignored it, just like Rose had taught him.
He would never fall again. He would never hurt again. Not because of Albus, even though what he felt was love. Endless love.
Scorpius stepped forward and spoke.
"I forgive you, Albus," he said shakily, the words that Rose had taught him. "I forgive you, and I let you go."
Then he turned around and walked away, leaving the three people stunned at his back.
He was going back to his life, with the friends who loved him, to the loneliness where he belonged.