My sixth fic for littlerose13writes's 12 Days of Shipmas! The prompt for day 6 is "Did someone spike the eggnog?" :)
"They've put something in the eggnog, haven't they?"
"Yep."
On the other side of the Burrow's living room, James, Fred and Roxanne were giggling amongst themselves, already slightly tipsy, as they watched their family take sips out of the glasses Molly had passed around. How they'd managed to be sneaky enough to spike the eggnog without anyone noticing was a miracle, but an unsurprising one; those three always seemed to find a way.
"A shame. Gran's eggnog is delicious," Hugo said ruefully, sliding his glass away from him.
"What d'you think they've put in it? Gigglewater?" Albus craned his neck, trying to find Scorpius in the crowd of Weasleys. He'd been kidnapped by the French about half an hour ago, and Albus found him chatting animatedly to Victoire and Dom while a confused Teddy tried to keep up. His glass was already half-empty, but nothing out of the ordinary seemed to have happened.
"Gigglewater's a bit boring by their standards, isn't it?" Hugo mused, prodding a bishop with the tip of his wand so it would trace a diagonal line across their chessboard. A smart move, but Albus had seen it coming. In the blink of an eye, he'd checkmated his cousin.
While Hugo tried to work out where he'd lost the match, Albus looked at his own glass of eggnog thoughtfully. Yes, Gigglewater was definitely too tame for James. Past Potter-Weasley pranks had included Canary Creams, Singing Sherbet and, on one memorable occasion that Albus was still trying really hard to forget, Couplet Cupcakes.
"Aaaah, I shouldn't have moved that rook," said Hugo, who was hunched over the chessboard with his chin resting on his hand. "That's it, isn't it?"
Albus nodded. "It was a good game, though. You're getting as good as your dad."
Hugo sighed. "Not good enough, though. But at least I'm better than Rosie." He gingerly grabbed his glass of eggnog and stood up. "I should probably check on her… and grab my camera along the way."
"Call me if anything weird starts to happen," said Albus, stretching his legs, which had started to cramp a little. "And send me copies of any photos you take, yeah?"
The two boys grinned at each other, and then Albus was left on his own. Unfortunately, this didn't last.
"Alby!"
Without warning, James appeared out of nowhere and wrapped himself around him like an octopus.
"James, what the fu–"
"You're my favourite brother, you know that?" James said happily. To Albus's utter horror, he planted a smacking kiss on his cheek. How drunk was he? Granted, James didn't need to be drunk to act like an idiot, but this was a bit too much.
"I'm your only brother, you prat."
"I see someone hasn't touched their eggnog," James said in a sing-song voice.
"I've shared a house with you for seventeen years, James. I'm not going to touch any food and drink that's been in the same room as you." Albus managed to wriggle out of his grasp. "What did you put in it, anyway?"
"Fuzzy Fizz," James said cheerfully, sitting next to him with his legs crossed.
Albus stared at him for a long moment, not bothering to hide his disgust. "Two things. One, that's the worst name I've ever heard, ever. Two, what the fuck is that?"
James beamed at him. He'd obviously gone to bother Albus for the sole purpose of showing off whatever prank he'd just pulled. With his best salesman voice, which had made him extremely popular at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, he said, "Just a little liquid courage, here to help you express all of those warm, fuzzy thoughts you normally wouldn't say out loud. Pay compliments, confess admiration, that kind of thing. So people will be nice and Christmassy to each other."
That sounded appallingly soppy. Compliments? Confessions? He'd rather eat a Flobberworm than say anything nice to James, or anyone for that matter. Scorpius was, of course, the only exception.
"And does it work?" he said sceptically.
"Dunno. That's what I'm waiting to see." James eyed Albus's glass and smirked. "If you take a sip…"
"I'd rather drink Bubotuber pus," Albus said flatly.
"Well, a sip definitely wouldn't work on you – you'd need a bucketful with that attitude. And maybe then you'd be nicer to poor Scorpius."
"What's that supposed to mean?" All right, maybe he wasn't as disgustingly lovey-dovey as James was with his own girlfriend, but so what? He was an okay boyfriend. Definitely above average in the snogging department at least, if Scorpius's feedback was anything to go by. And they'd been best friends since before the snogging had started, so Scorpius definitely liked him.
James gave him a pitying look. "Scorpius is a pure being made of sunshine, rainbows and happy thoughts, and you're… not."
"What am I, then?"
"A moody git."
Albus would have tried to hex him, but a pair of arms wrapped themselves around him once again. He didn't struggle this time, though; he knew that touch, that smell of vanilla, that light laugh.
"No fighting during the holidays, Potters," Scorpius chided gently, hugging Albus tight from behind.
Albus leaned against his chest. "Remembered me, have you?"
"Ouais." Scorpius pressed a kiss to the top of his head. "I missed you."
"Didn't look like it. I was starting to think Teddy and I were going to end up single again."
"You're grumpy this evening," Scorpius said fondly, turning him around and going in for a quick kiss, but Albus found himself… distracted. He leaned back, taking a good look at his boyfriend.
"Your hair," he said slowly.
Scorpius's lovely, platinum hair had turned a vibrant shade of violet. Looking around, Albus noticed he wasn't the only victim. Not far from them, Teddy was roaring with laughter at the dismayed look on Victoire's face, but he quickly changed his hair from turquoise to purple to match hers. Lily looked absolutely delighted with her bubblegum pink locks, while Rose was scowling at the shade of cherry she appeared to be stuck with. Even Harry and Ron were openly laughing at each other. It seemed that every single Potter-Weasley, minus Albus and Hugo, as well as the pranksters themselves, had been affected. That Fuzzy Fizz really was something else. Albus was, if possible, even more glad he hadn't tried it.
"Wha– Is my hair like that too?" Scorpius demanded, trying to take a look at it without much success, as it was too short. He'd slid off Albus's back and sat down at his side. "What colour is it? Does it suit me, Albus? Is it hideous?"
"You physically can't be hideous, Scorpius, so calm down," Albus said without thinking. Then his brain caught up with his mouth, and he felt his cheeks warm.
Scorpius looked surprised for a second, then pleased, and his hair flared red to match his own blush. It was weird, in an adorable sort of way. Albus was so used to Scorpius being nothing but pale that seeing so much colour on him was strange, but not unpleasant. He wondered what it would feel like to reach out, run his fingers through it, pull Scorpius close…
Of course, James had to interrupt that happy train of thought because he still hadn't bloody left.
He was leaning forward eagerly, watching Scorpius as if he were a fascinating new species of exotic plant. His tipsiness seemed to have vanished. "Ooooooh, so it's not just one colour. How many minutes have passed since you drank the eggnog, Scorp?"
"Er – five?" Scorpius glanced at Albus uncertainly. "What does the eggnog have to do with this?"
"I warned you not to drink anything that wasn't water straight from the tap," Albus muttered.
"Your Gran offered me a glass," Scorpius said, shrugging. "And it was really nice. But what has it done, exactly?"
"It was supposed to make you confess mushy stuff, but clearly that hasn't happened," James said thoughtfully. "Pink, red, purple…" His eyes brightened. "Do you think there's a scale? A different meaning for every colour? A different feeling for every colour? This is miles better than what we wanted the Fizz to do. This is–"
"Oi, slow down a moment," Albus interjected. "You mean that wasn't supposed to happen?" He gestured towards Scorpius's hair, which had turned lilac while he listened to James.
"Nope."
"You've given the entire family an untested product?" This was the best Christmas present Albus had ever received. His mum was going to blow a fuse when she found out.
James looked offended. "Don't be daft, Al. Fred, Roxie and I tested it ourselves first, but we mixed it with Firewhisky. There must be something in the eggnog…"
Albus groaned. "Sugar."
"What?"
"Sugar makes potions go funny," he explained. "You didn't add a counter-ingredient, did you?"
Of course he hadn't. Idiot.
"Ah." James didn't look at all abashed. "Is that dangerous?"
"No, it just makes some ingredients react weirdly. The Fizz contains moondew, doesn't it? I bet it does," said Albus, building up steam. "Do you know how volatile moondew is? That's what's making their hair change colour. And they're lucky it's their hair and not anything else. One time, this Bulgarian bloke mixed–"
"Merlin, you're worse than Aunt Hermione," said James, rolling his eyes. He patted Scorpius consolingly on the shoulder and stood up. "I don't know how you put up with him, mate, but I can't and I won't."
Albus wasn't sorry to see him go, and Scorpius didn't look too torn up about it either. His hair was now the gentler pink of candy floss, and Albus couldn't resist running his fingers through it. It was, like always, as soft as dandelion fluff. Scorpius leaned into his touch, smiling contentedly, and Albus's heart skipped a beat. Everyone was distracted right now. They could slip away, maybe go outside, and they wouldn't be missed for ages…
They exchanged a look, and that was enough. Chuckling at the sound of Lily proclaiming she wanted to keep her hair pink, they crept into the kitchen and out the back door.
Albus barely had a moment to appreciate the glorious peace and quiet before Scorpius pounced on him. Soft lips pressed against his heated cheeks, the corner of his mouth, playfully teasing in a way that was as familiar as it was welcome. One of Albus's hands buried itself in Scorpius's hair, the other snuck under his shirt so it could trail up his back, and Albus abandoned himself to the kiss, letting himself savour this moment of calm that belonged solely to them.
They had to separate eventually, but not too much. They'd wrapped themselves around each other so thoroughly that moving just wasn't worth it. Grinning at each other, noses mere inches apart, they took in great lungfuls of deliciously cold air. Albus licked his lips.
"What was that for?" he asked breathlessly.
"Do I need a reason to snog my boyfriend?" Scorpius was positively glowing. Being near him was like standing next to a little sun.
"You were… very enthusiastic," said Albus, still feeling slightly dazed. "Not that I mind. Feel free to do that again whenever you like. But… yeah."
Scorpius shrugged. "I love it when you talk about potions," he said brightly. "You go all geeky. It's rather endearing."
"Really?"
"Mm-hmm. I like listening to you." There was a mischievous glint in Scorpius's eyes when he kissed him again. "You're hot when you're clever, you know."
Albus snorted. "And you're weird."
Scorpius waggled his eyebrows at him. "Seduce me with your knowledge of the effects of sugar mixed with moondew."
Albus rolled his eyes and kissed him again.
A while later, they found themselves standing near the hedge, looking up at the stars. Albus was standing behind Scorpius, arms wrapped around his waist and chin resting on his shoulder.
"I like the hair," he murmured. It looked like it was back to violet, though it was hard to tell due to lack of light.
"I'm almost tempted to keep it like this, but Dad would disinherit me, I think." He could hear the smile in Scorpius's voice. "The platinum hair is a Malfoy trademark."
"Well, you've learned your lesson, haven't you? No eating or drinking in a Potter or Weasley household. Not even the eggnog is safe."
"Come over to the Manor tomorrow and we'll make some wonderfully normal, safe eggnog."
Albus pressed a kiss to the back of his neck. "Yeah, sure, I'll go to your house to make eggnog," he teased.
Scorpius laughed. "I was being serious."
"So was I."
They went back to watching the stars, with Albus shooting the occasional look at that vibrant hair and smiling to himself. If James was right, and every colour matched a feeling, then violet couldn't be anything but love.
Reviews are greatly appreciated!