The first time he saw him, he was intrigued. Albus Potter had just begun his summer job at the local coffee shop, the store opened at 5:30, and since he had desperately needed money, he decided to take the first shift. He had always been a morning person, so the shift was perfect. He was quite happy that his cousin Rose was also working at the same shop, on the same shift, so he could have some guidance before he burned the shop down. As soon as the store opened, a young man about the age of 16, the same age as Albus, walked in looking flawlessly put together. Albus was very confused. This guy managed to look perfect before he had gotten his coffee. Even Albus, (who could manage to wake up at four am with no sweat most times), needed his coffee before he could function properly. So naturally, Albus wanted to know how he did it.
"Hello, welcome to Florean Fortescue's coffee shop! What can I get you?" Albus asked, ever the face of business.
"Hi, can I just have a cup of black tea?" The boy asked as he walked up to the counter.
"Of course, but this is a coffee shop, why are you drinking tea?" Albus asked, even more, shocked.
"I'm actually not a coffee guy, but I work next door, so I decided to see what is going on here. Also you're quite cute." He said, adding the last bit offhandedly.
Albus started blushing immensely, this boy was was quite cute himself.
"What name should I put it under?" He asked innocently, hiding his blush.
"Scorpius. S-c-o-r-p-i-u-s." He replied, spelling out his name. "My name is always spelled wrong, and now whenever I'm asked that I am forced to spell it out."
"You're named after the constellation, right?" Albus asked, writing the name on the cup, and moving to make his drink.
"Wow, you're the first person that realized that. But yes, I am named after the constellation Scorpius. It has been a tradition within my family to name their children after stars, by the way, you didn't tell me your name." Scorpius smirked.
"My name is weird too. I'm Albus, it's not as cool as yours. I'm named after my dad's teacher or something." Albus finished making the tea and handed the cup to Scorpius. "It's almost six. You should probably get going. You said you worked next door?"
"Yeah, at the bookstore, Flourish and Blotts. We should meet up for lunch sometime!" Scorpius exclaimed, adding milk and sugar to the tea. "See you soon!"
\\\\\\
Scorpius walked out the coffee shop, a little bit stunned at what he had just done. He didn't think he could have ever been so smooth. Well, now he knew the cute boy who worked next door's name, so he hadn't come out there with much loss. He looked at the cup more closely. Written under his name, (spelled perfectly), was a phone number. Knowing that it was probably Albus' he added the number to his contacts before he threw away the cup. He walked into the bookstore and quickly set up for work.
An hour had passed when a red-haired girl walked in. Scorpius recognized the girl from the coffee shop, she was standing in the back as he was talking to Albus. She picked out a book on the shelf and walked over to Scorpius, who was manning the cashier. They exchanged a bit of small talk and gave each other quite a number of book recommendations, and the girl (who he had found out was called Rose), ended up buying three books.
After Rose left, there was no one in the store. Not seeing anything to do, he decided to text Albus.
Hi! It's Scorpius.
Albus replied almost immediately.
Aren't you working?
The store is slow, why are you not working?
My cousin is in charge now, I have a little break.
Cousin?
The red haired girl who was laughing in the back of the store when I was talking to you. I think she went into your store a few minutes ago.
Oh, you mean Rose?
She told you her name!?
Albus left, probably to go yell at Rose, (but for what, Scorpius had no idea,) and soon the store was filled again. He didn't get a chance to talk to Albus until his shift was over, which just happened to be before lunch. He knew for a fact that Albus' shift was ending a few minutes after his, Rose just happened to tell him in their earlier conversation.
Albus was cleaning up the counter and wiping down tables when he walked in. The door jingled and Albus looked up. Scorpius saw Rose laughing at the now blushing Albus, and waved at her. She waved back and motioned for him to go over to Albus. Obeying Rose, he did.
"Hi, your shift is over in a few, correct?" Scorpius questioned, walking behind Albus.
Albus, who was wiping down a table, replied. "Yeah, but how do you know this? I don't remember telling you anything."
"When Rose came into the bookstore earlier, she told me. You want to go get lunch?" He asked.
"Sure, okay, when I'm done here we can head out," Albus said with a smile.
"Rose, would you want to come with?" Scorpius yelled at Rose who was cleaning the counter. Scorpius didn't notice this, but behind him, Albus shook his head wildly.
Noticing Albus, Rose smirked and politely declined. "It would be nice, but I've already made plans. Thanks for inviting me, though!"
/
Their lunch was nothing special, though Albus would have liked it to be a little longer, but it was nice while it lasted. They had parted ways after they finished lunch since Scorpius had a thing to do after. Now, Albus was on his way to meet up with Rose, so they could get home.
As soon as Rose saw him, he could see a devious look forming on her face.
"So, how was your date," She sang into his ear.
"Rose," Albus started, exasperated. "It wasn't a date, it was just two friends going out for lunch."
"That's what they all say." She exclaimed, a triumphant grin on her face.
"Rose!" He groaned, chasing after her as she ran down the few streets that led to their neighborhood.
When they reached Albus' house, she shot Albus a smirk and ran in, Albus chasing after her.
"Guess what!" She exclaimed.
"What?" Albus' older brother James asked as he came down the stairs.
"Albus has a boyfriend!" Rose sang loudly. It was a commonly known fact in the Potter household that Albus was not interested in girls.
"No, I don't! Shut up!" Albus yelped.
"What is this I hear about Albus having a boyfriend?" Albus' younger sister Lily came down the stairs hearing the commotion.
"I don't have a boyfriend! I've repeated this about 10 times now!" Albus yelled.
"To be exact, you only said that two times," James assured.
They had somehow moved into the living room, so Albus grabbed the nearest thing, which happened to be a pillow, and threw it at James.
"Albus, don't throw things at your brother, and Lily and James stop antagonizing Albus. Now, what's this I hear about Albus having a boyfriend?" Albus' mom, Ginny had walked into the room.
"Mum! I do not have a boyfriend!" Albus protested.
"But you want him to be, yes?" Rose boasted.
"Um," Albus hesitated for a moment. "No?"
"There was a hesitation! That means yes!" Lily sang gleefully.
"Now, what is this boy's name," Ginny asked.
"Scorpius," Albus mumbled.
"Oh so like the constellation? That's a nice name." James remarked offhandedly.
Albus threw another pillow at James.
"What?" He protested, catching the pillow as it flew towards him.
"Why must you know everything?" Albus groaned.
"Because you're obsessed with stars so I know these things," James smirked.
"As much as I am enjoying this conversation, I really should be going, so Albus if you need me, I'll be next door as usual," Rose said, standing up so she could leave.
"Yeah okay Rose, bye! I would say see you tomorrow but I'll probably end up seeing you later anyway." Albus remarked, showing Rose out.
On that note, the Potter family broke up to their respective rooms, (and in Ginny's case, the kitchen). As soon as Albus stepped into his room, his phone gave a distinctive buzz. He opened it up immediately, and as he hoped, there was a new text from Scorpius.
Hi!
Hi! How do you always have such perfect timing?
What do you mean?
I just got out of an awkward "family" talk thanks to Rose
About what?
Albus hesitated, and almost ignored Scorpius' text.
Hello?
It was about you being my boyfriend which is totally not true haha
Why would they think that?
Rose is relentless
Anyway, what is your last name again I don't think I caught it?
Potter, wby?
There was a hesitation, coming from Scorpius' end this time.
Scorpius?
Um, well this is awkward…
My last name is Malfoy and I think our dads were like enemies in high school or something…
Oh
Yeah
But we're not our fathers, right?
True!
Friends?
Always.
/
They talked about mindless things for another hour until they both had to leave for dinner.
Soon after they had finished eating, James decided to break the silence.
"Hey Al, you want to tell dad about your new boyfriend?" He snickered.
"Al, what is this about a boyfriend?" Albus' dad, Harry, inquired.
"James! He isn't my boyfriend!" Albus yelped.
"Well fine, you want to tell dad about your new friend?" James snorted, his fingers to make air quotes around "your new friend".
Albus suddenly looked down shyly. "No, not really," he mumbled.
"Okay fine, if you won't, I will," James smirked. "Rose told me all this, so I'm not 100% sure if it's all correct, but here is the gist of it; a blonde haired boy came into the coffee shop today and Albus here was all shy and blushing, and get this, he wrote his phone number on the boy's coffee cup! And according to Rose, he wouldn't stop checking his phone." He smiled innocently. "It seems our Albus here has found someone he'd like to date!"
Albus wanted to hide under the table. "Shut up." He muttered, kicking James under the table.
"It's true! Also according to Rose, he's quite hot!" Lily chirped happily.
Albus decided that the next time he saw Rose he was going to strangle her.
"James, Lily, stop terrorizing your brother. If Albus wants to tell me about him, he can most certainly do it himself." Harry chastised.
"Can I please just be excused?" Albus asked sinking lower and lower in his seat.
"Of course Albus," Harry said kindly.
Albus quietly slipped away and ran up the stairs towards his room. He could hear James and Lily's groans and exclamations, but all he wanted to do was get out of the pressing situation he was in. Laying on his bed, he opened a new text from Scorpius.
/
Hey, got away from dinner yet?
Okay, I guess not. Text me when you do!
Hi just escaped
Ouch. That awkward?
Yup
Basically this afternoon but
Well, I'm happy that I don't have slings…
You're very lucky you should be glad that your family is so small
A few days from now Rose's family is coming over and I will probably have to sit through this again
Maybe I should come over and save you ;)
Sure why not ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I was joking!
So you don't want to come?
...will your family let me…
*cough* Last name *cough*
Well they probably already know, who else has a name like Scorpius, and they already think we're dating so they can deal with it
Um, okay I'll think about it
Yay
Anyway, it's almost midnight, I should be getting to bed
Albus looked at the time on his phone. He was surprised it had gotten so late, and decided that he should also be getting to bed since he still had to wake up at 4 tomorrow.
Okay! Goodnight! Lunch tomorrow?
Sure, goodnight!
/
The next morning Albus woke up before the sun rose, and went to the coffee shop, catching a ride with Rose. And like the day before, Scorpius came in at 6 am, still looking as perfect as he was yesterday. (Though Rose was pretty sure Albus was biased in his opinion). She let Albus talk to Scorpius and silently handed his drink over to him. Thanking Rose, and promising to see Albus during his lunch break, Scorpius left.
"He is quite cute, isn't he?" Rose smirked.
Albus balked. "No…"
"You're blushing!" She teased.
"N-no." He stuttered.
Their playful banter was broken by a jingle of the bell hanging on the door, signaling a customer. Rose walked out to greet them, telling Albus to work the coffee machines, so they looked like they were doing something other than talking.
"Hey Rose," Albus' brother voiced as he appeared behind the counter.
"James?" Rose spluttered. "What are you doing here? I thought you had your own job to take care of?"
"I have today off, Rosie. And I wanted to see Albus' boyfriend. But I don't think he's here." James proclaimed, waving a hand around to show the empty shop.
"He came in earlier. You missed him." Albus told him, relieved.
"Oh well, I guess I'll just wait until he comes in again." James teased.
"You wouldn't!" Albus yelped, leaning over the counter to shove James.
He carefully avoided his brother. "You shouldn't try to hurt customers." He chastised.
"You aren't a customer, you haven't bought anything." Albus shot back, shoving James again and actually hitting his mark.
Not wanting to get caught in this "Potter family banter", Rose quietly stepped back and busied herself with restocking the sugar.
"Fine, I'll buy something. You guys know what I want." James relented, standing back as he watched Albus make his drink.
"Pay, you git!" Albus yelped.
"Fine." James handed the money over to Albus who in turn passed the order to Rose and put the money away.
The pair of cousins were quite happy to see James leave a few minutes after he had received his drink. Waving goodbye, they quickly turned back to their work, not wanting James to have an excuse to come back in and bother them some more. As much as Albus loved his brother, he could get a bit much sometimes, well, most times.
/
Scorpius couldn't get Albus out of his head. Every time he closed his eyes, he could see those bright green eyes staring at him intensely. No one knew that last night he had dreamed of kissing Albus, and he was quite sure that his feelings of friendship had evolved into something more. The door jingled, and once again, Scorpius was broken out of his thoughts. He was happy to have something to get his mind off of the black haired boy that was working next door, but was unpleasantly surprised to see that the customer standing in front of his looked almost exactly like Albus except for the fact that he looked older and that he didn't have green eyes.
"Hi! Welcome to Flourish and Blotts! Need help finding anything?" Scorpius asked the man who was eying him dangerously.
"Hello," The guy began, sounding suspicious. "You wouldn't happen to know my brother Albus Potter, would you?"
"Oh, Albus, the guy who works next door? And you're James Potter right?" Scorpius offered.
"Yeah to both questions, you wouldn't happen to be Scorpius, would you?" He asked impatiently.
"Yup! I'm Scorpius, Scorpius Malfoy." He stated proudly.
Instantly James' eyes narrowed. "Did you say Malfoy?" He asked dangerously.
"Yes, now do you want to buy anything? There's a few customers who want check out." Scorpius asked, trying to be polite.
"No. I was just looking" James claimed.
He walked out the door and left. Scorpius let out a breath he didn't realize that he was holding in. Making small talk to the customers in line, he settled their payments and made sure each customer walked out with what they came in for.
/
"Albus Severus Potter, you didn't tell me your friend was a Malfoy!" James yelled, bursting into the shop.
"James can you quiet down?" Rose asked sharply, indicating the customers idling.
"He's a Malfoy Albus, a Malfoy!" James hissed.
"Yeah and he's a perfectly wonderful boy!" Albus insisted. "How do you know he's a Malfoy anyway?"
"I may or may not have gone next door to check your friend out." James muttered angrily.
"What have I told you about meddling in my social life!?" Albus exclaimed indignantly.
"Not to do it, I know, but he's a Malfoy!" James argued.
"Yes we know he's a Malfoy you have said that about 4 times, how about something we don't know." Rose said dryly, trying to clean up the shop so they could go for their lunch break.
James huffed and walked out the door. "Albus I'm still going to keep an eye on him!" He promised.
About two minutes after James had left, Scorpius came in. "Hey Albus was that your brother I met earlier?" He asked, sliding behind the counter to help Albus put away a container that was too high.
Albus huffed. "How did you reach that? And yes, James is my annoying, insane brother."
"I'm taller than you, you dork. James didn't seem to like me much…" Scorpius pointed out, trailing off.
"He doesn't like any of my friends. Also you aren't that much taller!" Albus complained.
"Rose can you measure us?" Scorpius yelled to Rose who had just come out of the back of the store.
"Just a minute boys!" Rose replied, grabbed something, then walked over to the pair of them with a ruler. Standing behind them, they turned, backs facing each other and waited as Rose used the ruler. "Yeah, Scorpius is two inches taller."
"Triggered!" Albus yelled.
"I told you!" Scorpius added, laughing at Albus' reaction.
"You guys should head out, you don't want to miss lunch!" Rose told them.
"Not joining?" Scorpius asked.
"Nope! I don't want to intrude on your date!" Rose smirked.
"It's not a date!" Albus exclaimed.
Not wanting to start an argument with Rose, Scorpius pushed Albus out the door and into the busy street before stopping.
Walking to the Leaky Cauldron across the street, the two boys engaged in small talk.
"Hey, got any girlfriends or any love interests?" Albus asked.
"Nope, but your cousin is quite hot!" Scorpius answered. "You?"
For some reason, Albus' heart sank. Trying to not let his disappointment show, he spoke. "Rose isn't hot! What are you talking about! And she isn't interested in dating anyone for reason I have no idea." Albus didn't know if he should tell him that he was gay. He didn't want to lose the friend he has just met two days ago. Finally deciding that he should trust his new friend, he spoke up again, interrupting Scorpius' rambling of why someone wouldn't want to date. "Mate, you're starting to ramble." Albus told him gently.
"Oh sorry! I tend to do that sometimes! And you haven't answered my question about you having a girlfriend!" Scorpius teased.
The two boys took a break in their conversation to enter the cafe. After taking a seat, and ordering food, they resumed right where they left off.
"That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about." Albus mumbled.
"What? You know you can tell me anything right! Even though I've only known you for two days you know you can trust me…" Scorpius said, starting to ramble again. "Oh sorry, I'm starting to ramble again right? Continue."
"Well, I'm gay." Albus breathed.
"Why did you get so worked up over telling me that? I'm biromantic." Scorpius laughed.
"Bisexual?" Albus asked, breathing a sigh of relief.
"Biromantic, I'm not sure about the sexual yet. I like both genders. Male and female." Scorpius answered.
"Yeah I know that you idiot! How did you figure out you were bi?" Albus wondered.
"I don't really remember, I think I realized it sometime in middle school, when I realized I was feeling romantic attraction to this one guy who was in my bio class, but I was also attracted to this other girl in my English class, and then I panicked so I researched it and I found out I was bi!" Scorpius recalled. "And how did you find out you were gay?"
"It was also in middle school, and my family was teasing me about not having a girlfriend but I was incredibly confused because I was also crushing on a guy in my bio class and I was confused about liking guys, but then Rose confronted me about it and told me all about being gay, and so here I am!" Albus exclaimed.
Their food finally came, and they both quickly ate. After they were done, they split the bill then headed out.
Before they parted ways, Albus had a spontaneous thought. He ran back to Scorpius and pulled him into a hug.
"Okay. Hello. Um. Have we hugged before? Do we hug now?" Scorpius asked, looking confused.
Albus just laughed, waved goodbye, and entered the coffee shop.
/
Scorpius walked into the bookstore, and flipped the sign to open again. Not seeing anyone on the street, he pulled out his current read, Carry On, by Rainbow Rowell. Immersing himself into the fictional world of magic, witchcraft, and wizardry, he sat back and started reading.
He was broken out of his reading when he heard the jingle of the bell. Seeing a familiar red haired girl walking through the door, along with another girl that looked like she could be her sister.
"Hi Rose!" Scorpius greetted.
"Hey, Scorpius!" Rose answered. "Meet Lily, Albus' younger sister."
"Hi Albus' boyfriend!" Lily beamed innocently,
Scorpius instantly turned crimson red. "I-I'm not Albus' boyfriend," He stammered.
Rose laughed. "You and Albus have almost the same reaction to that statement. Anyway, I've been meaning to get a new book, for my own pleasure this time, not for school like I bought yesterday."
"Well, there's this current one I've been reading, it's called Carry On, by Rainbow Rowell. It is really good so far, but I highly recommend you read the companion novel, Fangirl before you read this one." Scorpius held up the book that was sitting on the counter.
"Is it just me or does this book seem very gay?" Rose asked.
"Like you and Albus." Lily muttered under his breath.
"It is! And it's amazing!" Scorpius sang. If he had heard what Lily had head, he certainly didn't show it.
Rose smiled. "I'll take both."
Soon after, the pair left, Rose with her two newly purchased books, and Lily with a smile on her face. Scorpius waved goodbye, and turned back to his book.
/
Albus looked up when he heard the door jingle. "Oh Rose you're back. What is Lily doing with you?"
"Oh she was entering the bookstore around the same time I was, so I brought her here." Rose answered.
Albus sighed. "Okay the Lily, since you're here you can help me wipe down tables so we can get out of here."
"Was that your boyfriend next door?" Lily piped up. "He is hot!"
"He is not my boyfriend!" Albus practically growled, though internally, he was having some fantasies about that statement.
Lily just shot Albus a look and started cleaning the tables.
Soon after, the trio finished, and headed out. Albus slipped inside the bookstore while they were walking to Rose's car.
"What's that book you're reading?" Albus asked, making Scorpius almost jump out of his skin.
"Oh! Hi, Albus." Scorpius exclaimed, after he got over his shock and realized who was standing in front of him.
Albus knew that Rose and Lily were standing outside, watching through the window. "Let's give them something to look at," He said on a whim, point at them.
Scorpius, who was now rushing to clean up the shop, barely heard Albus and just nodded at him.
Albus, seeing his chance, darted over and kissed Scorpius. Scorpius was taken aback at first, but he slowly melt into the kiss, deepening the kiss enthusiastically. Albus joined in, ignoring the gasps of shock and awe coming from Lily and Rose.
Finally they broke apart, both gasping for breath. Both of them instantly turned away, blushing.
Trying to get rid of the awkwardness, Scorpius spoke up. "I've only known you for two days, yet I feel like I can't fall deeper in love with you."
At that moment, Rose and Lily burst through the door, both of them screaming, but Albus and Scorpius only had eyes for each other.
"It seems that I've fallen into the pit of love as well. But it's not too bad, since you're in it." Albus smiled.
"Are you guys dating now?" Lily asked excitedly.
"If Scorpius wants too. Do you?" Albus inquired.
"Yes of course I do! I've been pining for a week!" Scorpius declared.
"A week?" Albus asked incredulously. "You only knew me for two days!"
"Yeah but the windows are huge. I may or may not have been spying on you as soon as you got that shift." Scorpius laughed.
"And you've liked me since then?" Albus repeated.
"Yeah, that seems about right." Scorpius answered.
"I only liked you for an hour before I decided to do something about it!" Albus exclaimed.
"You're lucky you didn't have to go through the painful pining." Scorpius groaned.
"Okay lovebirds, we should probably head out. The sun is going to set!" Rose ordered, pushing the pair out. "Scorpius, do you need a ride along with Albus or no?"
"I'm fine Rose, my car is just over there." Scorpius answered politely.
Their little group split up, and headed home, Albus missing Scorpius' company as soon as he left.
/
The next few weeks were filled of almost the same routine, both of them missing each other terribly until lunchtime. They still had neglected to tell their families, and it had already been a month. Somehow, Rose and Lily were the only ones who knew. Albus was pretty sure that James knew, since he had stopped bothering Scorpius about being a Malfoy, and had finally held a civil conversation with him a week ago. After a thoughtful talk with Scorpius, both boys agreed on telling their parents that evening. They had taken to going to each other's houses after work, and had forced their families to get along. The day they had chose to come out to their families, just so happened to be the second annual Potter-Malfoy-Weasley dinner the two boys had created.
/
"Hey will you two lovebirds stop making eyes at each other and actually listen to what we're saying?" James teased.
Scorpius and Albus both shot each other nervous glances. 'Here goes,' They mouthed, and took a deep breath.
"Actually that's what we have to talk to you about." Albus started, looking at Rose who was giving him encouraging looks and gestures.
"What is it? Albus, Scorpius?" Ginny asked. "You know you can tell us anything right?"
"Yes, Scorpius, what Ginny says is true." Draco, Scorpius' dad added. "You can tell me anything."
"Well, um, AlbusandIaredating." Scorpius rushed.
"I'm sorry, what was that?" Harry inquired.
Albus took a deep breath. "Scorpius and I are dating."
James laughed. "That's what got you guys so worked up? I think we all knew that at the last dinner!"
They both blushed.
"Yeah, I think we were making bets on when you would actually tell us. I think Rose won." Hermione started.
"So that's why she was bothering us to tell you!" Albus yelled triumphantly.
Rose smirked. "Yup, you've got me. Thank to you two, I've now got some extra money!"
Scorpius was still in shock. "Wait, so you aren't mad?" He asked, mainly directed to his father.
"Why would I ever be mad? I knew you were bi, it seemed to be about time." Draco replied.
The rest of the dinner passed without much more news, and the families soon parted ways and headed home.
/
The summer was almost at it's end, and Albus and Scorpius could say that they had a way better summer than either of them had expected. Both of them were worried about the coming school year, it was their final year of highschool, and they went to different schools.
"One more year," They promised.
"Then we can get a flat together!" Albus cheered.
"If we stay together," Scorpius amended.
"You better not leave me!" Albus chastised.
"Oh, stop pouting." Scorpius teased.
"I'm not pouting." Albus pouted.
Scorpius leaned over and kissed his boyfriend. "I won't leave you. Only one more year. Then we can get a flat."
/
And the rest is history.
The end!
