All Scorpius had ever wanted was a friend. Someone who could stay by his side through thick and thin, who understood him no matter who he was, who valued him.
He never expected to want more.
_backstory_
From the first moment he'd laid eyes on Albus Potter, they'd been best friends. But only now did he realize just how deep those feelings went. All through the first three years of Hogwarts, he'd felt like a normal person- he had a crush on Rose Granger-Weasley, a best friend... a life, albeit a mediocre one.
But then Theodore Nott was discovered to have an illegal Time-Turner. One that went back years instead of hours...
The two of them and a girl, Delphini Diggory, had snuck into the Ministry to get it, as they were trying to help Amos Diggory. The old man was destitute, made bitter and depressed by the loss of his son Cedric. So the three of them went back in time, back to the last Triwizard Tournament...
They interfered in two challenges- one which placed Albus in Gryffindor yet made him even more of an outcast than he had been, and kept him away from Scorpius, Scorpius by now realizing exactly how much his friend meant.
He'd see his friend's face, and be filled with hope- but then Albus would turn away and run off to Merlin knows where.
When they finally managed to get back into the past and eliminate Cedric from the competition completely, they came home only to realize-
Only Scorpius had made it home.
You see, without Cedric's death, Harry and Voldemort hadn't been able to share blood, thus making Voldemort still more powerful than Harry.
And since Harry Potter had died during the Battle of Hogwarts...
No Albus.
He tried to get back, to stop this madness...
And succeeded. They all made it back to the present, only to discover...
Delphi was never their friend. She tried to go back to Harry's birthday, the day that made him famous, the day he'd survived the Dark Lord's curse. She failed.
And in this time, Scorpius realized just how much Albus meant.
-end-
Fifth and sixth year went by, with Scorpius shouldering his burden in silence. Rose and Albus were very confused about Scorpius' withdrawl from his crush on Rose. He'd seemed... moody and heartworn ever since the return from time.
As the train left the station for the seventh time in seven years, and the two boys, now well-muscled and handsome, sat in silence, Scorpius wondered if Albus would ever love him. This was his last shot. If he couldn't have Albus, he didn't want anything else.
